Penguins Acquire Forward Brenden Morrow and a 2013 Third-Round Draft Pick from Dallas in Exchange for Joe Morrow and a 2013 Fifth-Round Draft Pick
Sunday, 03.24.2013 / 8:00 PM


Brenden Morrow
Left Wing - DAL
GOALS: 6 | ASST: 5 | PTS: 11
SOG: 31 | +/-: -8


The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired forward Brenden Morrow and a 2013 Third-Round Draft Pick from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Joe Morrow and a 2013 Fifth-Round Draft Pick, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.


Brenden Morrow, 34, has appeared in 29 games this season with the Stars, scoring six goals, five assists and 11 points while serving as the team’s captain.


The 6-foot, 205-pound Morrow has spent his entire 13-year career with the Stars, tallying 243 goals, 285 assists, 528 points and a plus-79 rating in 835 career games. He has added 42 points (17G-25A) in 78 career postseason contests.


A native of Carlyle, Saskatchewan, Morrow helped the Stars advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2000, notching six points (2G-4A) in 21 postseason games that spring. During his most recent postseason experience in 2007-08, Morrow helped the Stars advance to the conference final by scoring 15 points (9G-6A) in 18 playoff games.


Originally drafted by the Stars in the first round (25th overall) of the 1997 NHL Draft held at the Civic Arena, Morrow has reached double digits in goals in each of his first 12 seasons, including seven 20-goal campaigns and twice hitting the 30-goal mark. Morrow has surpassed the 40-point plateau seven times.


Morrow’s best season in Dallas came in 2007-08 when he tallied 32 goals and 42 assists for a career-high 74 points in 82 games. In 2010-11, he established a career high with 33 goals.


Brenden Morrow has represented Team Canada internationally several times, including the 2010 Winter Olympics when he helped the Canadians win a gold medal while playing with new teammates Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury. He has also played for Canada in four World Championships and the 2005 World Cup of Hockey.
With B. Morrow on board and Malkin due back soon, I expect the top line of Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis to remain intact, and Morrow will likely skate with his former teammate Neal and will play the role Kunitz played on Geno's line last year when 71 had 50 goals and 18 had 40 goals. I figured that Kennedy would sit and Bennett would play on the 3rd line with Sutter and Cooke, but now that TK scored the OT game winner last night (and had a goal & an assist a week ago in the shutout of the Rangers), they may keep Kennedy with Sutter and Bennett, and move Cooke down to the 4th line with Adams and Glass (with Adams moving back to center, and Vitale and Jeffrey upstairs in a suite).

It's tough parting with a recent 1st round pick so soon, but our system is overflowing with young puck moving defensemen projects (and Shero fleeced these same Stars when he got Neal and Niskanen for a young puck moving blueliner named Alex Goligoski). But we get to add some grit and leadership, plus someone who has skated with Neal and Niskanen before (plus Crosby in the Olympics). And he's not all that far removed from a career best 33 goal season in 2010-2011. He can fill the Bill Guerin or Gary Roberts veteran role for us on the march toward the Stanley Cup.