Morris Heads Back to Phoenix

			2009/2010 NHL Statistics
To Phoenix	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Derek Morris	Defenseman	31	58	3	25	$3.3 million	UFA
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To Boston	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
2011 4th Round Draft Pick

The Coyotes are buyers this year, which the TSN crew alluded to as a great thing for hockey and I agree. They conducted the first deal of the deadline day festivities by re-acquiring Derek Morris for their blueline for a mid-round pick in 2011.

Morris played four (and a bit) seasons with the Coyotes, where he somewhat suffered with a below-average hockey club. His numbers coming out of Boston are okay, much better on the power play, so Phoenix might have a more-confident Morris for their power play, which is a good sign.

Only a 4th round pick going the other way, the Bruins are signaling like they really wanted to part with Morris for the price, possibly getting themselves into position for something more.

The Coyotes take on the remaining $718,000 on Morris' deal, which isn't too bad, but for a team that is still sweeping the cap floor with their number, it really didn't matter what cap cost a player coming back is worth, if it means they go far into the playoffs and earn some extra gate out of it.

The Bruins needed to make a move to drop some salary cap space and Morris is a good start. If the Bruins are going to be players this time around, they might need to drop a bit more to get in the conversation for a big piece, unless they have Dan Hamhuis on the brain, then they should have cleared enough.

Morris is a defenseman on Chris' Draft team this season. Chris is looking to get himself further away from the bottom of the standings and seeing Morris go to Phoenix is probably not going to help, but probably won't hurt either. I expect the scoring pace to remain the same for Morris, maybe a touch better, just because the Coyotes have 19 more goals this season.

Coyotes made an upgrade on their blueline, Bruins dumped cap space. A trade that works for both sides, maybe even moreso for the Coyotes, because they didn't pay much of anything for the upgrade. I don't think Boston is done today, Phoenix might have some more minor work to do... needless to say, I'm very interested going forward.

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