It’s true that a big chunk - maybe a majority - of the cap cleanup the Chicago Blackhawks have undergone this summer involved straight-up salary dumps. The Dustin Byfuglien trade to Atlanta is at least one exception, though, as the Blackhawks received a nice package that included two high 2010 draft picks, Marty Reasoner and an interesting prospect by the name Jeremy Morin. Morin might not make an impact on the team’s pro roster for some time, but NHL.com states that he stood out in the U.S. junior team’s 6-3 win over Finland in what was essentially an exhibition game today.
Watching Jeremy Morin play for the U.S. against Finland on Wednesday at USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp, it’s easy to see why the Chicago Blackhawks wanted him and why the Atlanta Thrashers were so reluctant to let him go.
Morin, a 6-foot-1, 189-pound right wing, scored the game’s first goal and arguably was the U.S. team’s most active offensive player in a 6-3 defeat of Finland at the USA Rink at the Olympic Center here.
Dudley said he likes how Morin, “gets bigger and stronger when there’s an opportunity to score. He’s one of those players ... Mike Bossy was like that. Mike wasn’t a big man but when you put a puck in front of the net with a chance to score, not many players could hold him off that puck -- and Jeremy’s a lot like that.”
The Blackhawks truly received a nice bounty from the Thrashers this summer. Even beyond the cap savings, their farm system received a nice boost. Ultimately, though, if Byfuglien maintains his impressive level of productivity we saw in the playoffs, Chicago might need to see something from Morin.
So far, so good it seems.