Connor Murphy cracked a joke seconds after we met.

I’d heard from reporters in Chicago that Murphy is one of the most genuine players you will cover. After our first interaction, he reminded me of Zach Hyman — polite, humble, laughs often and well spoken. How the Oilers media availability works is the group requests a few players, and then if you want a one-on-one interview you put in a request. There is a big screen in the dressing room and as the players come off the ice into the room, they look at the board and if their number is on it, they need to do a media scrum. There is another column that says “side,” and if your number is under that it a one-on-one interview.

I requested Murphy, and I walked over to him and introduced myself. He asked what does side mean? “Am I the side piece?” he laughed. “You could do better, but also worse,” I replied and the ice was broken and we sat down. We chatted briefly about a few other things and then got right into the interview. Murphy was thrilled with the trade. He loved Chicago, but this is his 13th NHL season, and he’s only made the playoffs once, in 2020 with no fans. More on that later. I suspect fans will like Murphy. He’s direct, honest and insightful. He will add some much-needed grit and for a team and fanbase starving for a defense-first mindset, Murphy fills that void.

Jason Gregor: This is the second time you’ve been traded, but the first time in season. Walk me through how the last few days have been?

Connor Murphy: Yeah, it has been a crazy mix of emotions and mainly excitement, a little bit of the nerves going into it and obviously reminiscing on good times and amazing nine years of Chicago. But honestly, it feels like time for a great change and to be able to come here and have this new challenge. I’m really grateful for Stan (Bowman) to give me this opportunity is amazing.

To get the call yesterday, me and my wife are full of excitement to come to such a great team and organization that you see on the outside, and being inside for one day I can already tell why it has that reputation. And I just want to get started and help however I can, and do whatever for the team.

Gregor: I think a lot of people know Connor Murphy as a hard worker who takes pride in the defensive zone, will stand up for his teammates and one of the elements of your game that this team lacks is real toughness in front of the net. I know this era is different and you can’t Chris Pronger guys and cross-check them 10 times in the back, but you’ve found ways to make it hard for forwards. How do you make it hard, and do you think that attitude in front of the net can be infectious?

Murphy: It can. I think as a defenseman that’s where you take pride, mainly because a lot of the goals are scored around the net. There’s a lot of talent and speed nowadays with guys taking rushes and taking one timers cross-ice, but the majority of goals are still happening around the slot. So, if you can really protect that, whether it’s physically or with blocking or a good stick, that’s really a key to defending. And I’ve learned for a while about using your body to either box guys out or use your stick.

But even honestly, building into being a shot-blocking defenseman, where you at times can’t get a body on a guy and you’re going to the front and try to sacrifice yourself for a block for the team. So there’s definitely a knack to doing it. And every play has got a different life of its own around the net. But it’s definitely a staple of the defenseman.

Gregor:  You’ve been a key part of the best penalty killing unit in the NHL this season.  Having spoken to the coaches, is there a big difference in how you’ll penalty kill here compared to how you did in Chicago?

Murphy: Talking to the coaches so far, it doesn’t sound like really much difference at all. So if anything, it’s just chemistry building with players. It’s a combination with the forwards and D. That’s what we had in Chicago, honestly, all season. We had the same four guys on the top PK unit working together. So in practices and meetings and games, you build that chemistry and it really is a four-man unit and making sure you’re in flow, in sync with each other, taking away the danger areas and staying calm to get your clear.

I’m excited to get in with penalty killers here, and I hope it’ll be a seamless transition. I think it will be systemically and it will be just about trying to get acclimated with the guys and build chemistry.

***Jason Dickinson was acquired after our interview, and Dickinson was on the top PK unit with Murphy, so look for those two to form half of the Oilers’ top PK unit.***

Gregor: It’s been a long time since you’ve been in a playoff push late in the year. Even in 2020 when you did make the playoffs, the season was postponed and you weren’t really in the playoff race at that time, so is it easier to get traded knowing you’re coming to a team where the intensity has to........

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