Cardiff Devils have announced the signing of former NHLER Shaone Morrisonn for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.
The defenceman played over 500 games in the NHL, 480 regular season games and another 27 in the playoffs, mostly for the Washington Capitals.
He was originally drafted in the first round by the Boston Bruins, 19th overall, and started his NHL career with them in the 2002-03 season. After two years with the Bruins, he was traded to the Capitals where he spent the next five seasons.
His final year in the NHL was spent with the Buffalo Sabres in 2010-11 before moving overseas to play in the KHL. He was part of the Zagreb team that came to Cardiff in August 2016 to play the Devils during the pre-season.
He spent three years in Zagreb before finishing his time in the KHL with Vladivostok in 2017-18. Last season Morrisonn suited up for the Oji Eagles in the Asia League. He is a Croatian passport holder and in April he played for Croatia for the first time in the Division 2A World Championships where he was voted Top Defenceman of the tournament.
“This is a very exciting signing, not only for our organisation but also for the league,” said Cardiff Devils head coach Andrew Lord.
“Shaone obviously brings a bunch of experience having played in the highest leagues in the world.
“He will bring a lot to our team. His skating ability for his size is very good and a big strength of his game. His defensive abilities are very solid, and his awareness and skill will allow him to help our team in all three zones.
“I always knew of Shaone over the years through mutual friends and it was great to meet him this summer and get to know each other more. We thought we were close this off-season in signing him but he had some things to attend to back at home in Vancouver.
“He’s been skating in Zagreb the last six weeks and I was pleased to hear the other day that he was now ready to potentially join our team. To get this over the line last night was extremely exciting.
“I’d like to thank Steve King (Devils owner), as he initially brought up Shaone’s name in the off-season and got the lines of communication going.”
Featured photo courtesy of Getty Images.
