I’d love to hear more about Scott Morrow. 6’2 RD with massive upside, especially offensively. Sounds like the main knock on him is the level of competition he played against. People/scouts said the same thing about Jr. A defensemen like Makar and Fabbro though.
Leaving the first round with Hughes + Morrow sounds extremely appealing. Highly doubt Morrow lasts until our 2nd round pick. What are your takes on Morrow in the 1st?
Just in case you haven’t seen this, @StevenToddIves write up on Morrow:
2021 Draft Profile:
RD Scott Morrow, Shattuck St.Mary's USHS
There are a lot of players who are tough to evaluate for the 2021 simply because they are playing in different leagues than their ability and development would ordinarily dictate due to the pandemic. Earlier today, I wrote up winger Fabian Lysell, who is playing in the Swedish men's league to his detriment, since he is not physically developed yet. Darien, CT native Scott Morrow has the opposite problem -- he's a highly athletic specimen in a man's body (6'2-195) who is playing against high school kids who are not even in his stratosphere, talent wise. This makes a defenseman -- especially an offensive-minded one -- difficult to assess. Many of the mistakes he makes on gambles he does not pay for, simply because the competition cannot get the puck away from him, or they've backed away from him too far to take advantage, or because Morrow can catch most opposing forwards from behind with two strong strides.
However, in an uncertain draft year, we need to concentrate on the fact that, after Brandt Clarke, Scott Morrow is one of the two front runners (along with Corson Ceulemans) as the most gifted RD in the class. He's a phenomenal 4-way skater with excellent offensive instincts and a silky set of hands. Taking into account the competition, I've seen highlight-reel plays of Morrow weaving through the entire opposing team to score a ridiculous goal. He's also possessing terrific passing vision and the foresight to make quick shifts in the offensive zone to open up passing lanes, which he is all aces at hitting with authority and acuity. His breakout passing game is absolutely terrific, and (again) against sub-par competition he is always looking for the stretch pass when he has time in his own zone. There is a metric ton of projection for a high school defenseman to be certain, but in this particular scenario in this particular draft year we must focus on the fact that all the tools and mental abilities exist in this kid to be a very serious asset to an NHL blueline. If there's a flaw in Morrow's offensive arsenal, it's that he really needs to improve the accuracy of his shot. I like the potential here -- as Morrow is an athletic kid with strength and power and a good release -- but at times it seems he's just unloading with no idea where the thing will wind up.
As terrific as Morrow is offensively, he's very difficult to get a grip on defensively. When he is engaged, he shows great gaps and is very difficult to beat one-on-one. But the consistency of effort is not always there. Maybe it's because his competition is beneath him? Morrow can start the first period as a good defender, and then develop a score of bad habits by the third. It's almost as if he gets bored if he has not done anything spectacular in a few shifts, and then will take unnecessary risks which lead to scoring opportunities for the opposition. This is connected to his other problem, where sometimes he can beat two men and seem surprised by the appearance of a third defender, leading to coughing up the puck with solid regularity.
Make no mistake, Scott Morrow is a legitimate NHL talent for the mid-to-late first round. You're going to need to be patient and development and coaching will be crucial in his development, but he's going to an outstanding North Dakota program next year. We're talking about a kid who certainly has mid-pairing upside and maybe even more. RDs this size with this type of superlative skating and such silky hands do not come around very often. I'm mentioning him early on in my draft profiles because -- as we all know -- the Devils are organizationally desperate at the position of RD. Brandt Clarke is the runaway top option at the position -- a surefire top 7 pick. But the only other serious contenders to be taken in the first round (albeit in the bottom half) are Morrow and Ceulemans. I'm uncertain as of yet who I'm ranking higher out of the two -- they are both high upside potential NHLers with significant risk attached. But if the Devils find themselves acquiring a second pick in the first round after the trade deadline (Mr. Fitzgerald, we're looking at you), Scott Morrow is certainly a name which should be attracting a great deal of attention from New Jersey fans.
