The Chicago Blackhawks had a decision to make regarding forward Jeremy Morin after Patrick Sharp returned to the team’s lineup, and on Sunday they made that choice as they shipped him to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Tim Erixon.
To make room for Erixon on the team’s roster, they reassigned defenseman Klas Dahlbeck to the Rockford IceHogs.
Morin has been an interesting case with the Blackhawks throughout his career, as he’s had difficulty in cracking the lineup on a consistent basis. This season was supposed to be his big chance after signing a two-year extension with the team, but after going without a point in 15 straight games, head coach Joel Quenneville benched him in favor of Joakim Nordstrom before the Hawks ultimately sent him back to Rockford on a conditioning assignment.
Erixon is a solid puck-moving defenseman who was a highly touted prospect before he was traded to Columbus in the deal that sent Rick Nash to the New York Rangers. This season in 19 games, Erixon has a goal and five assists for Columbus, and he could see a little bit of time on the Hawks’ struggling power play unit.
Big picture, this is yet another example of the Hawks simply having too many talented forwards. Guys like Brandon Pirri, Jimmy Hayes and Jack Skille have all fallen victim to that lack of extra roster spots, and with the re-emergence of Kris Versteeg this season, Morin was going to have to really show his stuff in order to get regular playing time. As this trade (and the zero points on his resume) show, he wasn’t able to get the job done, and the Hawks were forced to move on from him.
