The Edmonton Oilers are fortifying their defense ahead of the NHL trade deadline as they look to make another deep run in the playoffs.
The back-to-back Western Conference champions on Monday acquired dependable defenseman Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2028 second-round pick. Chicago is retaining half of Murphy’s $4.4 million salary as part of the deal finalized 93 hours before the deadline Friday.
The Oilers rank 26th out of the league’s 32 teams in goals against this season, including a couple of losses since the Olympic break ended that can be chalked up to shoddy defensive play. They got beat 6-5 by Anaheim on Wednesday and 5-4 by San Jose on Saturday, defeats to rivals in the Pacific Division that have threatened Edmonton's precarious place in the standings.
Murphy, who turns 33 on March 26, is a reliable defender who should slot in on the blue line on the third pair. He's averaging 16 1/2 minutes of ice time through 60 games with the Blackhawks this season, his 13th overall and 12th full one since making his debut in 2013.
He leads Chicago with 87 blocked shots.
Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has a long history with Murphy. He was GM of the Blackhawks when they acquired Murphy from Arizona in 2017, and Bowman also signed Murphy's current $17.6 million, four-year contract that expires on June 30.
Edmonton is coming off losing the Stanley Cup Final to Florida in consecutive years, with keeping the puck out of the net a considerable reason for each defeat. Bowman in December made a goaltending swap with Pittsburgh, sending Stuart Skinner to the Penguins for Tristan Jarry as part of a four-player trade that also involved a 2029 second-round pick.
Jarry's .864 save percentage with the Oilers ranks 44th out of 49 goalies who have appeared in at least 10 games since the move on Dec, 12, which also included Brett Kulak being sent to Pittsburgh. The Oilers acquired Spencer Stastney that same day, and getting Murphy is the latest step in piecing together a more solid defense.
To make room for Murphy, the Oilers sent forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Alec Regula to Bakersfield of the American Hockey League after they cleared waivers. Mattias Janmark went on long-term injured reserve.
Edmonton was not the only contender in the West to add Monday. The Minnesota Wild claimed forward Robby Fabbri off waivers from St. Louis, and they almost certainly are not done.
“We’ve got room to do some things,” GM Bill Guerin said Sunday, pointing to the center position and faceoffs in particular as an area he'd like to shore up. “If I have a chance to make the team better, I will. It’s just got to make sense. Whatever the ask is, whatever we feel like is a good price for whatever we’re getting, we’ll do it.”
AP freelance writer Mike Cook in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, back, looks to pass the puck as Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson defends in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
FILE - Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy (5) handles the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, March 20, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former rebels that once controlled large swaths of rural Colombia are now fighting for their survival as a political party, as the country holds a high-stakes congressional election on Sunday.
Getting enough votes to retain their congressional seats, or even maintain their status as a political party, will be a tall order for former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who now run the party called Comunes, or Commoners.
The party had 10 guaranteed seats in Colombia’s Congress during the last two legislatures, a concession granted to the rebels in their 2016 peace deal with the government.
But now, under the terms of the deal, those seats are gone, and Comunes must compete on equal footing with other political parties.
Few observers expect the former rebels to retain their seats in a crowded field where more than a dozen parties will compete for positions in the Senate and House of Representatives.
“They have not really gained the support of the people,” said Yan Basset, a political science professor at Bogota’s Rosario University.
The former rebels kidnapped thousands of people and bombed dozens of villages in their five-decade conflict with Colombia’s government.
In a video sent to Colombia's transitional justice system in late January and leaked on Monday to Bogota's El Espectador newspaper, the group's former commanders accept charges that the FARC recruited at least 18,000 children into their ranks during the war against Colombia's government.
“The recruitment of children and teenagers should never have happened,” the FARC's former top commander Rodrigo Londoño said in the video, where he added that violence against girls left “great physical and psychological damages that persist to this day.”
The stigma of the conflict continues, Basset said, "and obviously for many Colombians it is difficult to forgive.”
Even with guaranteed seats, the Comunes party saw dismal results in previous elections.
During the 2018 congressional elections, the party obtained 89,300 votes nationwide. That went down to 50,100 in 2022.
The decline is critical because Colombian electoral laws require parties to capture at least 3% of the total vote to maintain a status that enables them to field candidates and receive public funding. In the last election, parties needed 509,000 votes to reach the crucial 3% mark.
In an effort to improve its chances in this election, Comunes has formed an alliance with Fuerza Ciudadana, a movement founded 20 years ago by left-wing activists and academics that recently won mayorships and a governorship in northern Colombia.
The former rebels also appear to be hiding their symbols to make their candidates more palatable to the average voter. Flyers, flags and stickers handed out by the party feature the logo of Fuerza Ciudadana, while the Comunes red rose is absent from most marketing materials.
Comunes also registered its coalition as Fuerza Ciudadana with electoral authorities, ensuring that the movement's orange logo, rather than its own, will appear on Sunday’s ballots.
Carlos Carreño Marín, a former FARC commander who was one of the negotiators in the 2016 peace deal, has represented Comunes in Congress since 2018.
Now he is attempting to hold on to his Bogota congressional seat, and acknowledges it will be challenging.
“We are in an intense struggle against parties that have been doing this for two centuries,” the 48-year-old said.
Almost 300 seats in Colombia’s congress will be up for grabs on Sunday.
The results will have widespread implications for President Gustavo Petro's efforts to rewrite Colombia's constitution. Petro has accused judges and legislators of blocking his efforts to nationalize the country's health care system and reform the pension system.
Manuel Rueda in Bogota, Colombia, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, campaigns for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, campaigns for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, talks with a vendor while campaigning for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Congressman Carlos Carreño Marín, who goes by Sergio Marin, of the Comunes party, gives an interview while campaigning for reelection ahead of legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
