I refrained from spitting out my immediate feelings on the Friday trade of Brian Connelly for Brenden Morrison because, quite frankly, I didn't know just what I thought of it, nor did I understand just what Stan's intentions were. To be honest, I still don't know exactly where this one is going.
At first glance, people were probably thinking, "The Hawks traded for a Center, the second line Center hole is filled", but this couldn't be further from the truth. Morrison is more like a Jamal Mayers, than a David Bolland. He's a veteran third, at best, or fourth line Center, with the needle bouncing below 1/8th of a tank. What does this move open up for the Hawks? Not much, to be honest. They could make a few different moves:
- Move Bolland to #2, which I personally think it's time for, and leave Morrison at #3.
- Move Mayers back to his true position, wing, and slide Morrison in and the #4 Center.
- The previous move would leave no choice but to move Sharp or Kaner back to Center unless Bowman can pull a fat rabbit out of his hat.
I can't speak for Stan and Joel, at this point, but either way you slice it, this is a low level trade that really doesn't clear up much in the confusion of the lineup. With Bickell and Frolik suckling at the eternal bunghole, this turns into a move to shore up the bottom 6. Bickell can now sit as long as we would all like, and Frolik can continue to treat the net like it has a Death Star force field. Once Sharp and Toews are back, look for everybody's hero, Andrew Shaw, to make a triumphant return to Rock Vegas. Just too many cooks in this kitchen for him to last.
Needless to say, with the NHL trade deadline 4 weeks from tomorrow, this will not be the last move that the Blackhawks make.
