Ryan Murray is back with the Blue Jackets for another season as he accepted the qualifying offer today. He will make $2.825 this upcoming season.

Murray will make $2.825M this season. He’s an RFA next summer, too, with arbitration rights.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 14, 2018

This is a nice deal for both sides. Murray who only played in 44 games last season gets the same amount of money as he did before. He gets another year to prove himself to the Jackets and try to earn a long term deal.

When he was healthy he was solid last season.

He’s not perfect but he does some things really well. His passing is definitely his best skill and it’s so underrated. The points aren’t there but he does a good job at setting up plays in the offensive zone. Defensively he does what the Blue Jackets need, he gets the puck out of the zone and can make stretch passes up to the forwards if need be.

Getting Murray away from Jack Johnson is going to do wonders for him this season. Murray’s most common partner at 5 on 5 was Markus Nutivaara, but his second most common was Johnson. With Nutivaara they formed a very strong pair. They both have a nice blend of offensive traits. Together they had a 53.69% Corsi per Natural Stat Trick. With Johnson Murray was at 46.20%.

The main thing with Murray is always going to be his health. He’s dealt with something in all but one of his five NHL seasons. If he can stay healthy he is going to be a major contributor to this season.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

Join the Discussion: » 2 Comments » Post New Comment

» Blue Jackets extend John Tortorella

» Blue Jackets extend Hockey Operations Staff

» Thoughts on the Blue Jackets Traverse City roster

» How the Blue Jackets can get more national coverage

» Just how bad is the Blue Jackets prospect system?