Defenseman Scott Morrow has resigned for one more year, taking an $850K two-way deal that allows him and the Rangers to figure things out as they go. It doesn’t really answer the question though: Is he part of the Rangers future?.

The issue for the Rangers and the player is twofold. He has still yet to prove he can be a regular NHL contributor, and he may soon be available to any team willing to take a risk on him.

The latter challenges stems from Morrow having had his first waiver exemption year burned while he was with the Carolina Hurricanes. Normally he would have had one more year of exemption status, but in order to get him to sign, the Canes gave him the opportunity to count his first year as a full year.

On the former issue, he has just 45 NHL games to him name so far in his career, along with a so-so stint with Hartford, and where he fits in with a Rangers team that is in – and I say this with the utmost sincerity – “Win Now” mode, remains to be seen.

Hopefully you’ve managed to stop smirking by now.

OUT OF HIS DEPTH

Sitting behind Adam Fox, Sean Durzi and Braden Schneider on the depth chart, means the 6-2 defender is not currently expected to be in the line-up on opening night. Holding onto him just so he can sit in the box and wait for someone ahead of him to get injured is certainly an option, but what does that really do for the organization and the player.

He could also potentially be pressed into duty to play his off-side of course, assuming they’d play him over Urho Vaakanainen that is. Then again, teams seem less likely to try that kind of thing long term than they might have in past decades.

A Schneider trade would certainly make things clearer. It remains a possibility given the weaknesses still apparent up front, but every day we get closer to opening night makes that option less likely.

COUNTING ON IT

All that aside, the one thing he does have going for him is his bargain cost. At $850K, he makes a minimal impact to the salary cap, providing GM Chris Drury with more flexibility to address other needs if he can somehow show he’s worth the risk. If he was to replace Schneider, that would give the Rangers and $4.7M or so to play with on top of the $2M or so they have right now.

That might be a bigger ask though, and as we’ve seen with the addition of Joonas Korpisalo over the Summer, the Rangers front office remains skeptical on some of their younger players.

For Morrow to overcome that skepticism, he’s likely got a lot of work to do. While his offensive instincts are solid, it’s his defense that is still very much a work in progress. You can see in these shot maps from Micah McCurdy over at HockeyViz that the Rangers gave up more than average number of chances right in front of the net and from the top of the right circle when Morrow was on the ice (red means above league average).

Here’s the same charts for Matthew Robertson as a contrast:

You can clearly see the differences. Morrow helps the offense get more opportunities on offense, but then gives it right back on the defensive side. The similarly aged Robertson does a much better job in his own end, an area that remains in focus for a team that could very well be playing more close games this season.

FARM WORK

Ideally the Rangers would like Morrow to play down in Hartford and see if he can get his defensive game turned around. There’s definitely some optimism that new head coach Jay Leach and the influx of talent into the roster will give the team a boost over last year’s disaster that did Morrow no favors.

Getting him there though will be the trick. With 31 teams out there, there’s always going to be some looking for help. Particularly on the right side of the defense where pickings are generally a little thinner than on the left. A team like Anaheim for instance is hurting on the blueline, and thanks to Philadelphia’s offer sheet, already are facing challenges to get their team under the salary cap.

Calgary, Chicago, Vancouver…Seattle. There are a lot of teams that could potentially look at a guy like Morrow and say it’s worth a waiver claim to see what he might be able to do in the NHL. Even a team like Tampa Bay might take a look.

PROJECTIONS

Chris Drury surely knows this, but he also knows he’s got some waiver eligible guys that he already needs to cut. Even if he sends both Jaroslav Chmelar and Adam Sykora down to Hartford, he’ll still likely need to make a couple of tough decisions.

Morrow would seemingly be a player worth taking a longer look at, but without some moves between now and the day before opening night when rosters are frozen, Morrow’s future with the Rangers remains very much a question.