IN-DEPTH: Samuel Morin sets his path

If it wasn't for bad luck, defenseman Samuel Morin wouldn't have had any luck at all last season.
Finally on the brink of earning an extended look at the NHL level, the Flyers' 2013 first-round pick wound up missing most of the 2017-18 regular season due to recurring lower-body injuries. Finally healthy, he returned in the playoffs only to suffer a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Undergoing surgery on May 31, 2018, Morin has missed the entire 2018-19 season to date while rehabbing the injury.
"It's been really frustrating," Morin admitted. "I want so bad just to play. That's what I am working every day to do. I feel really good now, but I am just trying to take it one challenge at a time in the [rehab] plan. You can't rush it. You have to go through the process."

The mantra for Morin's game: less is more. He worked on his game under the direction of Flyers development coach Kjell Samuelsson, Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon (now the Flyers interim head coach) and Phantoms assistant coach (now interim head coach) Kerry Huffman.
An effusive and exuberant young man by personality -- as well as an emotion-driven competitor on the ice, who enjoys playing a physical brand of hockey -- Morin was sometimes prone early in his career to trying to do a little too much.
"Obviously there are high expectations when you're a first-round pick. He built a good career in the minors as far as going through the [development] process and doing it the right way. He was impatient at times, maybe wanting it to happen a little sooner for him rather than just trusting the process. But he did well and he figured some things out," Gordon said.

REFINING RAW MATERIALS
When the Flyers drafted Morin with the 11th overall pick of the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, the organization did so with the knowledge that the 6-foot-7 Quebec native was an intriguing bundle of raw materials -- an above-average straight-line skater even with huge frame, an aggressive hitter, a heavy shooter and a coachable young player eager to learn how to be a pro.
Raw, however, was the operative word. The organization knew there was going to be a multi-year process involved, even after Morin turned pro, to try to develop him into the type of player they envisioned.
Morin put forth strong showings in each of his first two NHL training camps, and was one of the final preseason cuts in 2014. This raised many fans' hopes and expectations that he would fast-track to the NHL. However, he played two additional seasons of junior hockey and then two full seasons in the American Hockey League with the Phantoms before playing in his first NHL game.
Looking back, Morin realizes that the extra development time did him good as a player. He spent a lot of time refining his footwork, and everything from his positioning, to his reads on plays, and shooting tendencies required coaching to adapt to the pro game.
"In my first year, I was still adapting so I was still doing my juniors stuff that I was running everywhere. But [positioning], it's really important because when your positioning is good you don't have to over-skate. You don't get tired. That's a huge part of the game," Morin said in January 2017.
Too often in his rookie AHL season, Morin was over-aggressive in trying to make plays and ended up on the wrong side of the puck. His coaches stressed the need to keep things simple and takes advantage of his size and reach. When he had the puck, he showed potential to get the puck quickly to the forwards.
"As soon as he really identifies with that approach more he'll go from just being an even [plus-minus rating] player to where he should be a huge plus player," Gordon said.
"One thing you can say for big Sam is that he will put in the work. He wants to do the right things. His enthusiasm is a good thing. He just has to slow himself down sometimes. He still falls back sometimes into that mode where he wants the big wind-up shot, the big hit, and it might not be the right play. So that's been the process. Sometimes he needs reminders. That being said, he is receptive to what we tell him. You'd definitely rather have that than a player who thinks he's got it all figured out and keeps playing that [junior] style."
By the end of Morin's second AHL season, he was rewarded with his first game in the NHL on April 4. 2017.

A SEASON OF FRUSTRATION
Morin had a strong 2017 training camp for the Flyers and actually made the team's opening-night roster. However, he was slotted below fellow then-rookies Robert Hägg and Travis Sanheim on the NHL depth chart and was soon re-assigned to the Phantoms.
When the Flyers' blueline dealt with an injury to veteran Andrew MacDonald and a 10-game NHL suspension handed down to Radko Gudas, there were opportunities on the blueline. Unfortunately, Morin's first recall was scuttled when it was discovered he had torn his psoas muscle (one of the primary hip flexor muscles).
Although Morin eventually got into two NHL games with the Flyers in 2017-18 and played 15 regular season games for the Phantoms, he was never a healthy player for long. Twice, he was shut down for the better part of a full month after suffering lower-body injuries related to the psoas muscle tear.
Finally, in January, Morin was cleared to play and felt much better. Unfortunately, he got reinjured in the AHL Outdoor Classic Game in Hershey on January 20, 2018. He was done until the playoffs.
Morin, who perpetually has a smile on his face at the rink and has a gregarious personality, tried hard to hide the frustration. He was happy for his Phantoms teammates as they won first place in the tough Atlantic Division. He was happy for Sanheim and Hägg holding their own in the NHL. It was only human nature, though, that he wondered at times when he'd get his next opportunity.
"It was so hard to be out last season," Morin said. "All you can do is work to play again but it was really tough not be able to play. So I tried to focus on what I could control, and get back playing as soon as I was told I could."
Morin returned to the Phantom lineup for the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, late in the first period of Game 3 against the Charlotte Checkers, he tore his right ACL on a non-contact play near the boards.
Now he wouldn't only be out for the rest of the 2018 postseason.
He'd have to miss much of the 2018-19 season as well. First, though, he had to wait for the swelling to go down. He underwent successful ACL repair surgery on May 31. 2018.
A restricted free agent in the summer of 2018, Morin signed a three-year extension that runs through the 2021-22 season. Now he could focus only on getting healed and making his push for an NHL job with the Flyers.
PAINSTAKING REHAB & NEARING THE FINISH LINE
Ever since he underwent the ACL surgery, Morin has been on a timetable to be cleared to play in February 2019. From his first light skating on his own during the Flyers' training camp in September to ramping up to where he currently is on the process -- finally cleared to be a full participant in practices, Morin has gradually regained strength in his knee.
"I like getting the contact in, to compete a little bit again. You can't rush the process. I know that, and I have followed it. There are days where I feel some things in my knee but they told me all along that's just part of healing and getting strong again. Overall, I feel really good," Morin said.
"I can't push it too fast. If you aren't totally healed, you can tear the ACL again. Jimmy [McCrossin, the Flyers director of medical services] and Dr. [Peter] DeLuca have been awesome with me. The process is where it needs to be, and I'm excited that we are getting close."
After he is cleared to play, Morin is likely to be assigned on a two-week conditioning stint with the Phantoms. Thereafter, he will try to earn his first extended playing time on the NHL.
"My game, it's not going to come back all at once, probably. I missed a lot of time, last season and this season. But I believe in myself that I can get my game back and then do a good job up here with the Flyers. It just takes time, but I will get there," Morin said.
At age 23, Morin has accumulated a lot of lessons on the ice as well as off the ice. By necessity, he is more patient and more cognizant of the many small day-to-day details that are within his control.
"Just do your therapy and everything will take care of itself. Hopefully it works out so that he can get a third of the season, quarter of the season here," Gordon said.