CHL to NHL: Malatesta, Morrison debut
James Malatesta and Logan Morrison debuted in the NHL Tuesday night.
In his Columbus debut, Malatesta played 11:43 and recorded eight hits in a 6-2 loss to Arizona. Morrison saw 14:21 of ice time as Seattle beat Anaheim 4-0 while he tallied three shots and one hit.
Malatesta played four seasons with Quebec from 2019-2023 where he recorded 187 points (98 goals) in 214 games. In his final season, he led the Remparts to the Gilles-Courteau Trophy and a Memorial Cup championship. He collected the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the QMJHL’s playoff MVP and then won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as the Memorial Cup’s most valuable player and was named to the tournament’s all-star team.
Ahead of his NHL debut, the Montreal native played 53 AHL games with Cleveland where he had 21 points (12 goals).
Nothing better than your rookie lap! Congrats Malatesta 👏 pic.twitter.com/8gQNAkYZuP
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 27, 2024
Morrison was a dominant scorer across four OHL seasons with Hamilton and Ottawa. In 222 games from 2018-2023, Morrison scored 111 goals and had 273 points.
In 2021-22, he had 100 points in the regular season and then shredded the competition in the postseason as he had 39 points in just 19 games to lead the Bulldogs to an OHL championship. He claimed the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL playoffs MVP while at the Memorial Cup, he was named the Most Sportsmanlike Player as Hamilton made the final.
Before his debut, Morrison played in 60 games with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds where he had 40 points.
rookie laps 4ever 🥹 pic.twitter.com/GPRhwdJbe5
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 27, 2024