Any news on Morrison? Seems like his numbers would justify an ELC but is he (or his agent) more interested in pursuing a free agent deal with the depth in the Avalanche organization?
I don't think there has been any news either way. It could simply be that he wanted to finish college before going pro, and that he'll still want to sign with Colorado this offseason. Hard to tell either way.
It's possible that he looks at our depth chart and thinks that it's a bit too much competition and heads elsewhere, but on the other hand we will likely have plenty of turnover on the 4th line in the next 12-18 months and he might relish the opportunity of potentially playing on a contender.
This offseason we'll see Nieto and Wilson leave in UFA. Kamenev and Jost will likely be traded for futures or packaged for a top 6 forward. That would make our 20/21 lineup as follows:
Landeskog ---- Mackinnon ---- Rantanen
Burakovsky ----- Kadri --------- Namestnikov (UFA)/top 6 fwd
Nichuskin ----- Compher ------ Donskoi
Calvert -------- Bellemare ------ Kaut
(O'Connor/Bowers/AHL fodder)
In 2021/22 Calvert and Bellemare will both be UFA's, and one of Donskoi/Compher will likely get selected by Seattle. Newhook and Bowers should take Compher (ED) and Bellemare's spots, but that would still leave two spots as 12th or 13th forward to fight over between the likes of Morrison, O'Connor, Kovalenko, Mutala, Ranta, and Beaucage.
Landeskog ---- Mackinnon ---- Rantanen
Burakovsky ----- Kadri --------- Namestnikov (UFA)/top 6 fwd.
Nichuskin ----- Newhook ------ Donskoi
xxxxxxx --------- Bowers ------- Kaut
(O'Connor/Morrison/Kovalenko/etc)
Considering that Morrison (drafted 2016) is older and thus likely stronger than Kovalenko (2018), Ranta (2018), Mutala (2019), and Beaucage (2019) he might fancy his chances against them. Kovalenko also lacks experience of north american rinks. Morrison's game is also quite "heavy" and responsible which probably makes him better suited to a bottom 6 role right now than a couple of those other guys who are more offensive guys who have defensive shortcomings (eg. Ranta) and/or other things still to develop (eg. Beaucage's poor skating).
We've been the beneficiaries of some "free" talent in the recent past (eg. college free agent Kerfoot who snubbed NJ, or Nichuskin), so we can't be too upset if he does decide not to sign with us, but if we can sign him then that would be awesome as it would give us another good chance of filling a bottom 6 role on an ELC virtually for free at this stage.