Dietz: On Troy Murray’s passing and the Blackhawks’ trade deadline moves

The death of former Blackhawks forward and broadcaster Troy Murray last week hit the entire organization extremely hard.

Many emotions permeated throughout the press box during Monday's game against Utah at the United Center. Disbelief. Sadness. Shock.

Kudos to the Hawks, though, for putting together two wonderful video montages of Murray's highlights on the ice and in the booth. Speaking of the booth, it was teeming with flowers and had a No. 19 jersey draped over Murray's chair.

The Hawks won that game against Utah on Frank Nazar's overtime goal, which came moments after the second-year forward somehow fumbled and lost a puck on a clear-cut breakaway.

Thank goodness for second chances, right?

“Especially with the meaning of today's game,” Nazar said. “(Troy is) definitely up there watching and guiding us. He made a big impact on a lot of our lives and our organization.”

Four days later, Darren Pang — Murray's former teammate and good friend — posted a photo on Twitter that made my jaw drop. He was golfing in Vegas, where he was given cart No. 19.

“I nearly fell,” Pang wrote. “Couldn't believe it. Love ya Muzz.”

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Troy's passing forced a couple of issues to the back burner. So let's get to them now.

First and foremost, I was extremely impressed with GM Kyle Davidson's work at the trade deadline. He sent Connor Murphy to Edmonton for a second-round pick; Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach to Edmonton for a conditional first-round pick and forward Andrew Mangiapane; and Nick Foligno to Minnesota for future considerations.

The haul for Murphy and Dickinson is bonkers. But that's what happens when Stan Bowman is running your organization, which is the case in Edmonton.

The Hawks, of course, will miss the leadership of all three veterans. Selfishly, I will really miss Foligno. He ranks as the No. 1 athlete I ever dealt with behind the scenes. He'd give you extra time, answer every question thoughtfully and truly understood how to help grow the league.

Dickinson was a treat to speak with as well, and Murphy was a Godsend whenever I needed to talk defense. Murphy leaves ranking 12th in games played (547) among Hawks D-men.

* * *

Andrew Mangiapane's addition is an interesting one. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has averaged 19 goals per 82 games in eight-plus seasons. Most of those came in Calgary, where he notched a career-high 35 goals in 2021-22.

Last year, however, Mangiapane's average ice time plummeted to 13 minutes in Washington, and it fell further in Edmonton (12:36) this season.

Still, he can score, so with one year remaining on his contract it will be interesting to see what the Hawks plan to do with Mangiapane next season.

“He's brought us into the fight a little bit,” said coach Jeff Blashill after Mangiapnae notched a goal vs. Utah on Monday. “Sometimes we can get a little too east-west with some of our young skill and he plays a very direct north game. That helps our team a lot. He's been a good addition … and somebody we're happy to have as part of our group.”

* * *

Let's close by circling back to Frank Nazar, who has had an interesting season. Nazar came out on fire, racking up 11 points in the first 10 games. He also just put together a five-game point streak from March 3-12 with 3 goals and 5 assists.

In between, though, Nazar managed just 2 goals and 11 assists in 34 games.

Add it up and that's 10 goals and 22 assists in 50 games. Not bad, but much more will be expected in coming years out of someone carrying a $6.6 million cap hit.

Last week I asked Jeff Blashill if Nazar has produced enough this season.

“I understand the question,” Blashill said. “Listen, I don't look at it exactly that way. Frank has high expectations and we have high expectations of Frank. And those are gonna be high again next year.

“It's not an easy league. I can go through a number of guys — including guys I've coached — whose second years were tough years. … What I love about what Frank did tonight was how hard he competed on the puck. He won tons of pucks. … All that stuff matters a ton. …

“None of this (is) ever going to go smooth all the time. That's what life is. You're gonna get knocked down and you're gonna get back up. He's had some moments where I'm sure like he feels like he got knocked down, but he gets back up well.

“He's a confident kid and has a lot of belief of the success he'll have in the future.”

• John Dietz, a sports writer at the Daily Herald from 1998-2024, covered the Blackhawks from 2014-24. You can reach him at jdietz6917@hotmail.com.