Ryan Murphy Returns to Checkers

Author: Paul Branecky Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The Checkers' vice president of communications, Paul Branecky has been covering hockey in North Carolina since 2006, including five seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Defenseman Ryan Murphy, who put together one of the most prolific scoring stretches in team history in his previous stint with the team, rejoined the Checkers on Tuesday.The transaction marks the second AHL stint of the season for Murphy, a 20-year-old rookie who is expected to be available for the Checkers’ back-to-back games in Iowa starting that night. The 2011 first-round draft pick is coming off an injury that caused him to leave a March 18 game at Columbus and miss the Hurricanes’ next two games prior to Tuesday’s reassignment.While with the Checkers between Jan. 24 and March 6, Murphy scored 18 points in 16 games, with his 17 assists tied with Michal Jordan for the most by a Charlotte defensemen over the course of the entire season. He returns with an active 11-game assist streak that is still the longest posted by an AHL player all season and the longest by a defenseman since 2008-09.Murphy’s 11-game point streak, which is tied for the second-longest active streak in the league behind a 15-game run by Oklahoma City forward Mark Arcobello, ties a franchise record set by fellow blueliner Bobby Sanguinetti in the 2011-12 campaign.Murphy’s return gives the Checkers eight healthy defensemen on their roster. Recent college signing Dennis Robertson has sat out the last two games while awaiting his professional debut. Matt Corrente, Mark Flood and Keegan Lowe rotated in and out of the lineup during Murphy’s previous stint.