First, I would be curious to get others' opinions on whether the Canes should consider signing Brenden Morrow.
Click here to take a short Brenden Morrow survey
Little by little over the course of the summer the list of NHL free agents has dwindled. Strangely though, the situation with regard to the Canes seems to be indefinitely stuck in pause mode. In mid-July arguably the 2 biggest names swirling around Hurricanes fans’ brains and on Twitter were Ron Hainsey on defense and Brenden Morrow at forward. It now seems like an eternity later almost in September and both are still available. Pre-training camp skating groups should grow significantly following the Olympic camps and Labor Day weekend, so one would expect that both of these players will sign soon.
The Canes have added decent options at forward in Nathan Gerbe and Aaron Palushaj but neither are sure NHLers. And there are still 4-5 openings at forward. So why Brenden Morrow? Or why not Brenden Morrow?
To be honest, I am torn. I think much of it is that I do not have a real good feel for what even the 2012-13 version of Brenden Morrow looks like on the ice with the short season and the lack of cross-conference play (though he did finish the season in Pittsburgh).
On the positive, there is much to like about Brenden Morrow:
--He adds size and nastiness. With some of the liberties taken with Jeff Skinner in recent years and now the addition of 18-year-old Elias Lindholm to the mix, it helps to have enough Mike Komisareks, Tim Gleasons, Jay Harrisons and Brenden Morrows as long as they can also play. Though helpful for similar reasons, a player like Kevin Westgarth does little to help this situation with his limited ice time and his heavyweight ranking that gives the pests an easy opt out.
--He adds leadership. He has worn a letter (most recently a C) on his jersey for awhile. I would not say that adding leadership is a must for the Canes, but more is never a bad thing.
--His 35-point pace in Dallas in 2011-12 and his high 20s points pace in 2012-13 in Dallas could suggest that he is hitting a cliff not a hill in terms of production. But then his short stint in Pittsburgh where he put up 14 points in 15 games suggests that he still has a bit more in the tank and maybe just needed a change of scenery.
I would not so much use the word negative for anything about Morrow, but I think there are question marks:
--Most significant for me and to this situation is mobility at this stage of his career especially as relates to playing in Muller's system. If the Canes sat back in the neutral zone a bit more, I think it would be less of an issue, but under Muller the team does not. Forwards need to be able play from red line to end line coming forward on the forecheck and quickly from end line back to red line backchecking. As desperately as Canes coach Kirk Muller wants to add some size and physicality to the lineup, 2012-13 showed that it is not as simple as plugging in big bodies who will hit. Muller ran a revolving door of auditions for the role of bottom 6 player with size and physicality. Tim Wallace, Jeremy Welsh, Brett Sutter, Nicolas Blanchard, Adam Hall and Jared Staal all gave it a run. What was clear and to me pretty much across the board was the need to be at least average skating-wise to fill this role in Muller’s system. The ice and gaps to be closed just looked huge when most of these players were on the ice leaving the Canes defense thin and stretched out once the first pass beat any of them.
My fear is that a 34-year-old Brenden Morrow who has a lot of tough miles behind him could be a misfit in the same way. He would not need to be an 18-19 minute/game every situation player which helps, but for his price he also cannot be a 6-8 minute 4th-liner for whom you have to shield and carefully pick situations and matchups either. He would need to be capable of playing 14-15 minutes per game in a 2nd or 3rd line role, be decent defensively and provide secondary scoring.
I will hold off on where I ultimately am with regard to Morrow until after people have an unbiased shot at the survey. I will add my 2c to the comments/forum either late tonight or otherwise tomorrow and will put up survey results too.
What say you Canes fans? Does Brenden Morrow still have 1 more good year in the tank? Are my concerns about his mobility and its importance in Muller’s system overblown? At the right price, would you take him for the intangibles and experience alone?
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