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Devils Sign Joe Morrow

The Devils announced today that they have signed former Winnipeg Jet, Boston Bruin and Montreal Canadien Joe Morrow to a one-year, two-way contract. The contract is worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $250,000 at the AHL level with $300,000 guaranteed.

Morrow was immediately put on waivers by the team and will report to the Binghamton Devils tomorrow pending clearing waivers at 12 PM tomorrow.

Morrow, a 26-year-old defenseman, played for Winnipeg last season and had his best year (according to the press release) in 2017-18 with the Jets. That season, he tallied six goals and ten assists (16 points) and registered 26 penalty minutes. He also played in six playoff games for the Jets, as they went to the Western Conference Final, ultimately losing to Vegas. His lone goal in that playoff was the go-ahead goal in the current iteration of the Jets’ first playoff win (April 11, 2018 against the Minnesota Wild) according to the press release.

He has appeared in 162 career NHL games (2014 to 2019) with Winnipeg, Boston and Montreal. The Edmonton-native’s career totals are nine goals, 23 assists (32 points) to go with 62 career penalty minutes.

At the AHL level, he has played in 158 career games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Texas Stars and Providence Bruins. There he has 15 goals and 46 assists (61 points) and 83 penalty minutes.

The 6-foot, 195-pound left-shooting journeyman was the Penguins’ first pick (23rd overall) in the 2011 Draft. He played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawks from 2008 to 2012.

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NHLPA Declines Reopening CBA

The National Hockey League Players’ Association has declined to reopen the current NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

According to an article on the NHL website, the “10-year agreement that was ratified in January 2013 will remain scheduled to expire Sept. 15, 2022.”

The league had a September 1 “deadline to make its decision” and “announced Aug. 30 it would not reopen the agreement. The NHLPA had until Monday to decide.”

Don Fehr, the NHLPA executive director said that “while players have concerns with the current CBA, we agree with the League that working together to address those concerns is the preferred course of action instead of terminating the agreement following this season. We have been having discussions with the League about an extension of the CBA and expect that those talks will continue.”

If either the NHL or the NHLPA had opted to reopen the CBA, it would have expired September 15, 2020.

Gary Bettman said: “we are pleased with the NHL Players’ Association’s decision not to reopen the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We look forward to continuing to work with the NHLPA for the benefit of all stakeholders, especially our fans.”

According to the article on NHL.com, the two sides have met “regularly throughout the offseason to discuss a possible extension and plan to continue meeting. Each side has said talks have been productive and cordial.”

The article then mentions the 1994-95, 2004-05 and 2012-13 season lockouts, including losing the entire 2004-05 season to a work stoppage. That was the only (to date) time that that has happened in a major North American sports league.

In other news, tonight the Devils have two split squad preseason games (home against Boston and away at Montreal). We will try to have some coverage of those games for you right here.