Morrison

Fantasy Impact: Calgary has signed Brendan Morrison to a one-year contract worth $725,000.

The Flames get: a former 70-point, two-way center who has lost a step. Morrison was one of the iron men of the NHL before running into serious wrist problems. When he returned from the injury, he was a shadow of his former self – and tearing his ACL a month later didn’t help matters. Today, the 35-year-old will focus more on his own end of the rink, as his top-six days are behind him.

Fantasy Players Impacted: One would be tempted to believe that Morrison’s presense will hurt either Matt Stajan or Daymond Langkow when they return from their injuries. Or both. But the answer is – it will hurt neither. In fact, it won’t even hurt Mikael Backlund. Morrison is an effective fill-in on the third line until Langkow and/or Stajan returns. At which point he will be a nice upgrade on the fourth line to the aging Craig Conroy. His 42 points and plus-23 on the Caps last season were results of strong teammates. In Calgary you are probably looking at 30 points and plus-5 to plus-10. In a pinch, much like Conroy last year, Morrison can step in on the second power play.

One thing to note – he had 16 points in the first 20 games last campaign, so an early hot start is feasible. If you’re going to pick him up, do it now and trade him within three weeks. In the last 54 games he had just 26 points and was a healthy scratch several times.

Players this hurts, in order:

1. Craig Conroy

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Players this helps, in order:

1. Brendan Morrison (hey – it beats the KHL!)