Brad Morrison has a new lease on life in the Western Hockey League and will be skating next season in the land of the Giants.
The Prince George Cougars announced Friday they've traded the veteran forward to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft.
The Cougars' 2016-17 roster had 13 1997-born players and Morrison knew he was likely to be trade bait when the season ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Portland Winterhawks.
"I kind of had an idea what was going on and I'm excited to go play for Vancouver and hopefully things go well and I can make the best out of it," said Morrison. "I know they didn't have the best record last year but when we played them we always had a tough time with them.
"They have some guys who can score like (Tyler) Benson and (Ty) Ronning and (James) Malm and I'm excited to head down there and start a new chapter with the Giants. I'll get a chance to come back here a couple times to my hometown and play some games against the Cougs."
A sprained ankle sidelined Morrison for 11 games at the end of this season but he still put up 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 61 games, fourth in Cougars' scoring. Known as a speedy, skilled playmaker with exceptional stick skills, Morrison skated in 260 career regular-season games over four seasons with the Cats and collected 85 goals, 103 assists, 188 points and 136 penalty minutes. The New York Rangers draft pick also had three goals and eight assists in 11 career playoff games.
"We want to thank Brad for contributing to the Prince George Cougars success over the past four seasons," said Cougars general manager Todd Harkins in a team release. "He played a huge part in helping us make the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and gaining a B.C. Division title.
"The reality is that we need to start recouping some draft picks, and that means trading a player of Brad’s calibre and giving him a change of scenery. This trade allows him to stay close to home in Vancouver with an up-and-coming Giants team."
The Cougars gave up their second-round pick in 2018 as part of the trade in January that brought winger Nikita Popugaev to Prince George from Moose Jaw. The Cougars also sent forwards Yan Khomenko and Justin Almeida and a fifth-rounder to the Warriors in that deal.
"I just think it benefits both sides," Harkins said of the Morrison deal. "It fits us because we get one of our draft picks back that we traded last year to make a run for it."
In Morrison's final year with the team, the Cougars won the B.C. Division regular-season title for their first WHL banner and set a franchise record for most points in a single season, but the team was a major disappointment in the playoffs, losing in six games to the Winterhawks.
"Obviously it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride for the most part – we had a good team this past year but didn't know what to do with it, I guess," Morrison said. "We had a team that should have made it all the way and we were unfortunate to get knocked out in the first round. We obviously had some injury problems towards the end of the year which didn't help either."
Morrison saw limited action in the first two playoff games and scored one goal but missed the last four games of the Portland series when his injury flared up.
"It was a little frustrating being injured, for sure, and top it off with not getting any icetime, that was a little frustrating as well, but it wasn't my decision to make," he said. "But just to look back on a positive note, there were a lot of good things that happened, like playing on the WHL (all-star) team and our team having a good start and finishing in the top of the league. My whole career here in Prince George, the ownership was really nice to me, which I appreciated a lot. It was a big part of my life playing for the Cougars."
The six-foot, 170-pound Morrison sits 10th all-time in Cougars scoring with his 188 points. The Rangers selected him in the fourth round, 113th overall, in 2015. Playing for Team WHL in the 2016 Canada-Russia Series in Prince George and Edmonton stands as one of his career highlights.
"Brad is a highly-skilled forward who will provide an added dimension to our offence and power play," said Giants general manager Glen Hanlon, on the team website. "He’s another B.C.-born player with family connections in the Lower Mainland, and we’re very pleased to add his veteran presence to our group."
Morrison's dad Doug grew up in Vancouver and his mom Pauline, who lives in Kelowna, is also from the city.
Morrison, who was born and raised in Prince George, where he played most of his minor hockey before he moved to Kelowna, was a first-round bantam pick of the Cougars in 2012. He was selected seventh overall from the Okanagan Hockey Academy bantam prep team, after he lit up the league for 97 goals, 73 assists and 170 points in 68 games.
Before he joined the WHL, Morrison played one year of major midget hockey with the Cariboo Cougars in 2012-13, where he posted 20 goals and 30 assists for 50 points in 38 games.
Morrison played for three head coaches in his time with the WHL Cougars – Dean Clark, Mark Holick and most recently, Richard Matvichuk, and sometimes found himself in the coach's doghouse for his defensive lapses.
"Clearly, I've made some mistakes and maybe not bought into the system all the way in some parts of the year and probably frustrated Richard," Morrison said. "I guess I've got to put a lot of that on myself for underperforming in some games and not being consistent enough. That's something I have to take responsibility for.
"Throughout my career, even when I was 13 or 14, I was highlighted as the guy who could only score goals or make plays and play offence as a skill guy but I never had the chance to play on the penalty kill or anything. Who knows, maybe I'm good at it. Maybe next year we'll see. There are a few things I have to work on in my game, for sure."
Morrison attended training camps with the Rangers the past two years but did not sign an NHL contract and is now a free agent. He's not sure if he will be attending another NHL camp this summer and is working with his agent, Kevin Epp of Vancouver, to try to get back into the pros.
