From rollerblading in California to college in the desert, Ty Murchison has taken a unique path to the Flyers

PHILADELPHIA — Ty Murchison rubbed out Jack Nesbitt along the wall during a drill on the first day of Flyers development camp earlier this month.

The 2021 fifth-rounder, who is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, made sure he did it with noticeable authority. And not just because he was taking out Nesbitt, the 6-5, 185-pound center who was drafted 12th overall four days earlier. Murchison’s game is predicated upon his size and physicality, and he has quietly developed into a left-shot prospect on defense whom the organization is watching closely.

“He’s a late-round pick, but maybe he just has a little bit longer of a runway to get to where he’s going,” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong told The Philadelphia Inquirer in April. “And I think when you do a rebuild, you can’t just sit back, in my mind, can’t just sit there and be like, OK, we’re only going to focus on our high-end picks.

“You have to go in there and say we’ve got to focus on the fifth, the sixth. … And I really do think that just because you’re a sixth-, seventh-round pick, or not even drafted … if you work your butt off, and you do the little stuff, you never know what can happen.”

The 22-year-old Murchison did that.

Murchison wrapped up his four-year career at Arizona State last season as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s defensive defenseman of the year. Skating against schools like Western Michigan — and Alex Bump — and national semifinalist Denver, which the Sun Devils finished ahead of in the standings, the assistant captain snagged the award after blocking 98 shots.

Those 98 blocks were a program record and also led all NCHC players. He recorded seven against Bump’s Broncos, two shy of the career high he set against Boston University as a sophomore.

“He’s great,” ASU teammate and Calgary Flames draft pick Cullen Potter told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine. “He puts his body out there for the team, in any way he can, blocking shots. … So he’s just a great team guy, and I love having him around the rink, keeps it light, and has some fun with it, which I think hockey should be.”

Ready to roll(er)

Maybe it’s the California vibes that help him keep it light. Maybe it’s the fact that Murchison, who will play with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League this season, wasn’t twirling around rinks as a wee tyke.

Correction: ice hockey rinks.

“I played roller hockey, pretty much since I could walk. I had no intentions of really getting into ice hockey until I was probably like 14, just for fun,” Murchison said in April. “But I got a coach from ice hockey who kind of saw me play roller and asked me to join their team. That’s how I got into it, and kind of just took off from there. But, yeah, roller hockey is really my roots, for sure.”

Murchison’s parents moved to California from Canada so his father, Ken, could play in the Roller Hockey International, a professional inline hockey league that ran from 1993 to 1999. Ken Murchison, who played at the University of New Brunswick and in the East Coast Hockey League, also worked for the Anaheim Ducks and managed inline rinks around the state.

Ty Murchison didn’t swap his wheels for blades until he was 11.

“The adjustment was really the edges and the skating. I couldn’t stop when I first started playing,” the younger Murchison said with a big laugh. “So that’s kind of how I got my physical aspect, I was blowing kids up because I couldn’t stop. I was just running into kids.”

After doing “a ton of skating lessons,” Murchison began to excel, and at 16, he moved to Michigan to join the U.S. National Team Development Program. But roller hockey was never far from his mind, and while at Arizona State, he and his dog Penny would rollerblade around Tempe Town Lake.

NHL prospects?

Murchison’s skating has drastically improved through the years, and “he’s physical, keeps it simple,” and is “in your face.” He also does “all the little things that you need guys like that to do when you want to go far,” as noted by former Phantoms coach and current Flyers hockey operations adviser Ian Laperrière.

Now, Murchison and Armstrong are working on his hands.

“He is a high-end skater, really competitive and physical,” Armstrong said of Murchison, whom he compared to Nick Seeler. “Right now, we’re just working on his puck plays and his decision-making. At the junior level, maybe he runs the power play, and he gets that little bit of confidence on the blue line about doing stuff and things like that; I think it goes a long way.

“So we’re working at that with him right now, and who knows? We’ll see where it goes.”

This summer, Murchison is spending time working on getting stronger and putting on weight because “at the next level, everybody’s strong, and the way I play, I need to be stronger than most guys.” The blueliner got a taste of what’s to come, skating in four games for the Phantoms in April after the conclusion of his college season.

He’s also working on those hands and upping his offensive game after collecting nine goals and 14 assists in 145 career games for the Sun Devils. And of course, he’s playing roller hockey. Recently, Murchison skated in the North American Roller Hockey championships in California.

But now he has his sights set on bigger goals.

“I’m very proud of it, it’s been a blessing,” Murchison said of playing pro ice hockey. “I’m happy to be here. It’s what I’ve been dreaming of — even though I played roller hockey — I always dreamed of playing in the NHL when I was a little kid. So, yeah, I’m hoping to take the next step and get there one day.”

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