Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Shaone Morrisonn eager to prove he can stay in Buffalo lineup

Carolina Hurricanes v Buffalo Sabres

BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 15: Shaone Morrisonn #27 of the Buffalo Sabres warms up prior to play against the Carolina Hurricanes at HSBC Arena on March 15, 2011 in Buffalo, New York. Carolina won 1-0. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Getty Images

When Buffalo signed Shaone Morrisonn before last season as a free agent, he was brought in to give the Sabres a physical presence on their blue line and provide stability there. Instead, Morrisonn struggled a bit with injuries and didn’t quite fulfill what he’d hoped to do for the team.

After a wild offseason for the Sabres that saw owner Terry Pegula open up the vault and allow GM Darcy Regier to go wild and fill the team and their payroll up, Morrisonn sees a newcomer in Christian Ehrhoff join the team. He also sees younger guys like Mike Weber and Marc-Andre Gragnani step up late in the season and push for starting jobs on the blue line.

With the Sabres over the salary cap by more than $3.5 million according to CapGeek.com, Morrisonn and his $2.075 million cap hit this season could be bound for another city via trade or for Rochester and the AHL. Morrisonn is out to prove that he can still play well and make it worth the Sabres while to keep him around as he told Bill Hoppe of the Niagara Gazette.

“There’s going to be some competitiveness in training camp, and you’re going to have to earn a spot. I think that’s great.”

Has Morrisonn thought about playing in the AHL for the first time since the 2004-05 lockout?

“Anything can happen — trades, getting moved,” Morrisonn said. “We’re over the cap, obviously. They got to make some moves. But I can’t really focus on that. I got to just focus on playing on the ice and competing and showing them what I got, and that’s all I can control.”

Morrisonn, who arrived in town Wednesday, said he hasn’t spoken to Ruff or general manager Darcy Regier yet. Clearly, though, Morrisonn wasn’t expecting this situation when he signed with the Sabres last August.

“I’m a gritty defenseman,” Morrisonn said. “I’m not afraid get physical and use my body and use my wheels. That’s what they got me in (for) last year. It’s just exciting to be here. (We’ll) see what happens. I want to be a part of this.”


Morrisonn’s main competition in training camp, if his salary isn’t his biggest road block that is, would be 23 year-old Mike Weber. Weber plays a similar sort of game. He’s tough defensively, physical, and has a big shot from the point as well. Morrisonn will have to show that he’s capable of doing more than Weber and the other defensive-defensemen in camp to keep his job. With the Sabres needing to get under the cap, Morrisonn is going to have to do a lot of big things in a short amount of time.

At the very least, if Morrisonn can prove himself worthy of a starting job, he could draw interest from teams in need of a guy like him. While he wants to see things through in Buffalo, staying in the NHL would be preferable to being sent to the AHL in salary exile. The battle for him to stay in Buffalo’s lineup will be worth watching.