Report: Jeremy Morin Wants Out
After the Blackhawks win in Nashville, the Chicago Sun-Times published a report that forward Jeremy Morin wants the team to either play him or trade him.
With Patrick Sharp coming back soon, how much longer will Morin be in the press box as a member of the Blackhawks?
Morin, 23, has zero points in 15 games this season. His point total isn’t the only part of his game at the bottom of the stat sheet for the Blackhawks this season. Morin also has the lowest ice time average per game – 7:44 – of anyone to dress for the Hawks this season.
On June 24, 2010, Morin was the key prospect that came back to Chicago in the biggest salary dump trade in the wake of the franchise’s Cup victory. Morin came to the Hawks with Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and a couple draft picks in the deal that sent Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Akim Aliu to the then-Atlanta Thrashers.
Since then, Morin has played in 54 games at the NHL level, scoring eight goals while adding eight assists.
He’s dealt with some injuries in the AHL over the last few years, but was a solid producer for the IceHogs. Last season, Morin had 24 goals and 23 assists in 47 games in Rockford and saw modest success with the Hawks, posting 11 points in 24 games.
Over the summer, the Hawks decided to keep Morin around and gave him a two-year deal with an $800k cap hit. But he hasn’t been able to get on the ice consistently in the new season, and every day it appears that another prospect has jumped him in the eyes of the front office.
That he wants to go isn’t surprising; he would follow former Rockford teammates Brandon Pirri, Jimmy Hayes and Dylan Olsen out the door.
So where could the Hawks trade him?
- Edmonton – the sky continues to fall with the Oilers. They’re supposedly looking to make a significant shake-up… and might be looking to do something bigger than just bringing in a player like Morin.
- Florida – because Dale Tallon loves him some former Blackhawks.
- Columbus – they’re banged up and trying(?) to get out of the cellar in the NHL. If they get healthy, they’re a tough team to play against, and adding a player with Morin’s ability for next-to-nothing may be attractive to them.
- New Jersey – another team struggling with injuries, and an ancient roster. Bringing in a forward under the age of 35 might be a nice change of pace for the Devils.
- Philadelphia – the most underwhelming team east of the Mississippi has been openly talking about making changes. Maybe the Hawks could send him to Philly a decade later to complete the Sharp deal?
- Pittsburgh – they just added former IceHogs forward Rob Klinkhammer at the end of the week, but they’re now looking at going forward without Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Beau Bennett and Patric Hornqvist.
Junior should move him if at all possible if a reasonable, productive exchange is offered. There’s clearly no projection that puts him into the lineup especially with Sharpie coming back. Get what we can and cut bait.
I hope he gets the opportunity elsewhere and eventually is productive; but not against us.
I still think it’s a mistake to move him. We’ll miss him come playoffs when we are short on physical guys who’ll crash the net, as he does.
hmmm we are 7-1 in the last 8 games he has sat. Playing our best hockey of the year against many playoff caliber teams. I think it might be unreasonable to expect him to produce much in the playoffs if he didn’t play/produce in the regular season. Wish it was different for him, but it’s hard to argue with current results.
Jeff S–But look what he did last year down the stretch. He was strong, going to the net, scoring. He’s been a scorer throughout his career. I think he’s not been used correctly or given a fair shot. Wall some articles ago even stated he was tempted to suggest that maybe Morin should be on the top line, given his natural skills. And as for earlier this year, many of our guys weren’t doing much. If utilized right, he’s an asset. They should hold onto him and play him more.
I don’t blame him. He has been a good soldier, worked on his game and waited for his time. For some reason, unknown to me, he has not passed muster with Q. He deserves a chance to go to another team that will give him a better opportunity to get his NHL career on track. I say that from the perspective that the Hawks have other guys that can be plugged into the lineup and Morin is very expendable.
#freemorin
Reluctantly I concur with EbonyRaptor…15 games 0-0-0 speaks for itself but very little ice time to showcase anything hampers that stat. “What if” scenarios going back to last years playoffs with Sr, Brad controversy Hanzus/Morin and on and on it goes. TT yet to come into the show, its too tight.
I brought this up about a week ago. Morin isnt much different from Hayes & McNeil. With Kane and Hossa occupying rw spots it doesn’t leave a big role for Morin considering he isnt a special teams guy. Special teams is a big reason why Shaw(pp) & Smith(pk) dress every game.
I was surprised when Morin resigned. I wont be surprised wheb he is moved. Hopefully they can atleast get something for him
Tab, I laughed out loud with the Philly / Sharp comment.
Nice piece Tab. When I read about this I immediately went to capgeek to see who suitors may be. I then realized why trades can be so difficult to complete. I think the one team you missed was the Coyotes. Personally I’d like to see Morin and Bickell packaged together. If you really want to get crazy Morin and Sharp but I’m not too keen on that idea myself. I think the only trade I would do with Sharp involved might be for Eberle.
If you package Bickell and Morin I wouldnt mind seeing Shane Doan come wear the Indian head. That only works if Arizona is willing to retain salary. Another guy I would love seeing is Wayne Simmonds. These are probably all pipe dreams and I doubt Stan wants to change the team dynamic that drastically right now. No need to.
I always thought of Morin as a left winger. Not that that really clears a path to get him playing anyway, but could it be part of his production slip? Or is it simply playing too sporadic of minutes when he did play and seeing guys get double shifted rather than rolling four lines. Brad Richards is exhibit A with what happens when you play a regular shift with the same line. Granted the guys next to you help a ton.
I think they should play him more and give it some time to work. He’s proven he can do the job when he gets some consistent ice time. The Hawks are going to have to trade someone with a big salary hit before next season, and he is not it. So better to trade someone who does have a big salary cap hit then to lose someone like Morin.
Even though were not going be to keep everyone. The cap is going to go up a few & with the escalator could have it around 74ish anyways. Krugs will sign a friendly deal.
Theres no reason to trade anyone now/during season until we need room to add. Unless were trading 11/6/picks for a good D man like Sekera (% retained). Although by trading 11 now it would be good to bank more cap space for deadline. Were going to add a D man at/before deadline for more depth no matter how many good young D prospects we have.
“Enjoy this yr, etc.” Sure and the next 5 (and probably 5 more after that) because all of the top teams near cap/their cap arnt going to be able to keep everyone they have as well/and they do not have top5ish Farms (except ANA).
Build and maintain from within.
So if Morin is traded away for essentially nothing does that mean the Hawks essentially received nothing in the Big Buff trade? I understand it was a salary dump situation, but still I don’t like it. Keep Morin, he’s only 23 plays physical and the Hawks can’t give Big Buff away for nothing.
“Trade me right frickin’ now then hang up the phone” ! ” hello? “…
Guys I gotta go with Q’s decision on him. He obviously sees /knows something about this guy that we aren’t privy to like maybe he’s part Neanderthal? So far it’s hard to argue with success! He’ s been a good soldier up to know keeping his mouth shut and keeping with the company line with all his comments to the press. The kid deserves a shot in this league time to cut him loose and get what we can for him. Truthfully, I’ve seen him have lapses on the ice with control over his emotions and has taken more than a few bad penalties, but it might just come from his over all frustration level with this team. But I do agree with Ivan S. He does goes to the net which somehow is a trait that sometimes eludes more than a few of our forwards on any given night except lately! Trade him and get what we can for him, give the kid a chance somewhere where it won’t come back to bite us on the rear….
P. S. Can’t package him with Bicksy cause we’re gonna need him come playoff time, but after this year he’ll be gone also! Hard to see the cap getting any bigger in today’s economy! And if that happen, Katie bar the door! We’re gonna see a big turn over in personnel the same as after we won’t it all in 2010! Enjoy this while can boys!
I think there is no need to trade him now – would be selling low and hurt the depth we need for SC run in the spring. Send Nordstrom down and rotate Morin with Carcillo or play both in case of an injury. Then evaluate the situation at the trade deadline and in case there will be a need for 1 more experienced Dman, there is a chance to package Morin and picks for him.
After the season it will be a perfect time to trade Sharp – his value should be as high as ever, since he is very consistent and productive player for most of last 10 seasons, just 33 at the end of the season and signed to very reasonable deal for 2 more years (anual salary 5,5 and 5 mil.).
I also expect a strong possibility Bickell could be moved after the season, but would keep him for playoffs for sure.
Projected lineup for 2015/16:
CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
Blackhawks 2015/16
FORWARDS
Brandon Saad ($4.000m) / Jonathan Toews ($10.500m) / Marian Hossa ($5.275m)
Kris Versteeg ($2.200m) / Teuvo Teravainen ($0.894m) / Patrick Kane ($10.500m)
Bryan Bickell ($4.000m) / Andrew Shaw ($2.000m) / Mark McNeill ($0.863m)
Joakim Nordstrom ($0.650m) / Marcus Kruger ($1.800m) / Ben Smith ($1.500m)
Daniel Carcillo ($0.750m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Brent Seabrook ($5.800m) / Duncan Keith ($5.538m)
Niklas Hjalmarsson ($4.100m) / Ville Pokka ($0.925m)
Klas Dahlbeck ($0.650m) / Trevor Van Riemsdyk ($0.925m)
David Rundblad ($0.750m) /
GOALTENDERS
Corey Crawford ($6.000m)
Antti Raanta ($0.750m)
BUYOUTS
Steve Montador ($0.000m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
——
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2015-16)
SALARY CAP: $71,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $70,370,962; BONUSES: $1,600,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $629,038
Wouldn’t be afraid to use a young Dmen for 4-7th spot during the regular season, as most of them will gain some experince in the NHL this season and there is a plenty to choose from if someone will fail with Clendo, Johns and Brennan all more than ready for trial.
And there is always a possibility to add experienced dman for the SC run at the trade deadline.
In case Bickell will be moved after this season, it would definitely make sense to keep Morin around to compete for the roster spot with McNeill, Hartman, Ross, Danault or whoever we would get in Sharp / Bickell deal.
Also there would be possible to sign Oduya for 2 more years of cap friendly deal and consider to trade him after next season with 1 year remaining based on contract evaluation of Seabrook, TVR, Versteeg, Hossa, Shaw, Smith and maybe suprisingly Crawford, in case of consistently good effort from Raanta and Darling.
Just don’t panic and try to maximize the value of all assets.
From Twitter:
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · Dec 6
With teams worried about Cap not going up, word is early estimate to clubs going to be “mid-to-low” $70M range…
With a 73m cap, trading Bicks 4.0 would allow us to keep entire core (and 16 & 20).
Hossa, Toews, Sharp, Shaw, Carcillo, Versteeg… What happens if we’re down two of any of these guys at any point? Sucks for Morin but we need the depth.
I looks like the cap is projecting to be around $73 million if the Canadian dollar stays where it is , so not all doom and gloom.
still means at least one of 29,10, 50 or other is gone!!!
So what do you get for 29… nothing – as of now…
I am still not against selling High ( 50 or 10) -especially if Sasquatch and Raanta continue to put up great #’s
I think my biggest beef is that SB and Q need to get on the same page about prospects. I don’t care if Morin stays or goes (but would rotate him with Carcillo). But why would SB sign him for 2 years knowing Q does not want to play him.
So lets get conspiratorial. SB signed Morin knowing he would be trade bait. Q plays him for the first 15 games hoping he would gather 7-8 points. SB could then trade him for a couple decent draft picks………Oh, Q only plays him 7 minutes a game (should still have a few points) but he comes up empty. SB now has to trade him for a 6th rounder……..that’s life.
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