- Aug 24, 2011
- 28,362
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Agreed and I'd argue this is the single biggest misunderstanding I see on HF Boards.Why are the Hawks a bad team? What makes any team bad? When you have bad players playing in over their heads. Connor Murphy does not have any attributes of a top-4 D. He's a bottom-pairing guy. He's played his entire career to bottom-pairing results. He does not tilt the ice in his team's favour. Even Hammer, declining at the end of his career, played to 51% xGF% in Arizona his final 150 games. Connor Murphy, in his 155 games in Arizona, played to 46% xGF% -- about the same as he's played to in his tenure as a Hawk. It's not team effects. It's player effects.
Murphy isn't that good of a defenseman. If he were, he'd be performing better regardless of team strength. Granted, if Murphy played on a better team he'd be reaching his maximal potential I'm sure but if/when he gets traded to a playoff team he's not going to suddenly explode into being an awesome top 4 Dman.
He is what he is (a #5) and his lack of effectiveness has contributed to making the Hawks worse while he's been here.