By Jeff D'Andrea

Morrissey’s return a good problem for Raiders backend

Oct 7, 2014 | 6:47 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders and their fans should be tickled pink with the return of their captain Josh Morrissey, who was reassigned by the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.  

But his return means the Raiders have a ton of defencemen on their roster, a lot of whom can’t — or likely won’t –return to the team next season.

The Raiders were lucky to have Morrissey return this season, but he certainly won’t next year. He’s already proven he can play at the professional level in his 20 games in the AHL last year with the St. John’s Ice Caps. The worst case scenario for him: he’ll go back to Ice Caps if he doesn’t outright make the Winnipeg Jets.

Prince Albert’s own Sawyer Lange is in his last year of WHL hockey, as he’s playing out his 20-year-old season this year. He’s ineligible to return next year.

Tomas Andrlik is unlikely to return. Although he will be 20 years old and is eligible to come back next season, but since he’s a European import, the Raiders would have to use one of their three 20-year-old spots and one of their two Euro spots in order to hold on to Andrlik.

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Hunter Warner, 19, signed with the Minnesota Wild when he was in camp with them this year as a free agent invitee. He could very well dig into that contract and start his professional career next year.

Although Mackenze Stewart, 19, isn’t signed by an NHL team, he isn’t a guarantee to return either. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and could be signed at any time by the Canucks from now until the start of next season if they feel he can start his pro career.

That’s five defencemen on the Raiders that either won’t return, or are in jeopardy of not returning. If the Raiders keep all these defencemen to play out the rest of this year, there’s a possibility that the only returning defencemen on next year’s roster with any significant WHL experience would be Brendan Guhle.

When asked about whether or not that could be a concern, Raiders general manager Bruno Campese said he isn’t looking that far into the future.

“Right now, it’s all about this year,” said Campese. “Right now, we’re only five games into the season. Let’s just focus on this season. To be discussing next year, to me, is pointless right now.

“It’s a long season and there are lots of things that can happen. Right now, our focus is on playing and winning the game tomorrow night (Tuesday against the Tri-City Americans) and not 12 months from now. Our game is right in front of us, that’s what we have to focus on.”

The Raiders currently have two rookie defencemen on their team that may struggle to find playing time this year: 17-year-olds Brennan Riddle and Curtis Roach.

Riddle, a former first round pick of the Calgary Hitmen, has played in all five games this year, but could lose his starting job with the return of Morrissey. Roach, who made the Raiders as a walk-on, played the first two games of the year, but has sat in the press box since Hunter Warner and Mackenze Stewart returned from NHL camps.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea