Brendan Morrison gets tryout contract with the Vancouver Canucks
Brendan Morrison, a veteran of 12 NHL seasons, will attend the Vancouver Canucks training camp on a tryout contract. The free agent forward played for the Washington Capitals last season,
scoring 12 goals and 30 assists in 74 games.
Morrison spent parts of eight seasons with Vancouver earlier in his career. During his 543 games in a Canucks sweater he scored 393 points. Most of his time in Vancouver was spent as centre
on a line that included Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund.
The 35-year-old Morrison had this to say about his decision to attempt to make the Vancouver club, “to be honest, the main reason I wanted to come back to Vancouver over the other teams
is I believe the team has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. It’s really that simple. I’m confident I can make the team. If I didn’t think that, then I wouldn’t be here.”
Morrison, who was not offered a contract from any NHL team, finds himself a casualty of the new salary cap era, where higher priced veterans find themselves phased out and replaced by
younger players on much less lucrative rookie contracts.
Sounding like someone interviewing for a job, Morrison said, “I don’t know exactly where I’ll fit in, but what I will bring is depth and versatility. I have played the wing with (Nicklas)
Backstrom and (Alex) Ovechkin, so it’s not completely foreign to me. I see myself as a guy who can fit on any line, and any role they present me with is one that I’m willing to take on.”
Morrison made $1.5 million last year in his deal with Washington. Even if Morrison does not make the team, the Canucks will have to make some roster moves in order to fit under the salary
cap. The Canucks are currently more than $3 million over the 2010-11 NHL salary cap of $59.4 million.
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