This series features players the Calgary Flames drafted and—regrettably—moved on from too soon. Be prepared for pain, frustration, and anger as we delve into what could have been!
The series will consist of 10 players and five honourable mentions. The criteria for the players selected for this list were that they had a career of at least 500 National Hockey League games, the Flames moved on from the players in their mid-20s, and the players had a noteworthy career after leaving Calgary.
Next up is the fourth player on our list, Derek Morris.
Why does Morris make the list?
The Flames selected Morris in the first round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, 13th overall. The right-shot defenceman was coming off an eight-goal, 52-point season with 70 penalties in minutes in 67 games for the Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League. In his D+1, he elevated his game even further with 18 goals, 75 points, and a whopping 180 PIM in 67 games.
Morris stepped into the NHL at age 19 and played the entire 1997–98 season with the Flames. He made an immediate impact, scoring nine goals and 29 points to go along with 88 PIM. He finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team along with some NHL greats in Mattias Ohlund and Patrik Elias.
Morris played 343 games as a Flame, recording 34 goals, 163 points, 385 PIM, and 771 shots on goal while averaging roughly 22:40 time on ice. Nearly half of his goals (16) and assists (58) came on the power play, and he chipped in a pair of shorthanded goals. Morris’ 163 points for Calgary is the most he scored for a single organization, but I still included him in this list.
Why? Morris played 16 years in the NHL from 1997 through 2014. He laced up for 1,107 NHL games, but only 30% of those were for the team that drafted him. After an impressive five-year stretch, the Flames dealt the 24-year-old defenceman to the Colorado Avalanche on October 1, 2002.
What did the Flames have to show for Morris?
The Flames traded Morris, along with forwards Jeff Shantz and Dean McAmmond, to the Avs for Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle. After the trade, Shantz played only one more year in the NHL before moving to Europe to ply his trade. McAmmond, a depth forward, spent another seven years in the NHL.
Yelle became a reliable centre for the Flames for five years, helping them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2003–04. All-in, he played 339 games for them, scoring 31 goals and 96 points in a depth role. He even finished as high as seventh in Selke Trophy voting in 2005–06. Following the 2007–08 season, Yelle—now 33 years old—signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent.
Drury spent just one year in Calgary, scoring 23 goals and 53 points in 80 games before he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres with Steve Bégin for Steve Reinprecht and Rhett Warrener.
In an earlier segment, I broke down this trade in more detail. The Coles Notes: Warrener was a solid defenceman for the Flames for a few years, aiding in their 2004 bid for the Cup before playing his last NHL game as a Flame in 2007–08. Reinprecht had a respectable couple of years in Calgary before he was dealt again. This time, he was traded for a pair of players—Brian Boucher and Mike Leclerc—who would both depart soon after, leaving the Flames with nothing.
Summarizing how costly the Flames’ mistake was
Even if Morris alone was traded for Drury and Yelle, I still see this trade as a loss for the Flames. But, alas, they included two other players in the deal.
On the surface, acquiring Drury and Yelle for Morris, Shantz, and McAmmond is a very good return. However, it’s the Flames’ series of moves thereafter—or lack thereof—that came back to haunt them. The organization eventually had nothing to show for its former 13th-overall pick. That’s just poor asset management.
Do you agree with our assessment of the Flames’ handling of Morris? Let us know your thoughts!
Check out all of The Win Column’s posts from this series:
Main list: #10 Jonas Hoglund | #9 Robert Svehla | #8 Travis Moen | #7 Steve Begin | #6 Sam Bennett | #5 Dion Phaneuf | #4 Derek Morris | #3 Jarret Stoll | #2 Craig Anderson | #1 Cory Stillman
Honourable mentions: #5 Michael Nylander | #4 Jean-Sebastien Giguere | #3 Sean Monahan | #2 Marc Savard | #1 Martin St. Louis
