Derek Morris through five games

As the Bruins close out their rare season-opening homestand with a meek 2-3 record, this week is sure to be rife with speculation and contrived finger-pointing. What better time to check in on that $3.3 million investment in Derek Morris... you know, the one that prevented the Kessel negotiations from getting off the ground...

Time on ice
Time on ice per game: 23:10, second behind Chara
PP time on ice per game: 5:06, second behind Savard
SH time on ice per game: 2:52, third behind Chara and Wideman

Clearly, Morris has had ample opportunity to make an impact on the ice. He has been paired mostly with Chara, arguably the best defensive partner in the league.

Offensive production
Goals: None.
Assists: 2. Both of Morris' assists were secondary, both were on the power play, and both were scored in the 7-2 rout of struggling Carolina.
Shots: 4. All shots came from a distance of at least 48 feet.

Defense
Hits: 7. This puts him in a tie for 129th leaguewide, along with guys like Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev.
Plus/Minus: A team-worst -4. He's also -1 on special teams, though these numbers don't count in his official +/-.

Discipline
PIM: 8. Two minors and a double-minor. It was Morris' slashing penalty that led to Colorado's tie-breaking goal.
Giveaways: 3, tied for most on the team.
Takeaways: 1.

Salary
$3.3 million per season, in case you forgot.

Of course there are a lot of Bruins whose numbers look bad right now, but Morris has clearly not had a smooth landing in Boston. If he can't turn it around, this contract could end up being an albatross for Peter Chiarelli.

Tweeters get ahead of themselves; Bruins' wild day continues

What a strange day it's been. I'm setting a new record with 4 posts, because every time I log on there is something new to report.

The latest development is that the Bruins signed -- oops, ALMOST signed -- former Coyote/Ranger Derek Morris as reported (and then recanted) on Twitter by James Murphy. Here's the chuckle-worthy series of Tweets:

Bruins have signed Derek Morris. More details to come.

Regarding last tweet, I was just told by reliable source Bruins have signed Derek Morris. Trying to confirm.

Still trying to confirm. But it appears Derek Morris very likely could be a Bruin.

No confirmation yet but all signs pointing towards Morris to Bruins. There are other teams in on him, but sources tell me, Bruins got him.

Update on Derek Morris to Bruins: All we can say is that the Bruins and Morris are very close to a deal. No call back from agent. So "close"

WBZ reporting Morris' agent says Bruins one of several teams in mix, no Bruins announcement today. My sources still say Bruins the team

Mmm hmm... everyone got that? This is the sort of embarrassing thing that we are going to see more of in the age of New Media.

Even better are the bloggers who jumped on the story too early, vaguely citing "sources" that could "confirm" an event that didn't actually happen.

Jumpy Tweeters notwithstanding, the Morris signing appears to be a legit story. This means the Bruins have effectively swapped Aaron Ward for Morris, a 4th round pick, and a slight cap hit for 3 of the next 4 years.

Now for the latest head-scratcher: Morris carried a healthy $3.95 million cap hit last season. Granted, the contract was bloated and we are sure to see Morris take a pay cut... but it's hard to imagine him going much below Ward's salary level.

In other words, this "salary dump" was not actually a salary dump at all. It was, more or less, an even salary swap in which the Bruins got slightly younger, softer and more skillful on the blue line.

So after all that, still no progress in the Kessel stalemate.

I'm sure that Peter Chiarelli is either mad, or a genius. I hope that he's both.