Ducks, Brendan Morrison seeking answers
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Trading Andy McDonald to St. Louis last December to make salary-cap room for Scott Niedermayer created a huge hole in the middle of the Ducks’ second line.
They tried to fill it by signing free agent Brendan Morrison, but he hasn’t fully recovered from surgery performed on his right knee nearly seven months ago, and they need him to be effective if the Ducks are going to get far in a very tough, deep conference.
Morrison, who signed a one-year, $2.75-million contract, had only one assist and a minus-7 plus/minus rating in the Ducks’ first 13 games. If that continues, the Ducks could be more inclined to take a hard look at free agent center Mats Sundin, even though they’d have to make some major moves to fit Sundin under the salary cap.
Ducks executives were scheduled to meet with Sundin Tuesday or Wednesday, his agent, J.P. Barry, told The Times on Monday.
Morrison has begun doing extra work after practice to strengthen his knee, doing exercises he wasn’t allowed to do over the summer while his repaired ACL was still tender. But he’s yet to see a payoff.
‘I’m just trying to do whatever I can to get going here,’ he said after the Ducks’ game-day skate. ‘My leg feels strong but for whatever reason on the ice I feel like I don’t have that explosiveness at all that’s been there in the past, where i could outskate guys or beat guys to pucks.
‘Right now, it’s mentally I want to do it, but physically I’m not able to. I’ve been told that it will come, but it’s frustrating when you want to do it and it’s not there right now.’
Morrison said he had no post-surgical complications that would explain his woes, other than an infection that set him back maybe a week.
As far as having a normal knee, it’s fine. I haven’t had any instances where it’s been sore out there. It’s that next gear just hasn’t been there at all. When you’ve always had that and it’s not there it’s frustrating, no question about it, so I’m trying to do whatever i can to get that back as soon as possible.
-- Helene Elliott