Man of the week: Trevor Murphy

KHL.ru’s weekly column returns with Trevor Murphy. The SKA blueliner had a striking week, with two game-winning goals, and was awarded Best defenseman honors.

Differently from other players coming to our league, Trevor Murphy didn’t sport a long CV – he had to build his name step by step. The Windsor, Ontario native grew up as a skilled, offensive-minded blueliner, one of those defensemen who always saw plays early and preferred to make the puck speak for him. Last week, he scored 5 (3+2) points in three games, and he set a KHL record. He needed just three seconds to score Thursday’s winner against the Shanghai Dragons, breaking the league’s record for the fastest OT goal. That mark had stood since Oct. 8, 2008, when Pavel Boichenko scored after six seconds to give Vityaz victory over Khimik. Murphy’s goal capped SKA’s comeback from a 0:2 deficit to a 3-2 win—with the Canadian involved in all three goals. He kept his hot streak alive with a last-gasp game-winner on Saturday as SKA beat Dynamo Moscow 3-2.

Early years

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Murphy’s career followed the traditional path of starting from the local junior leagues. In the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires and later the Oshawa Generals he was a high-volume producer from the blue line: 235 regular season games, 42 goals and 140 points. That got him noticed — and even if he went undrafted, he earned pro contracts and got his AHL shot. In the AHL he played for several organizations, including Tucson, Milwaukee, and Binghamton. His best AHL season was 2017-2018, when he produced 35 points in 59 games, and even got a small NHL look with Arizona, posting 1 goal in 8 NHL games.

Climbing up the ranks

After graduating from the OHL, he entered the pro system without the security of being a drafted prospect, which meant he had to earn everything via camp performances and production. He spent time in Tucson (Arizona system), Milwaukee (Nashville), and Binghamton (New Jersey), and while constantly shifting within those organizations he was not the flashiest name, not the one on NHL pipeline lists, but quietly one of the most reliable puck-moving d-men of those rotations.

His AHL breakout came in 2017–2018 with Tucson: 59 games, 35 points — top-20 among league defensemen that year. And not surprisingly, that season triggered his NHL window: he was called up by Arizona and got his eight NHL games, scoring his first NHL goal. The year after, in Milwaukee, he followed up with 29 points in 50 games — still top-tier production per game on the Admirals’ blue line. Moreover, Murphy wasn’t getting star treatment — he was on a blue line depth chart competing every season against first- and second-round prospects.

Move to the KHL

After four productive seasons in the AHL, Murphy opted to move overseas, inking a deal with the Kunlun Red Star of the KHL. With the Chinese franchise he immediately became one of the key offensive drivers, scoring 27 points in 56 games in his debut season, and from that moment to today no other KHL defenseman has produced more points, including big-name blueliners like Damir Sharipzyanov, Alexander Nikishin, Robin Press, or Darren Dietz.

After his strong debut season with Kunlun, he then moved to Ak Bars in the second, but that move didn’t pan out as expected. Then, he started a new chapter in his career, signing with Sibir in the 2021 offseason. He would then spend four years in Novosibirsk, with strong numbers. He had two seasons cut in half by injuries, but managed to keep a very high point-per-game average, with his breakout season being in 2024-2025. Last season wasn’t just productive — it was award-level. Murphy led the entire KHL in assists with 45, he was the defenseman with most assists (45) and the defenseman with most points (58). This is also the single-season high of his KHL career.

Rolling on

His move to SKA this summer was quite logical, considering the status of the St. Petersburg franchise as a contender. The team is now in a disappointing ninth place in the Western Conference’s table, but things are slowly improving, and Murphy is racking up points as in the good old times. He’s currently the fourth scorer of the team and the best from the blue line with 14 points in 24 games. And considering SKA’s playoff push, it’s likely that Murphy will be even more involved in SKA’s game, being able to grab even more points and a more prominent role in the team’s lineup.