Morrison says he wants to stay, but will Canucks meet his asking price?

Pending unrestricted free agent forward Brendan Morrison tells Tony Gallagher of The Vancouver Province that he wants to re-sign with the Canucks and continue his career in Vancouver.

“I’m not just saying I want to stay because this is my home town,” says Morrison. “If this team was a bottom feeder, there’s no way I would want to hang around. I want to win as much as the next guy; I happen to think that’s possible with this team.”

However, salary and term will play an important factor in where he will play next season and beyond. Whether it’s in Vancouver, or elsewhere, Morrison doesn’t appear too interested in accepting any less than what he sees as fair value.

“… I’m not going to sit here and say the numbers aren’t important. Any player who would say money is not important is lying because you only have so many years to make a living in this business and you have to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes along.”

As for the Canucks, GM Dave Nonis has said in the past that “he intends to try to re-sign Morrison.” Of course, they want Morrison to take a pay cut on the $3.2 million salary he is earning this season and sign a short-term deal, too. But with a number of teams in the market for a play-making center, it’s unlikely that the 32-year-old will have to accept those terms.

“It all depends on what teams will be looking for,” said Morrison, who like so many players of his age and era has waited his whole career to get to this point of freedom. “We’ll look at it at the end of the year and see what happens.”

Morrison is believed to be seeking at least $3.2 million per season, on a deal spanning four years or more, perhaps pricing himself out of Vancouver.