The Edmonton Oilers locked in some defensive stability on their blueline when they re-signed Connor Murphy to a five-year deal in June worth $4 million per season.

Murphy was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks just before the trade deadline last March. In just over a month, Oilers fans got a glimpse of what he brought to the back end, including his solid defensive play, reliable first pass, and willingness to stand up for his teammates.

With that in mind, as Murphy officially calls Oilersnation home for the foreseeable future, let’s take a closer look with five interesting facts about the veteran blueliner that you may not know.

Murphy’s gold medal-winning goal at the 2011 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship

The 2011 IIHF Men’s U18 World Championship was held in Germany, where Murphy and Team USA advanced to the gold medal game against Sweden.

The Americans erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the game and force overtime. During the extra session, Murphy received the puck at the point and fired a shot toward the net. Although his initial attempt was blocked, he collected the rebound and buried it for the game-winning goal, helping Team USA capture the gold medal.

A young Murphy was awarded the “hard hat” by his teammates afterwards, an honour given to the player who competes the hardest in the game, as shown in the video below.

Additionally, in an interview with Jason Gregor last March, Murphy described what scoring that game-winning tally meant for him: “That was something that helped me get drafted. That was a big moment to have as a youth player, to kind of come up in a big moment and give yourself some confidence.”

Why Murphy chose the OHL over the NCAA

After being selected 20th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2011 NHL Draft out of the USHL, the highly touted American defenceman had a big choice to make regarding where he would play the following season.

Murphy narrowed down his........

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