The Chicago Blackhawks signed defenceman Connor Murphy to a four-year, $17.6 million contract extension on Tuesday.

The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.4 million for Murphy, who was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

"When we acquired Connor in the summer of 2017, we had visions of him growing as both a player and leader in our organization for many years," Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said.