Murphy has one point in four games, and only Klas Dahlbeck has been given less average ice time (12:13) than Murphy (13:06) among Hurricanes defensemen this season.
The 12th overall pick in 2011 is under contract for $750,000 in 2016-17 and $825,000 next season.
The goal was just the latest in an early barrage of crafty goals to start the 2016-17 campaign.
Of course, Marner's marker was easily the highlight of Thursday night, but where does it rank among the best we have seen so far?
5. McDavid vs. Flames
Don't worry, Oilers fans, Connor McDavid's goal-scoring drought is sure to end soon.
Just watch this beautiful penalty shot he scored in the season opener against the Calgary Flames.
McDavid still has 19 points through 18 games, so nothing to fret, though five straight loses is certainly not ideal.
4. Marner vs. Panthers
An off night for Reimer at the Air Canada Centre, we have seen that before.
However, to the goaltender's credit, there was little he could do stop Marner's seventh of the season, after the rookie stud put on a stick-handling clinic before shoveling the puck past him.
Marner's tally was his third in four games, giving him six points in that span, and was just his latest display of pure wizardry.
3. Buchnevich vs. Jets
Watch out, Jimmy Vesey, you're not the only stud rookie in the Big Apple.
Pavel Buchnevich is having a productive rookie campaign with eight points in 10 games, but none prettier than his first goal at Madison Square Garden where he shredded the Winnipeg Jets.
2. Matthews vs. Senators
Do you remember where you were the night Auston Matthews did this?
The 2016 first overall pick set the NHL ablaze in his first career game with his iconic four-goal masterpiece that was highlighted by his second of the season that saw him pick apart the entire Ottawa Senators roster.
Though after going the past 11 games without a goal, maybe he's saving up for another four-goal game. Who knows?
1. Kane vs. Canadiens
He was the MVP last season, so should we really be surprised to find Patrick Kane on this list.
Last Sunday, Kane did what he does best, torching the Montreal Canadiens' blue line before firing a laser over the glove hand of Al Montoya.
Every Friday this season, theScore's NHL editors are debating a hot-button issue in 'On The Fly,' our roundtable series. This week, we discuss ways the league could augment its proposal to the NHLPA to trade Olympic participation for an extension of the CBA.
Rollback
Justin Cuthbert: Forget Olympics; how 'bout talking escrow?
As it's configured, the amount of money skimmed off the top of player salaries increases as the escalator inflates the salary cap from season to season, ensuring a 50/50 revenue split with the owners. Most recently, this has been upwards of 16 percent of player salaries up in smoke.
That's a little insane.
Though they lose the same percentage, and for that, more real dollars, this isn't as much of a concern for most players who would actually participate in the Olympics. The majority of these players have made a lot of money, or still have massive earning potentials. It is, however, of great concern to the rest, and especially replacement-level players being killed by this tax.
The NHL's clearly quite content with the mandate negotiated in 2013, and the incoming $500-million expansion fee is a heck of a lot of frosting atop the cake. So, if Gary Bettman and crew want to minimize change and avoid a work stoppage in Las Vegas' first few seasons, their proposal would actually be heard should it offer percentage ceiling or slight normalizing amendment to escrow.
All-Star fix
Ian McLaren: Remove the threat of suspension for players who feign injury for the purpose of sitting out the All-Star Game, then change the format of event so that it highlights the league's young talent and players who may not get the exposure that comes with a best-on-best tournament.
This would free star players from yet another obligation and allow others to be placed in the spotlight for once.
On top of that, up the ante in terms of compensation for the winning team so there's an actual incentive to make the game competitive.
If the John Scott saga taught us anything, it's that fans want to see unexpected players shine on a big stage. This way, star players can fight for Olympic glory while the rest battle it out for All-Star glory and some extra coin.
Scrap it
Sean O'Leary: The NHL's offer to simply green light Olympic participation as long as the NHLPA extends the current CBA is laughable - just ask Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The league has to construe something better.
The offer is a win-win for Gary Bettman and the owners, because while lengthening the current agreement sounds like a no-brainer to fans, the players are unhappy with the current escrow structure.
If the NHLPA signs, the division of revenue would stay the same for three more years, and the owners would get their wish of keeping their players in North America.
Thankfully, any potential feud between the NHL and the PA in the next 15 months won't cause a work stoppage, but Bettman strong-arming his players with an unfair deal sets the wrong precedent on an already rocky relationship.
It's moot
Josh Gold-Smith: Why would the players accept any of the NHL's offers when many insist they'll go to South Korea regardless of the league's stance?
One can certainly understand why the NHL doesn't want to go, even with travel and insurance costs covered by the IIHF - because it won't make money off the tournament and shutting down the season while risking injuries to its stars isn't ideal.
But the union has power here. Allan Walsh argued this week that the league is trying to "blackmail" the players and take advantage of their desire to play in the Olympics. Judging by their less than enthusiastic response to the initial offer, it's clear they won't be easily coerced.
The NHL's position weakens every time another player says he intends to go whether or not the league approves.
Mitch Marner's become the No. 1 attraction at Air Canada Centre.
He scored the most spectacular goal of his burgeoning career Thursday on former Maple Leafs netminder James Reimer, exhibiting the enormous, multi-faceted attacking talent that made him a can't-miss prospect coming out of junior.
How it Happened
With a full complement of defenders back in position, the Maple Leafs induce a weak shot on goal, and it's kicked out in a safe area along the side boards for James van Riemsdyk to retrieve.
As the forwards peel off quick, Florida's in a good position to reclaim the puck with Van Riemsdyk collecting it with little time or space to make a play. But with Marner darting through the center, he's able to create a 50-50 puck-retrieval scenario for his linemate with a flick into neutral ice.
Caught further up ice then he should have been, Panthers defender Michael Matheson makes a fatal error in trying to stab at the puck in mid-air.
Matheson whiffs, and the puck drops between he and Marner as he pivots on the Maple Leafs' side of the red line.
Transitioning quickly into forward skating position, Matheson gives himself a fighting chance with the diminutive Leafs rookie steaming through the middle. But Marner wedges his frame into the body of Matheson, gaining separation from a desperate defender who doesn't have wingspan to reach around and knock it clear.
The contact knocks Marner off his direct line to the net, but while he regains his balance, his complete focus is on care for the puck, and he's able to corral it with impeccable control.
Matheson is still on Marner's back, but the rookie is now on a direct path to the net from the hashmarks in.
Marner jams his right skate into the ice, freezing Reimer as he shields the puck, and pulls it to his backhand. He's now right on top of the netminder, so Reimer has to attack the puck. He slides right to seal off one side, and is committed to what he believes will be a backhand attempt on goal.
But when Reimer's head drops, Marner has now slammed both skates into the ice and pulled the puck through the blue paint onto his forehand side.
There, Marner has the entire net to deposit his seventh goal of the season.
Then, that exuberance takes control.
Prior to his rookie season, there was concern Marner may struggle to engineer consistent offense. This wonderful goal is proof that slight positional mistakes is all that's needed for his instincts and creativity to shine at the highest level.
Chalk up another win for the Vancouver Canucks in a game they never once led.
Ben Hutton calmly tucked a backhand deke through Louie Domingue with a penalty shot in overtime, lifting the Canucks to a third win in five games with their 3-2 triumph over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
Hutton's winner - the first overtime goal with a penalty shot in the club history - gives the Canucks a three-point cushion over the NHL-worst Coyotes.
Richardson's leg appeared to be tangled under Tryamkin's weight, and medical personnel focused on that area as they tended to the veteran before moving him off the ice.
It's as if every postgame quote is spoken directly to the long-suffering fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the dressing room after scoring his most spectacular goal to date in a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers, Mitch Marner just kept wrapping a swooning fan base further around his finger.
Mitch Marner: "100 years of this team and luckily enough we’re a part of that now, and things going forward they’re going to be different."
Marner's influence, of course, extends beyond his energized fan base. The Maple Leafs improved to 7-0-2 when Marner records a point with their win over the Panthers.
