Vancouver Canucks release Brendan Morrison from tryout contract
The Vancouver Canucks have announced that veteran forward Brendan Morrison has been released from his professional tryout contract.
Morrison was invited to try out with Canucks during their training camp with the hopes of earning a roster spot. However, it was not meant to be.
The team did make him an offer for a two-way contract, but the offer was eventually declined by Morrison and his agent Kurt Overhardt.
"Brendan had a good camp -- I knew him and a lot of people here knew him from his past with the Canucks -- but after we evaluated everything he brings to the table and what we had here, we just thought it
would be better for us to go in a different direction," said Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault.
The 35-year-old centre is one of the last cuts that were made to Vancouver’s roster on Sunday. Last season, the former Canuck played with the Washington Capitals, scoring 12 goals and
32 assists for 42 points in 74 games. The 42-point campaign was Morrison’s highest total since 2005-06, when he was playing with the Canucks. During the pre-season, Morrison managed only one assist in four games.
Overhardt has stated that despite not making the Canucks’ roster, there are two Eastern and one Western Conference team who are interested in having Morrison play for them. Morrison is
currently an unrestricted free agent, and can sign with any team that makes him an offer.
The native of Pitt Meadows, BC was originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 1993 National Hockey League Entry Draft (second round, 39th overall). He entered the league in the
1997-98 season, and played 11 games for the Devils, scoring five goals and four assists for nine points.
Morrison was traded to Vancouver in 2000 for Alexander Mogilny, and spent the next eight seasons with the team. He soon became the Canucks’ first-line centre, with Markus Naslund and Todd
Bertuzzi as his wingers. The line proved to be a very potent combination, and was one of the highest scoring lines in the NHL at the time. He would later go on to place ninth on the Canucks’ franchise scoring leaders list with 394 total points.
In 829 career NHL games, Morrison has scored 187 goals and 360 assists for a total of 547 points.
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