Morrison adds depth to Hawks' roster

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It's a tale of two careers for the Blackhawks' newly-acquired Brendan Morrison. At one time he was an upper-echelon center in the NHL, but those glory days have passed.

During the prime of his career with the Vancouver Canucks, Morrison centered one of hockey's most lethal line combinations called the "West Coast Express" from 2002-2004. He played between Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi. During that three-year span, he scored 70 goals with 128 assists. However, in the last two seasons (94 games) he has just 13 goals and 41 assists.

But the scoring and top-notch playmaking ability has passed him by. At 36, Morrison adds depth at a critical position, and brings plenty of playoff experience.

A healthy Morrison assures that Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp can settle into their natural wing positions and not have to worry about playing center anymore. Morrison could immediately slide into the No. 2 role in between Sharp and Marian Hossa, and see a rise in his assists playing in between two elite snipers once again. That likely pushes Marcus Kruger to a fourth-line role in between some combination of Jamal Mayers, Michael Frolik, Andrew Brunette and Bryan Bickell while Dave Bolland resumes his regular spot on the third line, likely between Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes.

Morrison is also strong on faceoffs, winning them at a 50.3 percent clip -- now second on the team behind the league-leading Toews.

At best, Morrison flashes some of the play-making ability he once had and wins critical faceoffs. At worst, he is another Sami Pahlsson circa 2009. It's a low-risk, high-reward move as defenseman Brian Connelly -- while putting up nice numbers for Rockford -- was likely never going to crack the Hawks' defense corps.

Morrison won't put the Blackhawks over the top in the tough Central Division and isn't going to be the difference-maker in the run to a Stanley Cup. He'll help, sure, but he's just one more piece to a puzzle that's still incomplete -- likely the first of two or three moves between now and the Feb. 27 trade deadline.

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