However, Murdoch's rink endured what he described as "a difficult year" following the 2014 Olympics: they lost in the final of the Scottish Championships in February 2015 to defending champion and former team-mate Ewan MacDonald's team, denying Team Murdoch a place at the 2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, before finishing third in the Scottish qualifying tournament held in October of that year for the 2015 European Curling Championships behind Kyle Smith and former team-mate Tom Brewster's rinks, thus failing to secure selection. In 2016 Team Murdoch were runners-up to Team Brewster in both the Scottish championships in February and the European Playdowns in October. Murdoch's rink were selected to compete for Scotland at the 2017 World Curling Championship, where they secured qualification for Team GB to the 2018 Winter Olympics by finishing sixth: however in June 2017 it was announced that Kyle Smith's team had been chosen to compete at the 2018 Games over Team Murdoch and Team Brewster. On 13 July 2017 Murdoch announced his retirement from his playing career, and will begin coaching.