The life of a General Manager. In just 24 short hours, Bruins mastermind Peter Chiarelli has arguably revamped the Boston blue-line for the better with the signing of Derek Morris.When the Bruins traded away fan favorite Aaron Ward, the thought process among NHL fans was "Oh, this makes sense, they do need to keep Phil Kessel and they creates the cap space to do so.". However, the internet started to buzz once again when Chiarelli stated that the move was made because he "had his eye on another defensemen".
Certainly with a limited amount of cap space, the options seemed slim. Many thought the Bruins were going to gamble on the recovering Sergei Zubov, while others thought the B's were poised to steal Mathieu Schneider away from the Canadiens. It turned out 90% of people in the Hub of Hockey were wrong as the Bruins signed puck-moving defensemen Derek Morris to a one-year deal worth 3.3 million dollars.
Bye-bye Kessel. Or at least it's beginning to seem that way, isn't it? With Chiarelli confirming that he was "done for a while", the future of the man who wears 81 remains in limbo, a spot that Kessel has become accustomed to. Considering the B's currently have enough players signed to the roster to put a product on the ice for opening night and plenty of depth at the right wing (Ryder, Kobasew, Recchi, Bitz, Wheeler) it seems more likely that Kessel won't be lighting the lamp at the TD Bank Garden for the Bruins come October 1st.
In the mean time, the mystery around the signing of Derek Morris is beginning to grow. Is he the puck-mover that the Bruins have been desperately seeking? Or is he just a rental player for arguably the Bruins best chance for a Cup come 2009-10? I for one, believe that Morris is simply a rental for this upcoming season when considering the crop of players with expiring contracts.
Despite the addition of the offensive upside that Morris brings to the table, is the price tag reasonable? Then I remember, this is the first month of free agency, nothing's reasonable. Again, I for one don't believe that Derek Morris is a player worth 3.3 million dollars considering the woeful season he had in the desert in Phoenix. Although his struggles were mighty with the 'Yotes, the 30-year-old seemed to regain his offensive spark when he was dealt to the New York Rangers.
When the season concluded, Morris finished with just 20 points and a -10 between Arizona and the Blueshirts. Undoubtedly, Morris' bright spot came with the Rangers, as he put up 8 points in 18 games.
This tenure with the Rangers was Morris' first trip playing for an Eastern Conference team and with the Edmonton-native slated to play along side Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara, it's entirely possible that Bruins fans and the rest of the Eastern Conference can see the revitalization of a player once thought to be dead in the desert.
2 comments:
People argue that 3.3 is too much, and it is, but the fact it is only a one year deal makes it OK. I like the idea of Morris at 3.3 for 1 year better then Morris at say 4.6 over 2 years because of the contracts that need to be signed next year. I still think they need another d-man, I don't like the idea of Boychuk as the only option in case of injury
I agree. You know Andrew Ference or Matt Hunwick are bound to get some sort of minor injury throughout the course of the NHL season, and it'd be nice to have a steady option ready to take the ice. There's some guys out there such as Rhett Warrener, Kyle McLaren and even Chris Chelios looking for new homes. If the team were able to get them for league minimum, I'd have no objections to them becoming the Bruins 7th defensemen and playing 20 games or so.
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