Trevor Murphy

Playing career

Trevor Murphy grew up in Windsor, Ontario, and played for the Sun County Panthers AAA, where he shared the blue line with future Calder Trophy winner Aaron Ekblad. During that season, he put up an impressive 92 points in 59 games. The Peterborough Petes selected him in the third round of the OHL Priority Draft. On November 22, 2012, the Petes dealt Murphy to his hometown Windsor Spitfires. Following the 2013 season, he was given an assistant captain role. That year, he finished as the fourth-highest scoring defenceman in the league, notching 63 points and leading his team in scoring. After going undrafted in both the 2014 and 2015 NHL entry drafts, Murphy attended a prospect camp with the Nashville Predators. He signed an entry-level contract with the Predators on September 17, 2015, and was sent to their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. At the 2018 trade deadline, with his rookie contract in its final year, Murphy and Pierre-Cédric Labrie were traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Tyler Gaudet and John Ramage. He made his NHL debut on March 24, 2018, against the Florida Panthers, and scored his first NHL goal two days later in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The following season, Murphy stayed in the AHL with Arizona’s affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. He led the team’s defence with five goals and had 13 points in 27 games before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Giovanni Fiore on December 28, 2018. He spent the rest of the season with the San Diego Gulls, Anaheim’s AHL team, and helped them reach the Western Conference Finals by posting six points in 16 playoff games. After four professional seasons in North America with limited NHL action, Murphy signed his first overseas contract on June 7, 2019, a two-year deal with Kunlun Red Star of the KHL. During his second season with the Chinese club, he recorded eight assists in 17 games before being traded to Ak Bars Kazan on December 4, 2020. With Ak Bars, he added eight points in 21 regular-season games and contributed four points in eight postseason contests as the team advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. On August 17, 2021, Ak Bars Kazan traded Murphy to HC Sibir Novosibirsk for monetary compensation.