Morrison Cut, Battle for 7th D Spot Down to 3

Flames camp became one person less today, as the team announced that Kenney Morrison was sent down to the Stockton Heat. Morrison actually had a decent preseason and has at the very least gotten himself back on the map as a potential defensive call up this season. He finished the preseason with 1 goal and an average of 22:34 a game in the 2 contests he participated in.

With Morrison gone, that leaves Tyler Wotherspoon, Brett Kulak and Nicklas Grossman as the 3 defensemen to compete for the final spot in Calgary, assuming that Giordano, Brodie, Hamilton, Wideman, Jokipakka and Engelland are entrenched as the top 6. While Kulak has performed the best out of the 3, if the battle is for the 7th spot and not a regular line up position, Wotherspoon would make the most sense for the team. Kulak is not waiver-eligible, so the team could easily send him down to Stockton to play top minutes and recall him should they need a defender that can play in all positions. Wotherspoon is waiver-eligible, to send him down to Stockton would be to risk losing him for nothing and he has shown at the very least to be a capable third-pairing defender. Grossman has not done anything special in camp to warrant a contract, he has been slow, had trouble breaking out of his zone and posted poor possession numbers.

Of course, none of the three will earn a spot if those swirling rumours about Kris Russell rejoining the Flames have any substance, but hopefully such a thing does not come to fruition. His addition is unnecessary and would likely provide more harm than good.

There are now 31 players in Flames camp, with a likelihood of more cuts following tomorrow’s game against Arizona.

by samwell9