Boston Bruins: Joe Morrow Needs to Break Out Soon
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Morrow is a former first round draft pick who has been traded twice already before ever securing a permanent job with an NHL club. The first trade was the trade involving Brendan Morrow heading to the Penguins, and the second was the now-infamous Tyler Seguin trade. The tricky part of evaluating Joe Morrow is the fact that he is still only 22 years old, and has had very limited exposure at the NHL level. Defensemen usually take longer than forwards to develop, and Joe Morrow appears to be the perfect example of this concept. With the Bruins defensive group being so wide-open right now, this is the perfect time for Joe Morrow to prove that he deserves a permanent role with the Boston Bruins, and not the Providence Bruins.
In limited exposure in the NHL, Morrow has been solid, but not a stand-out. With the offensive-ability that Joe Morrow possesses, the opportunity to potentially “replace” Dougie Hamilton‘s offensive output remains a possibility. Joe Morrow is a very efficient puck-moving defenseman and that is exactly the type of player the Bruins need in their lineup as Torey Krug is the only player that fits that bill for the Bruins right now. Boston has struggled in recent years with moving the puck from their defensive-zone to the neutral zone consistently and Joe Morrow might be the answer to that.
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With only one point in fifteen NHL games, a goal, Joe Morrow will have a lot to prove in terms of his ability to translate WHL and AHL scoring success to the NHL level. His AHL numbers are by no-means as impressive as his WHL numbers, but that is expected when players make the jump for a few specific reasons. The first is the level of competition; the AHL players aren’t all 19 years old and younger, and some of them are seasoned veterans. The second reason, and probably the more encouraging reason in terms of why a player’s offensive output might drop, is the fact that players are expected to improve their range of abilities as they progress throughout their development. A good example of this is Ryan Spooner; with all of the offensive ability in the world, it was very difficult for him to crack the Bruins lineup due to his defensive deficiencies.
The battle for a starting job on the back-end for the Bruins will be wide-open, and it will be up to Joe Morrow (or some other dark horse) to prove that they are the missing piece to propel the Bruins back into Playoff (and hopefully, but unlikely in 2015-16, Stanley Cup) contention.