Rock Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 http://www.nypost.com/seven/07092009/sport...ison_178369.htm Former Devil Brendan Morrison is one offensive center still available on the unrestricted market. Agent Kurt Overhardt refused comment on whether Lamoriello is trying to sign Morrison, but did say "there are a couple of things going on," and that he expects the 33-year-old to sign somewhere in a few days. Meanwhile, Overhardt said negotiations with the Devils for Travis Zajac have not hit any obstacle, despite Zajac's filing for arbitration as a restricted free agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimaira_Devil_#9 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Interesting, we should have all seen this coming, ex Devil and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 We need one, but Morrison....ick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Its the NY POST where accuracy in reporting is optional. "signing somewhere" isn't exactly making him a Devil imminent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Excluding '07-'08, where he played in just 39 games, his point totals over his last five full seasons: 82 GP, 71 PTS 82 GP, 60 PTS 82 GP, 56 PTS 82 GP, 51 PTS 81 GP, 31 PTS Talk about declining...no thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prucenterrules Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Excluding '07-'08, where he played in just 39 games, his point totals over his last five full seasons:82 GP, 71 PTS 82 GP, 60 PTS 82 GP, 56 PTS 82 GP, 51 PTS 81 GP, 31 PTS Talk about declining...no thanks. After a decline like this I don't want him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghdi Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Predictable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostondevil11 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 1 Year deal on the cheap I can deal with anything more than that would just be stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 a 1 million deal for morrison wouldn't be the end of the world. it certainly beats paying malhotra 3 million per season for the next 4 seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 a 1 million deal for morrison wouldn't be the end of the world. it certainly beats paying malhotra 3 million per season for the next 4 seasons. Malhotra is looking for $3m per year????? That is insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Devs Fan Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 After a decline like this I don't want him. After a decline like this he seems perfect to sign with us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrthemike Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 For cheap, sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 After a decline like this he seems perfect to sign with us That's funny....sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 He's not a 2nd line center at this point in his career. Not even close. And he's not quite a clear cut replacement for Madden either if he can salvage his career and give us 40 points then it would be an alright move...but he's on a very rapid decline. this would be a typical Lou move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 He's not a 2nd line center at this point in his career. Not even close. And he's not quite a clear cut replacement for Madden eitherif he can salvage his career and give us 40 points then it would be an alright move...but he's on a very rapid decline. this would be a typical Lou move. what else is out there? the alternatives are paying malhotra and moore for career seasons they're not going to repeat. now if they keep staying unsigned and maybe their price drops to something reasonable, then i'd hope lou would be willing, but anything over 2 million is likely overpayment, and they're not coming here for 1 or 2 years, so save it. elias-morrison-clarkson and rolston-zubrus-bergfors would not be terrible at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 (edited) what else is out there? the alternatives are paying malhotra and moore for career seasons they're not going to repeat. now if they keep staying unsigned and maybe their price drops to something reasonable, then i'd hope lou would be willing, but anything over 2 million is likely overpayment, and they're not coming here for 1 or 2 years, so save it. elias-morrison-clarkson and rolston-zubrus-bergfors would not be terrible at all. Lang, he is older but the best option right now. Big, tough centerman. No real sign of decline if you project his points last season. Elias would have maybe the worst season of his career with Morrison and Clarkson. Clarkson can't pass or take a pass and can only make things happen by bull rushing the net with the puck or trying one of his slow developing toedrag tricks. Morrison was a healthy scratch last season, was overrated even in his prime, and too soft. Edited July 9, 2009 by '7' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Facepainter Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 (edited) He's not a 2nd line center at this point in his career. Not even close. And he's not quite a clear cut replacement for Madden eitherif he can salvage his career and give us 40 points then it would be an alright move...but he's on a very rapid decline. this would be a typical Lou move. All you have to do is have a better plus/minus than madden did, and I don't that will be that hard. A 1 year cheap deal would be a good move. He may still have a 40 pt season left in him, and he should because he's really not that old at 33. Edited July 9, 2009 by The Facepainter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Lang, he is older but the best option right now. Big, tough centerman. No real sign of decline if you project his points last season.Elias would have maybe the worst season of his career with Morrison and Clarkson. lang is finished, he was never tough, and there's no way he repeats last season even if he weren't injured. did you see what happened to robert lang? i can't find it on youtube, but basically his achilles tendon was severed by a skate. he is not a viable option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 elias-morrison-clarkson and rolston-zubrus-bergfors would not be terrible at all. Tri, my problem with that scenario is that Rolston just has to get top-six minutes this season. With his contract, the way he was bounced around last year, and his apparent unhappiness with the club, this is a big year for him. To throw him down on the 3rd line just won't cut it. My vote to start off the season is to try rotating him/Elias between wing and center, with Bergfors on the other wing. That leaves the third line. Morrison won 45% of his faceoffs last year, and I'd rather have a better shot at getting the puck from the circle than that. Zubrus won 51%, and he's never really impressed me as a faceoff artist. If the option is Morrison or Zubrus for the third line, I'd rather take Zubrus. However, if Malhotra is looking for something reasonable (keyword: reasonable) and the Devils could make it work, I think he'd be a great addition to that line. Zubrus-Malhotra-Clarkson would be one hell of a forechecking line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 (edited) Tri, my problem with that scenario is that Rolston just has to get top-six minutes this season. With his contract, the way he was bounced around last year, and his apparent unhappiness with the club, this is a big year for him. To throw him down on the 3rd line just won't cut it. My vote to start off the season is to try rotating him/Elias between wing and center, with Bergfors on the other wing. his unhappiness stems from the fact that aside from his 3 best games of the year, he wasn't used on left wing, which he considers his best position. he was clearly not happy that he was put at center in preseason, basically saying 'well i'll do what the coach tells me, but i haven't played center since i was in boston, etc. etc.' i really don't think he can be a center if he is skating like he was last season, and i think center takes the least advantage of his best asset, his shot. rolston isn't really a one-timer kind of guy either - he likes to have the puck on his stick to shoot it. i think left wing is best for him, and the devils have already got 2 of the best in the league. now if [coach] wanted to move elias back to center, for a rolston-elias-clarkson line, fine, but elias was unhappy at center too. That leaves the third line. Morrison won 45% of his faceoffs last year, and I'd rather have a better shot at getting the puck from the circle than that. Zubrus won 51%, and he's never really impressed me as a faceoff artist. If the option is Morrison or Zubrus for the third line, I'd rather take Zubrus. However, if Malhotra is looking for something reasonable (keyword: reasonable) and the Devils could make it work, I think he'd be a great addition to that line. Zubrus-Malhotra-Clarkson would be one hell of a forechecking line. i've never been convinced of the importance of faceoffs - yeah, malhotra was one of the best. i believe it was vic ferrari who found that after 30 seconds, there is no correlation between winning the previous faceoff and scoring the next goal (i.e. the faceoff winning team no longer has any advantage). i just can't imagine that manny malhotra is still contract-less on july 9 because no one wants him - it's because he wants more than what pahlsson got, he's right to demand that, but the market for the 3 million dollar 3rd line center is gone. Edited July 9, 2009 by Triumph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puckrock Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I would be shocked in Morrison ended up in New Jersey. He left his first tour on a real sour note and even made some disparaging comments about Lou and the Devils to the media afterward. I really can't see Lou being interested in him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moj8681 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Lang, he is older but the best option right now. Big, tough centerman. No real sign of decline if you project his points last season.Elias would have maybe the worst season of his career with Morrison and Clarkson. Clarkson can't pass or take a pass and can only make things happen by bull rushing the net with the puck or trying one of his slow developing toedrag tricks. Morrison was a healthy scratch last season, was overrated even in his prime, and too soft. Robert Lang is tough? Brendan Morrison is not the answer either, though. I feel like at this point, signing anyone will be simply for the sake of signing someone. That translates into bad news in my opinion. Basically, band-aids haven't gotten this team anywhere the past few years, so I'm all for seeing something different (let the kids play and see what they've got). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 his unhappiness stems from the fact that aside from his 3 best games of the year, he wasn't used on left wing, which he considers his best position. he was clearly not happy that he was put at center in preseason, basically saying 'well i'll do what the coach tells me, but i haven't played center since i was in boston, etc. etc.' i really don't think he can be a center if he is skating like he was last season, and i think center takes the least advantage of his best asset, his shot. rolston isn't really a one-timer kind of guy either - he likes to have the puck on his stick to shoot it. i think left wing is best for him, and the devils have already got 2 of the best in the league. now if [coach] wanted to move elias back to center, for a rolston-elias-clarkson line, fine, but elias was unhappy at center too.i've never been convinced of the importance of faceoffs - yeah, malhotra was one of the best. i believe it was vic ferrari who found that after 30 seconds, there is no correlation between winning the previous faceoff and scoring the next goal (i.e. the faceoff winning team no longer has any advantage). i just can't imagine that manny malhotra is still contract-less on july 9 because no one wants him - it's because he wants more than what pahlsson got, he's right to demand that, but the market for the 3 million dollar 3rd line center is gone. Well if you combine these ideas - Rolston doesn't want to play center, Elias doesn't like playing center, faceoff winning doesn't matter - and can make Elias happy at center, seems like the best of both worlds. Elias stinks at faceoffs, but if winning them doesn't matter then who cares... Rolston can move to the left wing and Clarkson (forgot Lou wants him getting bigger minutes) takes the right wing. My problem is that, regardless of statistical analysis about the importance of winning faceoffs, I still think it's important to win faceoffs when you can. I'd much rather see the Devils start with the puck off a faceoff than go into puck-pursuit mode. I guess my preference would be shifting Elias back to center - he did well as a playmaker there - but then again, I'm just a guy sitting at a laptop, so what the hell do I know about Elias' preferenes, ability to backcheck on another center consistently and still have enough energy for offense, etc. I just don't think Morrison is a worthwhile acquisition if it means bumping Rolston out of the top-six. If Langs falters with Zajac & Parise, Rolston deserves first shot on that unit, even if it is RW instead of LW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Devs Fan Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I would be shocked in Morrison ended up in New Jersey. He left his first tour on a real sour note and even made some disparaging comments about Lou and the Devils to the media afterward. I really can't see Lou being interested in him. Yeah, but you look at Holik and Lemieux and realize Lou has a way of looking past that if he thinks it is best for the team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Isn't Langs career over??? I don't think he is coming back from that cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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