In a move that was first reported by INSIDEHOCKEY.com’s James Murphy on Friday afternoon, the Boston Bruins have signed puck-moving defenseman Derek Morris to a one-year, $3.3 million contract for next season. The signing of the 30-year-old Morris was confirmed by both ESPN.com and TSN.com later on Friday night, and came down within the same breath of dealing 36-year-old defenseman Aaron Ward back to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday morning.

 Morris was one of the defensemen that the Bruins targeted at last season’s trade deadline, but failed to acquire when they instead dealt with the Anaheim Ducks for Steve Montador. Morris has played in at least 75 games in each of his last three seasons, and had 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) splitting time for the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers last season.

Morris is certainly a faster-skating, puck-moving option (Morris had a career-high 11 goals, 48 points and +16 with the Avalanche during the 2002-03 season) than Ward was at his advanced hockey age, and he’s a safe bet to avoid some of the nicks and injuries that Ward suffered over the last few seasons. It’s expected that Morris and Zdeno Chara will be paired together as a defensive unit, and it’ll be interesting to see how Chara responds to skating with a player that isn’t as defensively responsible as Ward proved to be. 

The $3.3 million price tag is a pretty high price for Morris and leaves the Bruins with roughly $1.3 million under the salary cap with Phil Kessel still sitting unsigned as a restricted free agent. The feeling at this address is that the Bruins tried to deal Kessel through much of June, but couldn’t a deal to their liking and aren’t going to deal the 36-goal sniper this summer.

Either he signs a one-year deal with the Bruins for less than $4 million — and the Bruins are forced to trade another valuable dressing room/grit commodity like Chuck Kobasew — or Kessel sits and watches the Black and Gold hockey world move forward without him.

14 Comments for “Bruins signs Morris to a one-year, $3.3 million”

1. Shawn Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 11:02 am

   PC vastly overpaid yet again for Morris. There are at least 4 guys on this team who are overpaid by a Million plus. Couple that with 3 guys now who are on buyouts and that is another 2 Million in dead cap space. PC is a smart hockey guy but as a salary cap manager he is amongst the worst in the NHL.

2. Hockey Joe Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 11:33 am

   So, we traded away Aaron Ward to clear cap space and we dont even attempt to sign Kessel long term? I think this shows just how little faith that the front office has in Phil to mature into the player that they want him to be. Is it maybe because they know he doesnt want to be here? I have read that he wants to be in the midwest where he grew up. I have said before that I think his game is much better suited in the Western Conference anyways where they dont play D and he can be allowed to roam free.

3. Brian Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 11:53 am

   The Bruins did get some more mobility on the back line but in trading Ward, they lost a good locker room presence. I always like Ward’s game and toughness and would have like to see him in a B’s uniform again this year.

   Still waiting for the Kessel shoe to drop. If what Hags says about Kessel in that the B’s are going to sit tight and either he drops his salary demands or sits is how PC is thinking, then I like it. Make a deal that makes sense for the team. He’s young and under their control so he needs to play by their rules.

   I see why they bought out Eaves to get Morris, but Eaves is a good little player. I think he could have contributed to this team next year. Does anyone know what happens to his salary when he signs elsewhere, does it stay on Boston’s cap or does it come off?

   I guess what I like about the Morris deal is that it is a 1 year contract. The Bruins will have over 17 million in cap next year (assuming the cap remains at 56.8 although by all accounts the cap will come down some) and will need to sign Wheeler, Lucic and Rask.

4. patrick Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

   Nice comments, but do you guys watch hockey?
   “I think his game is much better suited in the Western Conference anyways where they dont play D and he can be allowed to roam free.”
   Pretty confident the Western conference is wayyyy more defensive oriented then the east, the statistics show this, and simply WATCHING it also shows this.

   I think this is an interesting move, good term with the 1 year, but 3.3 seems a little expensive for a guy who had an off year. They must really not like Kessel to bring a older guy like this in for a year rather then try to secure what could be a franchise type player. Kessel has a rare combination of skating and shooting ability, and if they let him go they will definitely regret it.

5. Shawn Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

   Hey Brian the Cap is expected to be down to the 50-52M range, that is a pretty big drop.

6. Joe Haggerty Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

   I share everybody’s concerns about dealing away a locker room force in Aaron Ward, and that goes double if they end up shipping Chuck Kobasew away to sign Phil Kessel. I’ve been told that the Bruins have tried to shop Kessel, but that nobody around the league wants him for A) what the Bruins are asking and B) what Kessel and his agent want for a contract.

   Color me as a pessimist, but I don’t see the Kessel run in Boston ending very well either way. The cap is going to go down significantly next season, so any money that the Bruins can save (ie the Eaves buyout) is a good thing.

   –Haggs

7. christopher mehegan Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 1:02 pm

   hello,hockeyjoe.i like the bruins signing of derek morris to a one year deal worth about 3.3 million dollars with roughly about 1.3 million left do you think the bruins will try to sign kessel under the cap if they can or if they are not able to will the bruins be forced to trade kessel if they are not able to sign him i looked on the bruins roster on their official web site but allthough the bruins placed patrick eaves on waivers he’s been added to their roster allready can you get back to me on that one later and explain to me about that one hockey joe.

8. Jeff Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 1:36 pm

   Am i the only one who sees the Bruins taking a step back next season? Chiarelli seems to be desperately trying to tread water rather then build on last years team.

9. Brian Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 11:03 pm

   I don’t know about a step back…they lost Ward in favor of Morris, Begin instead of Yelle, Hunwick and Krejci back in the fold as well as Sturm, Bitz will continue to be better as will Wheeler and Lucic…and perhaps all of their young guys will get better with some more playing.

   If the cap drops to 50 million, that leaves the B’s with about 10 million to sign Wheeler, Lucic and Rask. Plus address the loss of Savard (prospects like Colburne, Hamill, etc). Hard to believe that some offer sheets wouldn’t go to Lucic or Wheeler if they continue to improve like they have and in Rask, well goaltending is the most important position…they got some work before next year.

   All that said, I think this team will be very close to last year’s team in terms of success.

10. Miranda Says:
    July 25th, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    Overpaid! What about Kessel?

11. Brian Says:
    July 26th, 2009 at 12:12 am

    man, i wish i could tell time…is it 145 or 315? hmmmmm

12. scot Cooper Says:
    July 26th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    38 years and counting. We would be better served to have signed Morris the Cat.

13. Dan Says:
    July 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    Regular season “success” or the annual Bruins playoff flop “success”?

14. Michael Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 7:07 am

    Joe- quick question…

    Krejci and Kessel will both begin next season on IR, and neither are expected back until sometime mid-November, correct? Players on IR do not have their salaries count towards the teams’ cap number, correct? Well… Doesn’t this give the Bruins plenty of time to not only sign Kessel to a deal in the $3.5 million range, where most “hockey people” seem to feel he slots in, but to also figure out how things shake out as the season progresses? Seems to me that the cap number that everybody is so terrified of is not nearly as big a problem as they make it out to be- at least not at the present time, and at least not in terms of getting a Kessel deal done. Alot can happen between the start of training camp and mid-November- trades, injuries, ineffective play, etc.

    PC strikes me as a pretty intelligent individual, and it appears that he has also surrounded himself with intelligent individuals. Isn’t 99% of this so called saga just fabricated by people who don’t really understand the cap system? Perhaps it is me that doesn’t understand, but after watching guys like Lou Lamoriello and Brian Burke work the cap for years when everyone said there was no way they could do it, my guess is that there are much less complicated solutions to this “problem” than we are aware of…

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