Blog : You Get What You Pay For?

Morrow.jpg
Yesterday, the Penguins traded for Brenden Morrow. That's the good news. The bad news is what ended up going the other way. Then, one day later, Ray Shero made yet another splash on the market, acquiring defenseman Douglas Murray from the San Jose Sharks. Come playoff time, the Pens clearly wanted to become a team that's able to play postseason hockey.
In this, a shortened NHL season anything can still happen. This is why only a few teams are currently clear-cut sellers. Florida is the only team that's completely out of the playoff race. This is also why the price for a 34 year old winger (and a third rounder) who's (arguably) past his prime is a highly touted defensive prospect and a 5th round pick. Scary, but think about this - if such was the price for Morrow, imagine what the Feaster ridiculed Calgary Flames want for Jarome Iginla?
Sure enough, the Pens were dealing from a position of strength given how well they drafted and developed young defensemen. Simon Despres (who's already logging decent NHL minutes) Derrick Pouliot, Scott Harrington and Olli Maatta instantly come to mind. Furthermore, the Penguins defense is currently filled with players who haven't yet hit their prime. Kris Letang (how good is he going to get?) and Matt Niskanen (only 26 years of age). All that in mind, trading a defensive prospect made perfect sense. Adding a gritty defenseman a day later for a more reasonable (yet steep enough) price (2013 2nd round pick and a conditional 2014 2nd round pick) made a lot of sense as well.
Was it too much? Normal circumstances would make a person quickly agree. However, we've already established this season is anything but normal. Besides, what is Shero supposed to do? The window to win in this league isn't exactly huge, even with Crosby and Malkin remaining in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future. Sid's injury might be a prime example of how that window quickly goes from “We can” to “If only”. This team can win now, Shero needs to ensure that they do. From a future concerned perspective, this is clearly a bad deal, but the time is now. Shero and co. have shown that they are committed to doing everything they can to become a more stable hockey club in the postseason. I can't blame them.
New winger's old job? Primarily, depth scoring, energy shifts and a lot of leadership. Morrow played a similar role for team Canada in the Vancouver Olympics where he played on a physical line with Getzlaf and Perry. The Saskatchewan native finished the tournament with 2 goals and 1 assist and captured the gold medal.
Yes, Morrow is the kind of player who can play with superstar players and contribute offensively, or play a different third line role, shut guys down, crash and bang and still chip in an odd goal or two. Whatever he plays, he'll bring it every night and won't take a shift off. Brenden is expected to fill the minutes with Malkin and Neal, which, given his familiarity with the former teammate, seems like a natural fit. Don't be surprised if the winger plays a good chunk of ice time with Sutter, if the game plan demands it.
Brenden Morrow is also hungry. The player had been in Dallas for his entire career, arriving the season after the Stars had won their only Stanley Cup to date. Like any hockey player, having tasted success at one grand stage, he's looking to taste it on another. The Penguins are offering that chance. The fact that he waived his NTC to come to Pittsburgh pretty much speaks volumes about that. From a leadership standpoint, maybe the best comparison would be Bill Guerin – we all know how that ended up.
On to the second major pickup. Despite how his name sounds Douglas Murray is Swedish. Despite how Douglas Murray plays hockey, he is still Swedish. Your typical stay-at-home defenseman, he can dish out punishing hits and is a pain to play against, quite literally. You can count on him helping the PK, even if he hasn't really been playing all that well of late. This native of Bromma has also been credited with 33 NHL fights, which relates to the truculent part of my first paragraph.
Like Morrow, he's declining. But, like Morrow, despite playing on some good teams, Murray hasn't yet had a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. Finally getting a chance to lift the Holy Grail of hockey can be a strong motivator, as can a change of scenery. Unfortunately, we all saw what the addition of Jagr did for the Flyers last year. Morrow isn't a 30+ goalscorer he used to be. Murray is a lot slower than he used to be, but you got to think his fire still burns. In the end, they don't have to be those players. Byslma's Stanley Cup ambition simply needed pieces that fit and Shero was willing to deal (potentially) more significant pieces that didn't. Not at this time.
Make no mistake, Shero knew exactly how much declining veterans with all that declining veterans bring will end up costing his hockey club. However, this day and age, it's what you do to win the Stanley Cup.
And make no mistake, despite giving up some future, this team is now fully equipped to do so. Having added veteran leadership and toughness, perhaps this time, being equipped will be enough. Shero certainly paid for it.
Mislav Jantoljak

Attached Images

• Morrow.jpg (86.8 KB)