E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Joe Morrow #19

By Eldon MacDonald

19. Joe Morrow - “Mr. Flash Drive” - D - Canada

Vitals: Size - 6’0”, 199 lb.; Shoots left; Born: 9-Dec-92 - Sherwood Park, AB
Team: Portland, WHL
2010-11Stats: 60-9-40-49-67-(+23) + WHL playoffs 21-6-14-20-27-(+3)

Rankings:
11 - Kirk Luedeke's Top 50
14 - NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings (12th North American skater)
14 - Cory Pronman's Top 100
15 - Guy Flaming - The Pipeline Show Top 30
19 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
20 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
20 - Bob MacKenzie's June Poll of Scouts
20 - McKeen's June Top 30
20 - Dean Millard -The Pipeline Show Top 30
25 - Craig Button's Top 30 of 8-Jun-11
28 - hfboards Readers’ Poll
29 - Future Considerations Final Rankings
33 - ISS's Final List per TSN
34 - The Hockey News per TSN
35 - The Scouting Report's Top 100 Skaters
Draft result:
23 - Pittsburg Penguins

His Dad, Dave, was drafted 56th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1977 draft and his brother, Josh, was drafted 203rd overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2002 draft but there is no doubt that Joe will end up going significantly higher than both of them.

I have long been a fan of Joe Morrow but I didn’t get to see much of him this year until the playoffs. I thought I had rated him too high since most of the rankings had him second round and as a former Portland resident I also thought that I might be giving him some hometown boosterism. However, ThePipelineShow did a head to head poll for western based scouts in March comparing Siemens, Morrow and Musil. The results came back Siemens - 5 (votes), Morrow 4, Musil -1, so I started to feel a little better amount my ranking and then the other rankings started to show him first round (including Bob MacKenzie’s scouts poll from last night at 20) so I feel vindicated in my initial boosterism - at least until Friday night (June 24th).

So what do you get with a Joe Morrow??? Essentially, Joe is a puck moving defenseman who will man your point on the power play. Joe has three main attributes which, when put together, set him apart from most of his defensive peers in the draft and make him an elite prospect:

1. Skating - All the qualities you look for - the gears, the top speed, the agility, the back-up speed
2. Passing - All the passes, short, intermediate and long with the hockey sense integral to selecting how and when to use them
3. Shooting - Full bang with thunder from the point. Could get it off a little quicker but that will come.

In addition, Joe brings more than a little grittiness (even a little lumber) to go with a surprising degree of strength (for an average-sized guy) to the mix so you know you are getting a guy who is not afraid to get the job done. Joe finished his season by being the second highest scoring defenseman in the WHL playoffs (20 points in 21 games) so you also know he can step it up when he needs to be counted on. In addition, Joe aced the Combine with ten results in the top ten including:
1. Right hand grip - 177 lb.
1. Vertical leg power with pause - 1865 watts
2. Vertek vertical jump - 30.3’’
3. Jump average - 25’’
4 Vertek Peak leg power - 6532 watts
So it should come as no surprise that Portland’s Director of Hockey Operations Matt Bardsley was quoted as saying (by Christopher Ralph) at TheHockeyWriters.com, “It’s amazing how strong he is. He has so much power in his legs and upper body, and his leg strength is a big part of his explosive skating as well as his big shot.”

On the not so plus side, Joe is an average-sized defenseman and still has quite a bit of work to do in the defensive zone to bring his work up from average to NHL quality.

As for draft day (June 24th), I am hoping that Joe beats Bob MacKenzie’s scout consensus of 20, maybe by quite a bit.