The Stars have picked up center Brendan Morrison on waivers, and I think that's a great deal for Dallas.
I'll start with the bad. He might not be 100 percent healed from knee surgery, and that's why the Ducks are moving him. He also is listed as making $2.75 million, which means he will cost about $650,000 for the remainder of the season, and that's another reason the Ducks are moving him.
Now, for the good parts. He is a great person, a good leader, a solid power play player, and a versatile forward. He can play center or he can play wing. He's another lefty (which is bad), but he can help bridge the gap until Brad Richards gets back. He and Marty Turco were teammates at the University of Michigan, and Morrison won the Hobey Baker Trophy there as college player of the year. He made his name in Vancouver as part of the Bertuzzi-Morrison-Naslund line that killed the Stars for a couple of years, and he's only 33, which means he still has some gas left in the tank.
By the way, Morrison is the brother-in-law of Stars analyst Daryl Reaugh (Morrison's wife and Razor's wife are sisters).
He's the right player at the right time for the Stars. As for concerns: What do you do with him when Richards is healthy? (You cross that bridge when you get there). Does his acquisition stunt the growth of Brian Sutherby at a time when Sutherby really looks like a possible answer to play with skilled kids like Neal, Brunnstrom or Eriksson? (That is something that I believe is a serious concern)
_Mike Heika
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