Prospect Profile: Sam Morin
Morin Working/Waiting For Next NHL Opportunity
Sam Morin met his training camp goal before the season started, making the Philadelphia Flyers season-opening roster. Unfortunately for the six-foot-seven inch defender, he didn't make his 2017-18 regular season debut until last Friday, October 13th, after being reassigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey League (AHL).
"You know what, yeah, I was waiting for my chance. It didn't happen," Morin said after last Friday's loss in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. "I think it's a part of hockey. I'm a really positive guy. I'm here right now, I live in the present and I'm really excited to be here and to finally play. I just want to play hockey - it's my passion."
After sitting out as a healthy scratch for the Flyers' season-opening four-game road trip on the west coast, Morin was returned to Lehigh Valley to do exactly that. Get some serious ice time in the AHL to get ready for his next chance at making the NHL club's playing roster this season. It came at a good time, as the Phantoms were preparing for their first three-games-in-three-nights weekend of the season.
"They want me to come down here and play my game," Morin explained last weekend of his latest conversation with the staff in Philadelphia. "I know if I'm going to get called up, I need to deserve it. It's not like I can come here and play soft or something like that."
Morin's first game of the season with the Phantoms came in a 5-0 loss to rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on the road.
The game's opening goal, in fact, came after Morin thought he had won a race for icing - clearly getting to the hash marks of the left-wing face-off circle before Penguins forward Thomas Di Pauli. Assuming the icing whistle was coming, Morin let up and stopped skating. The whistle never came and Di Pauli ended up getting to the puck first behind the net and feeding Tom Sestito out in front on a back-door type play.
Morin played in all three games on the weekend upon returning to the Phantoms. With that Friday night game in Wilkes-Barre behind both himself and the team, the Phantoms took care of business both Saturday at home in a rematch against the Penguins and in a shootout Sunday in Hershey against the Bears to salvage four of six points on the three-game weekend.
Once Morin got his legs under him again and into proper game shape after the two-week layoff in Philadelphia, it was easy to see why he's a serious part of the Flyers' future on the blue line. Besides being noticeably large out there on the ice at first glance, Morin has refined his game to that of a very simple, yet effective, style of play that has him currently at the NHL's proverbial doorstep - knocking on the door for an NHL roster spot again.
"I need to play my game and I know what that is," Morin said of what he needs to do to make the NHL full-time down the road. "My job is to win those one-on-one battles."
Morin's ability to take time and space away from the opposition's top offensive weapons at the AHL level is his bread and butter. While he was often victimized by getting caught up ice and mis-reading the play on when to pinch in the offensive zone during his rookie year, he's had two full years to gain a much better understanding of how the pro game works. He plays a much more responsible game, relying on his ability to win puck battles and make clean and effective first-passes up ice and out of the defensive zone.
Scott Gordon coached players (as well as those under the instruction of assistant coach Kerry Huffman) have had it drilled into their heads that making smart plays with the puck and taking care of things defensively will allow for more offensive attack. Coming into the pro ranks as a defenseman relied upon to produce offensively in juniors, Morin was perhaps trying to do too much offensively and comparing himself to Shayne Gostisbehere - something Morin simply cannot accomplish as a player.
Once he stuck to his strengths and was molded into playing into his proper identity - his game - Morin has been a steady two-way defender for the Phantoms. And much like his coaches in Lehigh Valley have preached, taking care of business defensively first has opened things up offensively for Morin too - culminated by this latest stint with the Phantoms over the past two weeks.
Morin now has points in three straight games, including a goal and assist performance in Saturday's game in Binghamton. He's playing well, playing smart and having a lot of success. There's just one thing left for him to do, and he might not have to wait much longer for his next opportunity to stick at the NHL level on a more permanent basis.
The Flyers announced Sunday afternoon that defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss the next four to six weeks due to a lower body injury likely sustained Saturday afternoon against Edmonton as he blocked a shot off of his knee. With just six healthy defensemen on the NHL roster currently, GM Ron Hextall will likely have to call up a defenseman from Lehigh Valley as soon as MacDonald is placed on injured reserve the move to IR opens up a spot on the Flyers' 23-man roster.
Morin seems to be the top option, although Hextall may be wary of calling up a prospect playing a lot of minutes in the AHL only to sit him as a healthy scratch in the press box like was the case with Morin to begin the season.
"I'm going to prove... I know I can play in the NHL. It's just a matter of time," Morin said.
