Prospect Info: 2023-24 prospect information - BUT WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY?!

[Anton Dubinchuk]

We can always start him opening night, say “welp that didn’t work” and send him down anyway.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

We can always start him opening night, say “welp that didn’t work” and send him down anyway.

I mean yea, would make it harder to keep long term but its a method

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I mean yea, would make it harder to keep long term but its a method

It’s a 3 year ELC, if he’s good enough to make the team it’ll be apparent within a few weeks of training camp and if not, he can’t get mad that we’re “blocking” him.

 

[bleedgreen]

If you have been touted and even told by the organization that you’re good enough, why settle for the AHL? These guys have finite windows to make their money, especially now with metrics and the cap shortening their earning potential. I don’t really take much from college coaches playing certain players in certain situations than others. College coaches have more to balance than winning games. Keeping guys from transferring, showing they play a bunch of guys to entice recruits, and keeping guys fresher for their strengths to help later in the game.

Should we guarantee him a slot? Thats a whole different discussion. My answer is clouded. No is my original answer but if we truly believe Morrow is atleast a 2nd pairing offensive RHD then we have to. If he truly struggles we go get a defensive defender at the deadline and call it a day. Reassess in the offseason.

I think our main disagreement here is the college coaching aspect. It’s gotten worse since my last post about the preference for Ufko. I don’t know if the coach is just trying things or likes the idea of balancing the lineup but he’s separated Ufko and Morrow the last two weeks….as they head into the tournaments. They’ve been a pairing for a couple of years, with Morrow being removed (?!?) in key defensive situations like the end of games they’re winning or defensive zone late period draws. They have separated them 5v5 and Ufko’s pairing is the first one though at even strength they play the top four a ton. Now in all of those key situations they just play the top pair. Also after a couple of years and a ton of success they’ve separated them on the pp with Ufko being the qb and successfully feeding Morrow in the Ovy spot. Morrow now Qb’s the second unit which is fun to watch but obviously he gets less playing time. Morrow is also the dman on the second unit for 3v3 despite being the highest scoring dman ever for them. Ufko is close to breaking that old record as well, last weekend he won the first game in a breakaway, tied the second game on the pp and then won it also on the pp. I don’t know if they’ll keep them separated like this but it’s fascinating that in what could both of their last days in college that Morrow is playing less. He’s still a stud when he gets the puck, but he forces it individually quite a bit. The coach at least right now has made his preference clear. Morrow has taken a further back seat as they prepare for the tournament. Morrow is fighting it by driving the puck all game when he gets it. I like that he wants to make an impact so much, but he forces it. That can be fixed of course.

You’re right, the coach is playing to win and his choices at this point are really surprising. I know you didn’t put much into it, but I do. He can’t earn the trust of his college coach defensively despite being a stud. Not PK’ing at all? By his junior year? I don’t think I’ve seen it to this extreme in the NCAA before. There’s zero defensive faith. What we don’t know is if Scott is really that bad at it or if he just refuses to buy into what the coaches want so they just say “fine, we’ll play these other guys despite you being the obvious choice”. Rod is 100% tougher to impress than his college coach, though Rod isn’t gm and doesn’t get to pick his defenseman. He only gets to decide how to use the ones he’s given.

Your last paragraph is spot on, we’ll see what he really wants here pretty soon.

 

[DaveG]

The problem with Morrow, and somewhat fox too, if we aren’t giving them a spot they aren’t signing here. He has rebuffed AHL time twice already, I don’t see it a third time. We may sign veterans but as mentors and possibly give him a game off to watch from the 1000 foot view of what we are talking about. I have my doubts he signs if we say you have vets to beat out and if you don’t you’re going to Springfield (or whatever the AHL team is).

From what I've gathered he only turned it down after his Freshman year. At least from what I've been told we didn't offer last season due to the uncertain affiliate situation. Weird as it is to say this may actually be a good season to attempt to sign him due to the UFA situation, ie: "yeah, I know we have 4 NHL RD already, but 3 of those are impending UFAs right now, and Chatfield is probably the only one we're going to be able to keep. You'll have the inside track to earn a spot in camp and we can't make that same promise after next season if you don't sign."

 

[Chrispy]

I think our main disagreement here is the college coaching aspect. It’s gotten worse since my last post about the preference for Ufko. I don’t know if the coach is just trying things or likes the idea of balancing the lineup but he’s separated Ufko and Morrow the last two weeks….as they head into the tournaments. They’ve been a pairing for a couple of years, with Morrow being removed (?!?) in key defensive situations like the end of games they’re winning or defensive zone late period draws. They have separated them 5v5 and Ufko’s pairing is the first one though at even strength they play the top four a ton. Now in all of those key situations they just play the top pair. Also after a couple of years and a ton of success they’ve separated them on the pp with Ufko being the qb and successfully feeding Morrow in the Ovy spot. Morrow now Qb’s the second unit which is fun to watch but obviously he gets less playing time. Morrow is also the dman on the second unit for 3v3 despite being the highest scoring dman ever for them. Ufko is close to breaking that old record as well, last weekend he won the first game in a breakaway, tied the second game on the pp and then won it also on the pp. I don’t know if they’ll keep them separated like this but it’s fascinating that in what could both of their last days in college that Morrow is playing less. He’s still a stud when he gets the puck, but he forces it individually quite a bit. The coach at least right now has made his preference clear. Morrow has taken a further back seat as they prepare for the tournament. Morrow is fighting it by driving the puck all game when he gets it. I like that he wants to make an impact so much, but he forces it. That can be fixed of course.

You’re right, the coach is playing to win and his choices at this point are really surprising. I know you didn’t put much into it, but I do. He can’t earn the trust of his college coach defensively despite being a stud. Not PK’ing at all? By his junior year? I don’t think I’ve seen it to this extreme in the NCAA before. There’s zero defensive faith. What we don’t know is if Scott is really that bad at it or if he just refuses to buy into what the coaches want so they just say “fine, we’ll play these other guys despite you being the obvious choice”. Rod is 100% tougher to impress than his college coach, though Rod isn’t gm and doesn’t get to pick his defenseman. He only gets to decide how to use the ones he’s given.

Your last paragraph is spot on, we’ll see what he really wants here pretty soon.

This makes me think it’s more likely Morrow would turn pro if he feels he’s being underutilized by his coach.

 

[spockBokk]

Watching the UMass - Maine game on ESPN+, cause why not…Nadeau, Morrow and Mecuri playing

Mercuri has scored already

Haven’t yet noticed Nadeau

Morrow is big, has thrown some hits one on Nadeau so far, and most strange to me, Morrow was the net front on the only UMass power plan so far. He does look bigger than most guys out there.

That’s all I got.

 

[bleedgreen]

Watching the UMass - Maine game on ESPN+, cause why not…Nadeau, Morrow and Mecuri playing

Mercuri has scored already

Haven’t yet noticed Nadeau

Morrow is big, has thrown some hits one on Nadeau so far, and most strange to me, Morrow was the net front on the only UMass power plan so far. He does look bigger than most guys out there.

That’s all I got.

Lol I’ve been hoping you guys start watching some of these games. Seems like all the umass and Maine games are on espn plus, and it’s awesome when they play each other.

I thought I was going nuts thinking Morrow was playing net front and low bumper! I’m just glad he got put back onto the first unit. He was getting less time with the second which made no sense. This last pp they never really set up so we couldn’t see for sure, it looked like Morrow initially was playing up front again but backed up and helped the breakout when they couldn’t take the zone.

Seems like the coach is just throwing crap against the wall with the pp. The Nadeau’s set up the last goal for Maine. Great game.

 

[bleedgreen]

The Maine band just crushed “Brass Bonanza” during a stoppage. I mean crushed it. High tempo with the brass so loud I almost turned the volume down. Brought a tear to my eye…

I’ve been turned and am now rooting for Maine.

 

[Bub]

Watched the third just now -- UMass looks so much bigger, and controlled the play much of the third but a bad outlet from...Morrow...led to the GWG by Maine. Good period!

 

[bleedgreen]

With a minute left in the game, Morrow threw a puck right up the middle that got picked off. Maine immediately buried it to break the tie. He and Ufko did everything they could to tie it up with the goalie pulled but no go. They lost home ice for the hockey East tournament by not getting the win they needed tonight. They had it in the bag heading into the weekend but they lost both games to the higher ranked Maine. Rough finish.

 

[w e l o s t b o y s]

With a minute left in the game, Morrow threw a puck right up the middle that got picked off. Maine immediately buried it to break the tie. He and Ufko did everything they could to tie it up with the goalie pulled but no go. They lost home ice for the hockey East tournament by not getting the win they needed tonight. They had it in the bag heading into the weekend but they lost both games to the higher ranked Maine. Rough finish.

looked like he hit his own player in the ass with it, not that that's any better

 

[WreckingCrew]

looked like he hit his own player in the ass with it, not that that's any better

So he's already a Hurricane!?!?!?

 

[htdoc]

Lol I’ve been hoping you guys start watching some of these games. Seems like all the umass and Maine games are on espn plus, and it’s awesome when they play each other.

I noticed they were on ESPN+ and I’ve been watching as well.. too much hockey watching lately and missing the rest of the world a bit

I’m seeing the stuff you are pointing out. He looks good at times and sooo has the frame and look and there are flashes of skating edge work that makes him jump out as outclassing the rest of the players around him... You can see the tools are there…. With time and effort to improve no doubt he will play in the league…. But there is zero chance he plays on an nhl roster next year based on what I have watched this season….Brindy will have him plastered to the bench and playing everyone else extra minutes if management forces him to have Morrow on the roster.. there are a lot of defensive issues where he is just totally lost….. no way he can play the man to man in our system. I can just imagine certain posters that rail on our current players and what they would say with morrow out there by comparison…

 

[DaveG]

Lol I’ve been hoping you guys start watching some of these games. Seems like all the umass and Maine games are on espn plus, and it’s awesome when they play each other.

I thought I was going nuts thinking Morrow was playing net front and low bumper! I’m just glad he got put back onto the first unit. He was getting less time with the second which made no sense. This last pp they never really set up so we couldn’t see for sure, it looked like Morrow initially was playing up front again but backed up and helped the breakout when they couldn’t take the zone.

Seems like the coach is just throwing crap against the wall with the pp. The Nadeau’s set up the last goal for Maine. Great game.

Yeah, ESPN+ is great for catching Hockey East games. Mostly just been a matter of the shift I work being so f***ing asinine that I'm lucky if I catch a period of a game, not exaggerating.

 

[bleedgreen]

Yeah, ESPN+ is great for catching Hockey East games. Mostly just been a matter of the shift I work being so f***ing asinine that I'm lucky if I catch a period of a game, not exaggerating.

I’ve been a little lucky this year, and I’ve been able to get back into college hockey. I used to go see DU all the time. ESPN plus has been pretty huge. I think I watched part of one or two UMass games Morrow’s freshman year. Three or four last year and I’ve already got that or more this year with the good stuff still ahead. I’m looking forward to catching some of the hockey East tournament and the big dance.

It helps I’m recovering from back surgery and still can’t do much. Frankly it’s a shit silver lining but it’s something.

 

[bleedgreen]

I noticed they were on ESPN+ and I’ve been watching as well.. too much hockey watching lately and missing the rest of the world a bit

I’m seeing the stuff you are pointing out. He looks good at times and sooo has the frame and look and there are flashes of skating edge work that makes him jump out as outclassing the rest of the players around him... You can see the tools are there…. With time and effort to improve no doubt he will play in the league…. But there is zero chance he plays on an nhl roster next year based on what I have watched this season….Brindy will have him plastered to the bench and playing everyone else extra minutes if management forces him to have Morrow on the roster.. there are a lot of defensive issues where he is just totally lost….. no way he can play the man to man in our system. I can just imagine certain posters that rail on our current players and what they would say with morrow out there by comparison…

He’s been such a tough player to read at times. He’s actually pretty good defending the rush, he steps up and tries to be physical. Once they get stuck in the zone he’s behind reading the play, realizing a half second late where the puck is going all game. Low intensity, even when it becomes clear he’s behind the play and it’s time for desperation. Seemingly confused on what went wrong.

He really only seems comfortable when he has the puck, which is often where the adventure really begins sometimes despite it being such a strong suit. He saunters with medium energy through the nuetral zone, sometimes he hits the open guy but he often has the blinders on and keeps it which throws all his teammates off and kills the timing of the breakout - just to have to dump it in when he runs out of space but no one is ready to chase. He’ll get the puck at the point and decide it’s time for him to put his stamp on the game regardless of what’s going on so he does a spin move and tries to dangle his way around the outside looking for a way to the middle. Sometimes he actually gets there and it’s amazing, sometimes he just skates straight into a dman and falls down. How did you not see that guy?!? Then he does it again. Stepping out from behind the net and instead of hitting the easy breakout pass he pauses to throw the bullet pass to the far blue line….miss by six feet…..do it again five minutes later. Miss it again. All with a low to medium motor that has an air of confidence that you love in the beginning but then start questioning why it’s there. The points happen and you know why he has the confidence. You can’t tell if you’re missing brilliance or if he completely lacks self awareness because he’s making errors high school kids get benched for. Something’s right because the points keep happening. He’s like watching a slower Necas sometimes. Over the top bad decisions. And sometimes they work. He’s as boom/busty as boom/busty gets.

Then you watch Ufko actually do Makar like things all game. Consistency and smart, in a small package. Steps from behind the net, hits the easy breakout pass then joins the rush and they all attack with speed together. Sprints to the open point on the PK and lays it down to block the shot when the PP has broken everything down and is about to finish. Running the pp efficiently from the point. High motor all game from beginning to end. He does brilliant things too but usually does it in concert with his teammates and gets the flow. It’s like watching a talented Rudy. He makes errors too but he’s all heart and you understand what he’s trying to do. Morrow has the raw talent with size but application of that talent is often very immature for where he’s at, so big and goofy and he doesn’t seem to learn from any of his mistakes on either side of the puck. There’s a reason one wears a C and the other sits in all key defensive moments. It’s pretty obvious. It was a blast to watch them on the same pairing for so long. The oddest of odd couples just looking at each other like they’re speaking different languages. They’re probably bff’s. They just got broken up as a pair two weeks ago, which was probably the obvious thing to do a year or two ago.

Either way watching the Ufko/Morrow show has been fun and I’ll miss it. I don’t think I’ve been watched a team who’s success depends on two dmen as much as this Umass team.

 

[htdoc]

^

you are brilliantly describing what I call the red flags and why I say there is zero chance he plays on our nhl roster next year…

I just spent the weekend doing evaluations for the spring season of house/advanced league here in the triangle…. 1400+ kids signed up for spring league (who says the south can’t support hockey)…. The junior canes and travel kids get mixed in because there isn’t junior canes in the spring… so it’s a cluster of slapping a wide range of kids together and throwing them out in scrimmages to see what they do.. learn to play kids trying out for the first time for house league mixed with a kid who thinks he is McDavid on his travel team on the ice at the same time. The McDavid wannabe ignores every other same colored jersey kid on the ice with him and tries to dangle his way through 5 opponents up the ice and score on breakaways non stop, when in reality most of the time they just skate into a cluster of opponents and turn the puck over while wide open teammates shake their heads at them…. I guess they are thinking that the end to end rush will impress the eval guys rankings, even though I told them to knock that crap off and use your teammates…. So glad I coach house league haha)…. Morrow strikes me as that at times where he just blindly skates into trouble and ignores the rest of his teammates on the ice…. I was having flashbacks to all my eval sessions while I watched parts of the game…..Or he knows that sometimes he can hit that sweet home run pass from his goal line to spring the breakaway…. So even though it only works 1 in 40 times, and no matter how many times the coaches tell him not to do it, he just does it anyways…. That stubbornness will get you stapled to the bench at best at the next level, dumped to the minors more likely.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Every level up the food chain requires an adjustment as the players are just better.

He will learn and adjust or flame out.

 

[bleedgreen]

^

you are brilliantly describing what I call the red flags and why I say there is zero chance he plays on our nhl roster next year…

I just spent the weekend doing evaluations for the spring season of house/advanced league here in the triangle…. 1400+ kids signed up for spring league (who says the south can’t support hockey)…. The junior canes and travel kids get mixed in because there isn’t junior canes in the spring… so it’s a cluster of slapping a wide range of kids together and throwing them out in scrimmages to see what they do.. learn to play kids trying out for the first time for house league mixed with a kid who thinks he is McDavid on his travel team on the ice at the same time. The McDavid wannabe ignores every other same colored jersey kid on the ice with him and tries to dangle his way through 5 opponents up the ice and score on breakaways non stop, when in reality most of the time they just skate into a cluster of opponents and turn the puck over while wide open teammates shake their heads at them…. I guess they are thinking that the end to end rush will impress the eval guys rankings, even though I told them to knock that crap off and use your teammates…. So glad I coach house league haha)…. Morrow strikes me as that at times where he just blindly skates into trouble and ignores the rest of his teammates on the ice…. I was having flashbacks to all my eval sessions while I watched parts of the game…..Or he knows that sometimes he can hit that sweet home run pass from his goal line to spring the breakaway…. So even though it only works 1 in 40 times, and no matter how many times the coaches tell him not to do it, he just does it anyways…. That stubbornness will get you stapled to the bench at best at the next level, dumped to the minors more likely.

It may be as simple as getting his wings clipped at some point and he’ll get smarter. He’s too talented to write off at all, it just comes down to his attitude and willingness to learn to keep it simple. I suspect his coaches at UMass tried and it didn’t really take. Wheeler mentioned immaturity on and off the rink, you can see it on the rink and you wonder about the rest.

It’s just when you hear the accolades and see the stats you’re expecting a certain player, and as you’ve seen it’s not quite that right now. He needs development and we’ll see if/when he signs what they’ll do with him. He’d probably practice with the canes the rest of the way out with nowhere to send him.

 

[htdoc]

Oh for sure all the tools are there. It’s up to him whether he takes in what he is being coached and applies it…. I expected more of a finished product based on everything I had seen written before and looking purely at stats…. Watching the games and seeing it live showed there is a lot of work left to do. It’s tantalizing to see it’s there and could be developed… it’s up to him…. There is a reason why kids get drafted and when you are drafted as high as him, you hope the development curve keeps going in the right direction and nothing in real life or unforeseen stuff doesn’t get in the way….it can be as much or more of what is going on between the ears than it is the physical abilities… It’s all lottery tickets with these kids…. He can still do it….

Would love to see all the positive things I see with Ufko in Morrows body…. Then the Makar comparison would make more sense and boy would it be something to watch…. Right now he is half baked and not a finished product…. Hope he signs and hope he takes our coaching on board when he gets with us… again, it’s so tantalizing what he could become….

But he needs to sign and not waste another year because, as bleed pointed out, the coaches there have obviously given up trying to get him to do what they want and are working around him at this point. Other than just getting a year older and just playing games, that situation isn’t getting him ready for nhl action in our franchise…

 

[WreckingCrew]

@bleedgreen @htdoc I appreciate y'alls insights on Morrow since I've not watched any of the games and basically have only gotten to go by what the scouts/pundits say about him. Sounds like the high-end talent is definitely there, just needs to sometimes simplify, remove the blinders, and work on reading the whole ice a little better?

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Its hard for me to really take anything from someone's readiness when the team is using Morrow so much differently than a regular team would. They are basically asking him to play winger while having to to play defense too. They know is he near the top, if not the top, for offensively talents in that team. They ask him to be that guy. Its more than the pinching you would see here, its like we see with Necas when he is with Drury and Noesen. Im not seeing anything as far as offensive structure so I can see why he probably looks lost without the puck.

maybe im wrong but Ive a few of his games on ESPN + and never really felt anything because college is a lot of give the best guy the puck and see what happens.

 

[bleedgreen]

@bleedgreen @htdoc I appreciate y'alls insights on Morrow since I've not watched any of the games and basically have only gotten to go by what the scouts/pundits say about him. Sounds like the high-end talent is definitely there, just needs to sometimes simplify, remove the blinders, and work on reading the whole ice a little better?

Well yes, but it does run a bit deeper. You can’t just tell him to be smarter or make more mature hockey decisions because that takes an inner growth moment or two. Doing those things you list would absolutely cure some of the symptoms but you’d really want to cure the underlying issue. There’s some ego or something that makes him think he can do whatever he wants, and it’s not just because he can still. Teams don’t just give him space, and even when he tries to take it the result isnt always there but he keeps trying because the lesson doesn’t sink. You’d assume Rod or a minor league coach could cure that, but you also would’ve thought his college coach would’ve. His use and ice time is being limited (no PK and big defensive moments) and the problem still wasn’t addressed. He even said in an interview last year he was going to work on offense when it’s very clear he’s being told the opposite. He’s obviously really head strong, and I’m not convinced the sharpest kid.

I think he’ll make the effort to change when it’s time, we’ll see if he’s smart enough to understand the changes needed. He’s not intuitively good, he’s raw skill and size good. Fox is intuitively good. The NHL won’t be as impressed with the size and his moves. He’s not inventing the toe drag, spin moves or putting the puck through the triangle. He’s fast-ish for the NCAA, I don’t think he’s that fast for the NHL and he plays slow. We don’t as a team, that’ll be an adjustment. Though Dougie plays a similar way offensively and it worked for him. Dougie was a lot more intuitive that way though.

 

[moses malone 12]

I think our main disagreement here is the college coaching aspect. It’s gotten worse since my last post about the preference for Ufko. I don’t know if the coach is just trying things or likes the idea of balancing the lineup but he’s separated Ufko and Morrow the last two weeks….as they head into the tournaments. They’ve been a pairing for a couple of years, with Morrow being removed (?!?) in key defensive situations like the end of games they’re winning or defensive zone late period draws. They have separated them 5v5 and Ufko’s pairing is the first one though at even strength they play the top four a ton. Now in all of those key situations they just play the top pair. Also after a couple of years and a ton of success they’ve separated them on the pp with Ufko being the qb and successfully feeding Morrow in the Ovy spot. Morrow now Qb’s the second unit which is fun to watch but obviously he gets less playing time. Morrow is also the dman on the second unit for 3v3 despite being the highest scoring dman ever for them. Ufko is close to breaking that old record as well, last weekend he won the first game in a breakaway, tied the second game on the pp and then won it also on the pp. I don’t know if they’ll keep them separated like this but it’s fascinating that in what could both of their last days in college that Morrow is playing less. He’s still a stud when he gets the puck, but he forces it individually quite a bit. The coach at least right now has made his preference clear. Morrow has taken a further back seat as they prepare for the tournament. Morrow is fighting it by driving the puck all game when he gets it. I like that he wants to make an impact so much, but he forces it. That can be fixed of course.

You’re right, the coach is playing to win and his choices at this point are really surprising. I know you didn’t put much into it, but I do. He can’t earn the trust of his college coach defensively despite being a stud. Not PK’ing at all? By his junior year? I don’t think I’ve seen it to this extreme in the NCAA before. There’s zero defensive faith. What we don’t know is if Scott is really that bad at it or if he just refuses to buy into what the coaches want so they just say “fine, we’ll play these other guys despite you being the obvious choice”. Rod is 100% tougher to impress than his college coach, though Rod isn’t gm and doesn’t get to pick his defenseman. He only gets to decide how to use the ones he’s given.

Your last paragraph is spot on, we’ll see what he really wants here pretty soon.

ufko has been on top pair all season. morrow has been 2nd pairing. both are RD.