After a standout junior career with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Murdoch was selected 6th overall in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft by the New York Rangers and joined the team that year as a 20-year-old.
[1][2] On October 12, 1976, Murdoch tied Howie Meeker's record for most goals in one game by a rookie with 5,[2] against the Minnesota North Stars.
On August 12, 1977, Murdoch was caught by customs agents at Toronto's Pearson Airport with 4.5 grams of cocaine stashed in his socks.
[5][6] He played 320 career games in the National Hockey League (NHL) but never regained the form of his first season, and retired after stops with the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings.
After his playing career, Murdoch worked as a scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning, under general manager Phil Esposito.