The smooth-skating blueliner with good size is in contention to be a second-round pick at this year's draft.
We're now two days away from the start of the 2026 NHL draft, and teams are just finalizing their draft meetings while draft picks seem to get traded by the hour across the league.
Today's profile is on Charlie Morrison, a blueliner that has a good combination of size and skating, and has shown an ability to be a shutdown player as well.
Morrison, 18, had 13 (4+9) points in 41 games last season with the Remparts, but he's not really much of an offensive blueliner.
Charlie Morrison's defensive game, smooth skating and size make him an attractive option in the second round of this year's NHL draft. (Photo: Jonathan Savageau-Roy)The appeal around the 6-foot-3 defenseman's game comes around his smooth skating and defensive shutdown ability.
Morrison took on a shutdown role with the Remparts this season, allowing offensive types like Cal Uens room to run the offence.
He's able to stay with forwards off the rush thanks to his fantastic four-way mobility, and his combination of solid physical play and a strong defensive stick allow him to be strong in his own end as well.
He does the traditional defenseman things like clearing the crease, winning battles in the corner, and retrieving pucks and moving them out, typically making the simple play more often than not.
This gives Morrison a very strong defensive base, and mixed with his size make him very projectable into a role at the pro level.
What maybe gives teams some pause is the level of offence that's in his game. While he had a solid playoff run, with two goals and two assists in 10 games, he's scored 15 or fewer points in both of his QMJHL seasons to date.
To be more than just a third-pairing defenseman in the NHL, you typically need to bring some level of offence to the table, and Morrison hasn't quite shown that level yet.
Additionally, with an October birthday, he's one of the oldest players available in this year's draft, and thus might have a bit less time to develop than some of his younger compatriots.
Morrison is expected to head to NCAA UConn this fall, forgoing his 19-year-old season in favour of heading to school to play for a strong program.
But first, he'll figure out which NHL team will hold his rights and will be at the head of his development, something that he should find out pretty early on Saturday.
Never want to miss out on any QMJHL news? Make sure to book mark THN's QMJHL site.
Also follow @roryyarthur on X/Twitter for more updates.
Read more
