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Stuck between a rock and a hard place, ‘Canes send Murphy to minors

RyanMurphy2

Ryan Murphy, Carolina’s first-round pick (12th overall) at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, has 11 points in 39 games this year and is averaging over 18 minutes a night.

Yet on Friday, the club sent him down to AHL Charlotte.

Why?

Well, it’s all to do with the NHL’s complex, sometimes confusing rules governing roster moves in and around the Olympic break. Here’s the Charlotte Checkers’ website with a detailed explanation:

Waiver rules are still in play, which only makes it realistic for players still on their entry-level deals to come to Charlotte. That’s a group of only three players, one of whom, Justin Faulk, is actually going to the Olympics. Meanwhile, at this point in time, center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Ryan Murphy do appear to be eligible to play in the AHL during the Olympic break due to a combination of factors including days spent on the NHL roster this season and how often they have played in the NHL during the last few weeks.

In Murphy’s case, the Hurricanes would essentially have to make that decision, in the form of an official assignment to Charlotte, by this Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. He would also have to stay with the Checkers until the beginning of the Olympic break, meaning seven NHL games missed. If he’s not with Charlotte by the deadline, he could still play in the AHL during the two-week period before the break begins but not during the break itself.

So in short, the ‘Canes were forced to decide between between 1) having Murphy available for the next seven games, then have him inactive for the duration of the Olympic break -- or, 2) lose his services for the next seven games, but ensure he’d be playing right through ‘til the end of February.

Ergo, rock and a hard place.

Lindholm, though, isn’t subjected to the same rules because he hasn’t been on the ‘Canes roster as much as Murphy this year (he was injured, and loaned to Team Sweden for the World Juniors). Therefore, Lindholm could play with the ‘Canes until the Olympic break and still be eligible to play in the AHL during the break.

So yeah, a bit confusing.

Whatever the case, it’s interesting to see Carolina make the decision it did. Even though Murphy’s been a healthy scratch the last two games -- which the ‘Canes have both won -- he’s still a fairly key contributor, and had a plus-6 rating through five games in January.

Murphy will now miss Carolina’s game against Ottawa on Saturday, Monday versus Columbus, Tuesday in Montreal, Friday versus St. Louis, Feb. 4 versus Winnipeg, Feb. 7 versus Florida and Feb. 8 against Montreal.