Going from one defenseman knocking on the door for a spot as Rasmus Ristolainen’s potential future replacement to another, we turn to check in with fellow Phantoms defenseman Ty Murchison.
Having just wrapped up quite a promising, albeit brief, rookie season in the AHL, Murchison made quick work of adjusting to the professional game and certainly made himself some fans in the organization along the way. There’s still another gear left for him to hit, but he’s acquitted himself well, and made a strong case for being one of the prospect pool’s fastest risers.
No. 22: Ty Murchison
2025-26 Primary League/Team: Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)
2025-26 Statistics: 2 G, 4 A, 6 Pts
Age as of 9/15/2026: 23
Acquired Via: 2021 NHL Draft – Round 5, Pick 158
How did Murchison’s 2025-26 season go?
All in all, Murchison was something of a surprise standout for the Phantoms in his rookie season. After getting a taste of play at the AHL level after the close of his final collegiate season the spring before, Murchison’s start to his first full season was a little rocky. It was still within the realm of what could be expected for a rookie — he had to work through some rough spots in terms of managing his positioning, but also how to ride the line of what’s an acceptable level of physicality, without leaping over into something that penalizable — but there were some familiar growing pains bearing out there, to be sure.
That said, it only took a couple of weeks before Murchison was able to settle in, and once he did, his game became a steady and dependable one. The strength of his skating game allowed him to adjust to the pace of play at that level quite quickly, and get settled in well with the uptempo style of play that the coaching staff was working to push. His game wasn’t always flashy, but he brought a consistency in his ability to kill plays effectively both on the rush and on the cycle, and his willingness to engage physically and put himself between shots from the point, while also not something that drew tremendous attention in the moment, its absence was felt quite acutely when he wasn’t available.
Adding on top of all of that some positive flashes of confidence with the puck — a willingness to step up to make a play in the offensive zone, whether with a slick pass or a booming shot from the point — and what he was left with was a game which was quite a bit more complete in appearance than one might have expected him to tap into so quickly, and a completeness in his game which vaulted him up the organizational depth chart and earned him his first cup of coffee up in the NHL in December — for a three-game stint in which he held up quite well in a third pair role.
The bad news on the flip side of all of those positives, of course, is that it was also a relatively short season for Murchison, all things considered, as an upper-body injury taken in January knocked him out for the remainder of the season. Now, with all of that downtime, he had a lot of opportunities to watch from above and take in some lessons from what the team was and was not doing well in his absence, but it’s no substitute for actual reps, so the next challenge of putting those lessons into practice will be a real one.
What are we expecting from Murchison this season?
The hope, now, is that Murchison can get in for a full and healthy season this coming year and really continue to build on all of that early promise that he showed. Already, in his rookie season, he was given pretty significant minutes to work with, both in volume and in meaning, with his deployment at even strength and on the penalty kill, and we can expect that this will be the same in this next season, despite some changes in the personnel group around him. He worked well to earn the trust of his coaching staff, and that won’t have changed on the other side of his recovery from injury.
What’s more, we touched yesterday on the open competition between him and Hunter McDonald expected to play out next season, as they jockey for position at the top of the pecking order for the Flyers’ first recall when needed, and we expect that to heat up as we head into this next season. Murchison made a big jump up in that order last year, but that position is his to lose, so this situation will be an interesting one to watch play out.
How does Murchison fit in the Flyers’ organization?
While there likely isn’t going to be a battle for a roster spot in training camp that Murchison will have a legitimate shot at, given the fullness of the projected roster already — though a strong impression could force the team to take another hard look at him and make a more difficult call — it won’t be long before something could begin to open up.
It’s been becoming increasingly clear in their approaches to trades and drafting that the Flyers are prioritizing adding some size and physicality broadly, but this feels like a particular need for replacing steady presences on the back end when veterans like Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen see their contracts expire, or else are traded. The Flyers certainly aren’t going to hand those places in the lineup to any prospects, but they will be ripe for the taking. Murchison checks a lot of boxes for what the Flyers will be looking for to fill those voids eventually, and if he keeps progressing his game at this same rate, the Flyers are going to be hard pressed to find a reason not to let him stick around with the big club for a more permanent role.
What do we think Murchison’s ultimate NHL upside is?
As for what that role could look like, the safer bet is that Murchison could figure in as a steady presence on an NHL third pair, bringing a diverse enough game to warrant that sticking around, but ultimately playing more of a defense-first game. It’s what we saw him get a taste of already last season, and while he did look generally pretty comfortable in that initial usage, there’s still some more maturing and polishing that needs to go into his game before he’s fully ready to step into that role.
Now, whether there’s even more give to that top end of his upside — that is, whether he can either lock down his defense to such a great degree or else add a bit more in the way of dynamic puck moving so as to be able to hold his own in a promotion into the top-4 — is yet to be seen, but at the very least, he’s not far off from hitting the mark on that safer end of his projection.
How we voted
… At No. 22
| Brad | Cole | Evan | Jason M | Kelly | Kurt | Maddie | Readers | Ryan G | Thomas |
| Carson Bjarnason | Matthew Gard | Spencer Gill | Carter Amico | Carter Amico | Heikki Ruohonen | Nathan Quinn | Spencer Gill | Carter Amico | Spencer Gill |
For Ty Murchison:
| Brad | Cole | Evan | Jason M | Kelly | Kurt | Maddie | Readers | Ryan G | Thomas |
| 19 | 16 | 20 | N/A | N/A | 25 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 24 |
