As the Dallas Stars approach the lockout-shortened 2013 season, they do so facing the very real possibility that it will be the final campaign that long-tenured team captain
Brenden Morrow will spend as a member of the team. It would not be surprising at all, in fact, if Morrow does not finish the season as a Star if the team is not in serious playoff contention by the time the trade deadline looms on April 3.
Morrow, who turned 34 earlier this week, has spent his entire career in the Dallas organization and has been the captain since 2006. Now, coming off a severely injury-plagued season, he enters the final season of his contract. He was limited to 57 games and 11 goals last season after a resurgent 2010-11 season that saw him score 30-plus goals for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
This season, he will have to accept a reduced on-ice role compared to the one he played even early last season. Barring injuries in the top two lines, Morrow will no longer get much power play time, nor will he regularly skate among the top six forwards.
It has to be a bitter pill for an athlete with as much competitive spirit as Morrow to come to grips with being gradually phased out. Morrow is also a professional and a team-oriented player, so he's handled the reduction of his ice time with class. Deep down, however, you know that he's eager to show the Stars (and other teams) that he still has some good hockey -- and gritty goals -- left in him.
There is little doubt that
Jamie Benn will be the Stars' next captain. Yesterday, team owner Tom Gagliardi expressed hopefulness that the team's top line center will be signed in time to be in the lineup on opening weekend. Even if he's not, it seems as if Benn will be back in Dallas shortly.
Morrow
told the Dallas Morning News earlier this month getting Benn's contract wrapped up needs to management's main focus while the coach and players prepare themselves for tomorrow's opener against the Phoenix Coyotes.
"Anyone who’s watched our games has seen him take over," said Morrow of Benn. "He’s the star of the team. You only get a few of those talents, and you have to lock them up when you get them."
Brenden Morrow knows that the Dallas Stars have become Benn's team, even though the former is still the one with the C on his uniform. That's not to say that Morrow does not plan to continue leading the team as long as he is a member. Rather, the incumbent captain and the other members of the leadership group in the locker room -- which in a state of transition right now -- understand that Benn will need to steer the team once they are gone. It was Morrow, after all, who had the unenviable task of succeeding Mike Modano as the Stars' captain.
Morrow has a no-trade clause in his contract. However, if the Stars are in a position where it makes sense to shop the impending UFA before the trade deadline, Morrow is likely to agree to leave the only NHL organization with whom he's ever been employed.
Before that time comes, whether it is this spring or this summer, Morrow is out to show that he is still the type of player that winning teams need. It would be great if that can still happen in Dallas. If it happens elsewhere, so be it.
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