Blackhawks' Connor Murphy out 8 weeks with back injury

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy will be sidelined for approximately eight weeks with a back injury, the team announced Friday.

The towering 6-foot-4 blue-liner tallied 14 points, 138 hits, and 101 blocked shots in 76 games last season.

Murphy, 25, was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Windy City during the 2017 offseason, along with Laurent Dauphin, in exchange for defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.