Morin traded to Columbus

photo from zimbio.com

Earlier today, Jeremy Morin was traded to Columbus in return for defenceman Tim Erixon.

Jeremy Morin had no points in fifteen games with the Blackhawks this season. Erixon has six points in nineteen with Columbus. He will report directly to Chicago

Chicago's third defensive pairing has been shuffled around half a dozen times since the injury to Trevor van Riemsdyk. It seems like Quenneville can't decide on which pairing works best, calling up a couple of Rockford players to fill in before settling on Klas Dahlbeck and Michal Rozsival for the last few games. With Erixon reporting directly to the Blackhawks, it's likely that that will change, with Dahlbeck or David Rundblad being sent to Rockford, and Erixon slotting in as the sixth or seventh defenceman.

As for Morin, this is a good trade for him. He was never going to get the playing time he needed to fully develop into a good player in Chicago; they're too deep at the wing, and he's just not a fourth line player. He's a scorer, not a checker or a possession guy, and short of another huge injury to one of the top six wingers, he was never going to get that opportunity with the Blackhawks. He's going to go on and be a ten to fifteen goal scorer for another team, like Brandon Pirri, or Jimmy Hayes, or potentially Kevin Hayes. The Blackhawks organisation is deep, and this is just another case of that being a problem for developing their young players, but I think Morin could easily have a hugely successful season with the Blue Jackets. He probably deserves it, after five seasons of bouncing up and down from Rockford to Chicago.

Morin: Play Him or Trade Him

photo from bleacherreport.com

Earlier today, Jeremy Morin was sent to Rockford for a conditioning assignment. It's a two week reassignment, maximum, and is a way of getting Morin some playing time without having to put him through waivers.

Morin has reportedly told the Blackhawks that if they aren't going to play him, he wants to be traded. It's the same story as Brandon Pirri last season, or Kevin Hayes during the offseason. The Blackhawks roster is just so deep, that they really only have room for one or two additions each season. This season, it looks like Daniel Carcillo is getting a second chance with the organisation he won a Stanley Cup with.

That has to sting if you're Jeremy Morin, who's played parts of the last five seasons with the Blackhawks, and whose play late last season, after injuries to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, was good enough for a two year contract extension during the offseason. He's done everything he can this season to earn his spot on the roster, especially after an injury to Carcillo left a gap in the fourth line for Morin to slot into. However, he's been held pointless so far this season, despite playing fifteen of the twenty seven games, and Quenneville seems to be reluctant to play him in place of Carcillo, who has five points in seventeen games.

Earlier on twitter, Chris Kuc reported that five or six teams have been in contact with the Blackhawks, asking about a possible trade, which sounds like sneaking Morin through waivers just isn't going to work.

I like Morin. I like him on the roster, and I especially like him on a line with Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith. But if the Blackhawks won't play him, then he deserves to play for someone who will. Pirri has played twelve games so far in Florida, and has four points, and Hayes is having a great rookie season in New York (ten points in twenty three games with the Rangers). Morin would be a great pick up for a team struggling with their depth on the wing. There are no shortage of teams out there who are interested in that.

Other news

• Patrick Sharp returns to the lineup tonight, after missing twelve straight games with a lower body injury. 
• Corey Crawford will miss his third straight game with a lower body injury. Scott Darling will make his second consecutive start after allowing only one goal against Nashville on Saturday.

Crawford's Injury a Chance for Raanta to Prove Himself

photo from zimbio.com

Today it was announced that Corey Crawford will miss a handful of games for the second time this season, after suffering an off ice lower body injury. Crawford will miss two to three weeks, per Joel Quenneville.

The Blackhawks' goaltending depth is still as strong as it was at the start of the season, with Scott Darling being called up from Rockford to serve as Antti Raanta's backup for the duration of Crawford's injury. This duo went 3-3-0 during Crawford's injury earlier this season, including a shutout for Raanta. Raanta has a save percentage of .933 and a 2.03 GAA, Darling has a save percentage of .933 and a 1.98 GAA.

It's a tough stretch of games to be missing Crawford, who's been one of the best Blackhawks so far this season, sixth in the league in save percentage and fourth in GAA. Their next ten opponents (the games that Crawford is projected to miss) include Montreal, Nashville, St Louis, Boston, New York and Calgary, all teams at or close to the top of their division, so Raanta and Darling will have to step their game up against these teams in particular.

Other news

• Patrick Sharp will not play tonight, but possibly will return some time this weekend. He has missed the past eleven games with a knee injury suffered against Montreal November 4th.

Raanta Reassigned to Rockford

photo from calgaryherald.com

Late last night, Stan Bowman reassigned back up goaltender Antti Raanta to the Rockford Icehogs, and recalled Scott Darling.

Last season, Raanta played parts of twenty five games for the Blackhawks and had a record of 13-5-4. He started fifteen straight games when Corey Crawford was injured last season, and won eleven of them (including his first career NHL shutout). When Raanta gets a chance to play, he's excellent.

However, when Crawford was healthy, Raanta started just seven games that season, and only won two of them. It's understandable, when you have a young, inexperienced back up like Raanta (last season was his first North American season, not just his first NHL season). What he needs is to be playing games, not sitting on the bench, if you want him to develop.

This season is Scott Darling's first NHL season, and it's starting out well. Called up when Crawford suffered an upper body injury early in the season, he started three straight games, and won two of them. He impressed everyone in training camp, and has played outstandingly so far this season in Rockford (a record of 5-1-0, with a .939 save percentage and 1.79 GAA).

This move makes a lot of sense. Chicago wants Raanta on the ice, and they're not going to be able to do that with Crawford healthy and playing as well as he is. Darling also has a slightly better record this season than Raanta, and that might make Quenneville happier to play him. Raanta hasn't played since October 25th, against the Blues. Crawford has started every game since returning from his injury (seven straight starts, including both games in a back to back). That can't continue for the entire season. Chicago needs to have a backup goalie they can trust to win games, but they also need to think about the development of their younger goalies. Having Raanta in Rockford starting the bulk of the games down there can only be a good thing in terms of his development.

Other News

• Yesterday the Blackhawks reassigned Peter Regin to Rockford, and then called up Joakim Nordstrom. Regin had one point in four games so far this season. Last season, Nordstrom had three points in sixteen regular season games for Chicago. This season with Rockford he has eight points in thirteen games.
• Daniel Carcillo looks set to make his return to the roster for tonight's game against Dallas. He has missed ten games with a lower body injury suffered in the October 25th loss to St. Louis.

Carcillo Out For Four Weeks After Collision With Oshie

photo from nhl.com

Last night, Daniel Carcillo took a hip check to the knee, and left the game. Joel Quennville has just announced he'll be out for four weeks. They have yet to call anyone up from Rockford, Chicago's AHL affliate.

Crawford Injury Not the End of the World

photo from sports-kings.com

Twitter announced today that Chicago goalie Corey Crawford is out with a day-to-day upper body injury, confirmed by Coach Joel Quennville after teammate Patrick Sharp said he was just 'sick'.

A year ago, this would have been a problem.