Murray most NHL ready of prospects
Only a handful of players make the jump each year from the draft to an NHL roster, and Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray earns the mostlikely-to-succeed honours in the Class of 2012.
“Coaches love him because he’s so consistent,” TSN analyst Craig Button said. “There’s not a lot of flash to his game, but he’s a very good skater and he moves the puck very well. Of all the players in the draft, he’s the one who’s most ready to play in the NHL. ”
Murray, who grew up outside Regina in White City, said he has tried to model his game on that of his hero, Scott Niedermayer. Murray said body positioning and keeping a good stick are more important than crushing guys, but he also knows the necessity of being able to battle in the corners.
In the past year, he has added 16 pounds and checked in at this month’s NHL Combine at a solid 6-feet and 201 pounds. He also had the second-best score in the VO2 Max endurance test and was the eighthbest in the push-strength testing.
Most scouts believe Murray would have been a top-10 pick a year ago, but he missed the date-of-birth deadline for the draft by 12 days. That makes him one of the older players available in this year’s draft, but the 18-year-old displayed a precocity earlier this season.
Murray, who relaxes by strumming Neil Young songs on the guitar, was the youngest player to represent Canada at the world junior champion- ship. While Canada had to settle for a bronze medal, Murray skated away with a spot on the tournament allstar team.
After Everett was eliminated in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs, Murray was invited to join Team Canada for the world championship, becoming the second-youngest player to compete for Canada at the tournament. The youngest was Paul Kariya, who played for Canada in 1993 before embarking on a 15-year NHL career.
“The experience has to have helped him,” Button said. “Even if he didn’t get a lot of ice time, he had the opportunity to practise with pros, seeing how they prepare for games.
“He’s the type of player who would take that in and learn from it.”