Countdown to Bruins camp: Joe Morrow

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From now until the beginning of training camp, Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty is profiling players who will be on, or have a chance to be on, the 2015-16 Bruins. Today's player: Joe Morrow.

The 22-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut last season with the Bruins, scored his first NHL goal and flashed the talent that made him a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011. Still, it came in flashes for Morrow in those 15 games with the Bruins when injuries opened up a spot for him. It seemed that he was a little hesitant in that first NHL go-round. Morrow will need to let it all fly this year with job openings on the Boston D-corps there for the taking and the expectation that the young players will step up and seize those opportunities.

What Happened Last Year: Morrow, 22, notched one goal as his lone point in a 15-game stint last season and had three goals and 12 points in 33 games with the Providence Bruins in the AHL. The former first-rounder showed the heavy shot from the point, the skating ability and the offensive instincts that made such a sought after prospect. He also made few defensive mistakes in Boston. Still, it also felt like Morrow wasn’t really pushing things offensively, and, at times, was playing safe to gain the trust of the coaching staff with the Bruins. Given his strengths as a player, Morrow is better than one point in 15 NHL games if he was pursuing things offensively as he normally does at the AHL level. All in all, though, Morrow looked as if belonged in the NHL. A greater level of confidence could unlock an even better player. The six goals and 29 points in 56 AHL games for the P-Bruins two years ago are a little closer to his talent baseline.

Questions To Be Answered This Season: Morrow has been traded twice already in his young career and is on his third organization. That’s a pretty rare occurrence for a top prospect and could make it challenging to carve out an identity in an NHL organization. He’s entering his fourth professional season and has NHL games now under his belt, so it’s about time for Morrow to show what he’s going to be in the NHL. Rather than a guy playing it safe in his stint last season to help a team win important games, Morrow should cut it loose offensively and show what he can do in camp. How good can be in the NHL when he plays with a little more risk to his game, and shows the skating, shooting and puck-moving skills that are part of his game? That really is the question to be answered at this point. He remains one of the few assets from the Tyler Seguin trade that could possibly salvage that deal.

In Their Words: “When you’re up here [in Boston] and you’re down there [in Providence] it’s a lot of fun, but one day it’s one thing, and then another it’s something else. It’s a big mental experience for me to be able to prepare myself for situations like this. It’s been fun, and I think it’ll make me a stronger person in the end dealing with all of this stuff. You try not to think about anything, and do what you’re told. If you try to see what’s kind of underlying and see what they’re thinking [about the roster] and what they’re doing, it would just be a tornado in your head. So I just have fun where I am, and it’s two great teams to play on. It’s always fun coming up here, so you try to enjoy every second of it.” –Morrow, on bouncing back and forth between the NHL and AHL last season.

Overall Outlook: Like a number of young players for the Bruins headed into this season, there are opportunities coming up for Joe Morrow to step up and win an NHL job. He has shown glimpses and flashes of heavy shooting, good skating and solid puck-moving skills, but the production hasn’t followed those offensive skills in the NHL. As with the other young D-men, it’s sometimes tough to gauge this given that becoming a good, two-way defenseman in the NHL is probably the most difficult development track for a young player. Morrow has the first-round skill and he’s got some of the tools, but it felt like he was playing it safe last season. That’s totally understandable, but now it’s on him to make a leap forward and stand out among a crop of talented, hungry young D-men in camp.

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