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Derek Morris Likely Done in Phoenix

Feb 28, 2009 – 7:10 PM
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Adam Gretz

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The Phoenix Coyotes will be hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, and it's likely they'll be taking the ice without defenseman Derek Morris. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Morris has reportedly given general manager Don Maloney a list of teams he would be willing to accept a trade to.

Dreger also reports that until a trade can be made, Morris will not play for the Coyotes in order to avoid an injury.

Morris, 30, was acquired by the Coyotes late in the 2003-04 season, along with defenseman Keith Ballard, from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Ossi Vaananen, Chris Gratton and a second round pick (which Colorado later used on Paul Stastny).

He's in his 11th NHL season and has scored 76 goals to go along with 256 assists. He's always been a solid player, but has never really fulfilled expectations after being the 13th overall pick by the Calgary Flames back in 1996.

So, where will Morris end up? Difficult to say, but with Anaheim listening to offers for Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, not to mention Florida's Jay Bouwmeester potentially being on the market, Morris is no better than the fourth best defensemen available. And that's not even including Toronto's Tomas Kaberle.

That said, Morris could be a relatively cheap rental (he's an unrestricted free agent following this season) for a team that doesn't want to break the bank or sell the farm for one of the big names floating around.
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