The Idaho Steelheads will have some big shoes to fill as forward Wade Murphy has decided to head overseas once again, this time to Slovakia. Murphy, originally a seventh-round pick of the Nashville Predators, would spend three seasons at the NCAA level, two with the University of North Dakota, and a year with Arizona State, where he put up nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 68 games. The BC native would spend a little over two seasons in the ECHL bouncing around from team to team, making stops with the Manchester Monarchs, Worcester Railers, Kalamazoo Wings, Greenville Swamp Rabbits, and Maine Mariners, but could never find a spot for more than half a season and wasn’t putting up great numbers. Murphy would head overseas during the 2019-20 season, spending two years in Norway and a year in Slovenia. Murphy would put up a solid 2019-20 campaign, putting up 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points in 44 games.
Two seasons overseas would pay off for the 30-year-old winger, who seemed to find his game with the Idaho Steelheads. He put up back-to-back 20+ goal seasons, having 46 goals and 63 assists for 109 points in 106 games with the Steelheads over the past two seasons, including 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points in 52 games last season. Those 66 points would tie him with A.J. White for the team lead. Murphy is the first Steelheads forward and third player this off-season from the Steelheads to take the overseas route, as defensemen Cody Haiskanen and Joe Gatenby recently left for overseas as well.
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