With two openings available on the blue line, Sam Morin faces his best chance to make the Philadelphia Flyers roster. If he can't, will he be the bust of the defensive prospect pool?
By Dan Heaning, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
With the Philadelphia Flyers' training camp for the 2017-18 season a few weeks away, many players will be looking to make the team’s roster for opening night.
One player who is expected to compete for and earn a spot with the Orange and Black is Sam Morin, but there is trepidation with the burly blueliner.
Listed at 6'7" and 227 pounds, Morin is the largest Flyers defensive prospect. He was drafted with the 11th overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in the hopes that he would become the next Chris Pronger.
Yet, as of last season, Morin has played the fewest NHL games of anyone taken in the first round of the 2013 draft with the exception of Morgan Klimchuck, the 28th overall pick selected by the Calgary Flames, who has yet to play an NHL game.
Morin is the only player in the top 20 of that draft to not reach at least double digits in the games played department. Of the top 12 picks, he’s the only one that’s yet to reach 115 games.
That’s not entirely on Morin, though. The Flyers have had a logjam of defensemen on the roster for the past few seasons. Whenever it seemed like Morin was closing in on earning a job with the big club, the numbers simply wouldn’t allow it.
Now there are two spots open for a pair of young blueliners to take. Morin will be competing with the likes of Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg and Philippe Myers for one of those two openings.
Sanheim impressed in his first professional season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and continued to drop jaws at development camp. Expectations are high for him.
The same can be said for Myers, but since he’s coming right out of juniors, it can be reasonably assumed that Myers will start the season in Lehigh Valley barring a phenomenal training camp.
Hagg is Morin’s closest competitor, fitting as both were drafted in the same year with Hagg being selected in the third round. The Swedish blueliner combines smooth skating and a formidable 6'2" frame. The way the game is played now, Hagg’s talents may fit into the puck moving defensemen style akin to Pittsburgh and Nashville more than Morin.
If Sanheim and Hagg beat out Morin for the two vacancies on the blueline, would that be cause for concern? Is this training camp boom or bust for Morin?
If it is, Morin doesn’t have advanced stats on his side. While AHL advanced stats aren’t completely available, a number have come out that may lead some to believe that Morin could be the bust of the Flyers defensive prospect pool.
Sanheim was in the top third of the minor league’s blueliners in goals per 60, primary assists per 60, goals-for percentage, goals-for percentage relative to his teammates and shots per games played. The other stats, secondary assists per 60 and power play points per games, played were in the middle third, according to Keenan Sutherland of PattisonAve.com.
Hagg was in the top third in goals per 60 and points per 60. He middled out in most of the other stats like primary assists, shots per games, both goals-for percentages. He was in the bottom echelon in secondary assists and power play points. Neither one of those are a big deal.
However, Morin was in the top tier in none of the aforementioned statistics. He middled out in six of the eight stats and only one of his bottom third numbers is truly alarming: His -5.73 goals-for per 60 number which was good for second to last on the Phantoms among defensemen.
That number only becomes troubling when you compare it to the quality of Morin’s ice time. Morin’s five-on-five ice time was equivalent to a third pairing AHL defender while his primary points per 60 and his quality of competition time on ice at five-on-five were that of a second pairing player, according to Flyers Nerd.
Things like goals, assists and points aren’t really a part of Morin’s game. Morin is meant to play a physical game as a shutdown defenseman. Yet, with a negative goals-for relative to his teammates stat coupled with playing against second liners at the AHL level, there is certainly cause for concern that he can impede NHL grade talent.
Furthermore, Garret Hohl of Hockey Data called Morin a below replacement WAR (wins above replacement) player at the AHL level on the PDOcast. His criticism didn’t end there.
"I just don’t see it there in his overall play. His defensive game is okay at the AHL,” Hohl said. “At 21, that means that maybe he can become a depth guy. You know, a third pairing defenseman if he wasn’t in a team that was as stacked with defensive prospects as the Philadelphia Flyers are. That’s a maybe. That’s almost a best-case scenario now."
Having the 11th overall pick in the draft turn into a depth defenseman or, in the best possible scenario, a third pairing guy is hardly getting value for the pick.
If that turns out to be the case, it would be fair to call Morin a bust particularly with the expectation of becoming the next Chris Pronger unfairly latched to him.
Though, not everyone agrees with this synopsis. Tony Androckitis commented on Morin’s development on InsidetheAHL.com.
"I think Morin has a chance to nab a spot on the NHL roster out of training camp. He's unlike the other high-profile blue line prospects in the system in that he is at his best when he plays a simple game predicated on a good first pass out of the defensive zone and being tough to play against in the hard areas of the ice. Morin's size and strength are suited for being able to handle the daily grind of the NHL, and I don't think he's all too far away from cracking the NHL on a full-time basis."
Morin’s size certainly sets him apart physically from the other Flyers blue chip blueliners, but with his size and tenacity comes the inevitable penalty. At the minor league level, Morin committed way too many last season as he led Lehigh Valley with 129 penalty minutes.
It isn’t like Morin is completely green either. He earned praise for his lone NHL game this past season, but so did Hagg. Both were paired with Shayne Gostisbehere, who is a natural partner for either player. It could very well come down to which player complements Gostisbehere the most to earn the roster spot.
This is where Hagg’s skating may prove more valuable than Morin’s size. The Hockey News scouting report of Hagg indicates he blends puck movement and shutdown capabilities. Hagg has spent his time in the AHL learning to use his size more and attempting to become more of a physical defenseman. He threw four hits and blocked three shots in his lone NHL outing while Morin completed seven checks.
With the expectation that Sanheim is NHL ready right now and Hagg may be the more complete player, Morin may find himself in the AHL for yet another season.
However, that may be for the best. It should behoove Morin to get more minutes and face tougher competition at the AHL level before being thrust into a defense-first role with the Flyers.
Morin was always a project pick, especially at 11th overall in 2013. Sometimes projects take longer than expected, but unless Morin shows the coaching staff otherwise, bringing him up to the big show now may undo all the progress he’s made as a player.
After all, it is better to test Morin’s merit against a higher quality opponent in the AHL instead of giving him a baptism by fire with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin or John Tavares. Morin may feel he’s ready and confident now, but getting deked by some of the best players in the world can kill that swagger swiftly.
Therefore, unless Morin can outright show that his play is superior to Sanheim’s and Hagg’s, the Flyers should continue the towering blueliner’s slow cook development. It may be the thing that saves Morin from being the bust of the Flyers back end prospect pool.
