Whenever the Chicago Blackhawks appear in trade rumors, you’ll typically find that the Florida Panthers are usually attached to the same rumor. This attachment has been fueled by years of ex-Blackhawks players joining the Panthers, with 3 Blackhawks (Pirri, Hayes, and Olsen) joining the team as recently as last year. Now, I usually take trade rumors with a grain of salt but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
After a recent report was released that Blackhawks’ forward prospect, 23-year-old Jeremy Morin, either wanted to be played or traded, the rumors began to swirl that he was heading to Florida. After a dozen or so “Chicago South” jokes were made on Twitter, hockey fans began to move away from this rumor up until yesterday.
Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon scouted the Rockford #IceHogs game in Milwaukee tonight. #Blackhawks
— ChrisBlock (@ChrisBlock) December 11, 2014
With Panthers GM Dale Tallon visiting Chicago’s AHL affiliate in Rockford last night, it seems that there could be some weight to this rumor. With that being said, should the Panthers trade for Morin? If so, how could they make it happen and what future impact would it have?
The most important discussion point with Jeremy Morin and the Panthers is trying to figure out if it is even possible from a roster standpoint. Morin is currently on a conditioning assignment in Rockford (Maximum of 14 Days) and would have to pass through waivers if he were to be sent down to the AHL full-time. That being said, the trade would more than likely have him joining his future team as a roster player. As of today, the Panthers sit at the 23-player roster limit and the team would need to either A. Demote a player, B. Send an active roster player back in the trade, or C. Waive a player to make room. Let’s explore all three options.
A. Demote a Player:
If Florida were to choose to demote a player to make room for Morin, only a handful of forwards would be eligible to be sent down to the AHL via waiver-exemption. Those players are Barkov (C), Bjugstad (C), Huberdeau (LW), and Trocheck (C). With Florida currently having a logjam at Center (Barkov, Bolland, Bjugstad, MacKenzie, and Trocheck), I think it would be logical for this to be the position that has to make a move to accommodate Morin. Personally, I don’t feel that demoting Barkov or Bjugstad would be beneficial to the Panthers as they are the defacto 1-2 Centers for the team. I could see a case for Trocheck being sent down as he’s recently cooled-down a bit. This becomes more plausible as a healthy Bolland has returned to the lineup and could likely fill his spot. However, I don’t think that this would be the best option for team as Trocheck (in my mind, at least) has earned a full-time roster spot this season. This brings us to our second option, sending a player back in the trade to make room on the roster.
B. Trade an Active Roster Player:
This is where it gets complicated. Chicago is extremely close to the salary cap and Morin’s contract is only six-figures. If Florida were to try to send a player back in the trade, it would have to be one of their more cap-friendly contracts (I’m looking at you, Boyes and Bergenheim) and the team would likely have to retain a large chunk of salary. Now, Florida has currently retained salary on only one trade so far (Kris Versteeg last year) and has the ability to retain salary up to two more times, if they choose. This could be a possible scenario but it is mostly contingent on Chicago actually finding room for the player that would be sent back in the trade. I think this would be unlikely as Chicago has exceptional forward depth and that is what kept Morin out of the lineup to begin with. Looking further into this option, it might be possible that we see another 2-for-1 deal, similar to the Versteeg trade from last season, which would allow Chicago to shed additional cap space while still receiving a player with retained salary back. I feel that this is the least likely scenario as Chicago would be hard-pressed to find room for any player back and I’d assume that the trade would more than likely involve draft picks as the main asset for Chicago (similar to the Pirri trade).
C. Waive a Player:
Finally, we’ve reached our last option. If Florida were to bring in Morin (without trading a roster player back), the team could possibly make room by waiving a current roster player. Currently, Florida has two players with no-move clauses (Fleischmann & Upshall) who could utilize this option to stay on the roster. With the Panthers recently bringing in Bolland, Jokinen, MacKenzie, and Thornton this past off-season, I would assume they would be unwilling to waive any of these players. This would leave us with Kopecky as the likely scenario. This season, Kopecky has found a comfortable role on the team’s fourth line with MacKenzie and the two have had success together on the penalty kill. With Kopecky finding some comfort in his currently deployment, I’m not sure how feasible demoting him would be at the moment.
As you can tell, even if Florida were to want to trade for Morin, it would be quite the difficult situation to find a way to make the trade work for both team. What makes the trade even more difficult is trying to find a possible roster spot for Morin if he were to join the Panthers.
Now, assuming Florida does trade for Morin, what would he bring to the team this season and what future impact would it have for the Panthers?
Looking ahead, Florida has 4 pending UFA wingers (Bergenheim, Fleischmann, Kopecky, and Upshall) at the end of this season. If any of these players choose to walk away from the Panthers this off-season, this would leave the team with some significant holes to fill in their roster. Currently, the team’s depth chart is absolutely loaded down the middle with centers but looks fairly scarce at the wing. With Pirri already switching to the wing this season, the Panthers would probably look into doing something similar with future players like Shore, Grimaldi, and Howden when they’re ready. However, out of the three, only Shore has been consistently productive at the AHL level and is likely the only safe bet to make the jump to the NHL next season. Jeremy Morin has been a left wing for quite some time and would be a nice bit of insurance for the team in the case that some of the team’s prospects are not ready to make jump next season.
Personally, I feel that Morin is an NHL-caliber winger just stuck behind an extremely strong team’s depth chart. His scoring at the AHL level has been sound and consistent, putting up nearly identical numbers to Drew Shore, although Morin is more of a sniper than a playmaker. Morin’s NHL production this year has been barren but it’s important to note that he was typically on Chicago’s 4th line and averaged only 7:44 (!!!) TOI a game. That is a full two minutes less than the lowest Florida forward (Shawn Thornton who averages 9:58 TOI a game). Despite these limitations, Morin has consistently put the puck on net and his scouting reports have him tagged as a player with a strong shot, who is quick on his skates, and isn’t afraid to play a gritty game. This sounds like a player that would be excellent on the Panthers roster and would really benefit from Gallant’s systems. With his natural inclination to put the puck on net, I’d personally pair him up with Pirri and have these two speedy shooters flank Barkov on a second/third line. This would give Barkov consistent shooters on either side that he could develop with for years to come.
It’ll be very interesting to see how these rumors play out in the upcoming weeks. I feel that Morin deserves a full-time shot at the NHL and I think the Panthers could be a great fit under the right circumstances.
Kris M. can be reached for contact on Twitter or via email at [email protected].
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