Brendan Morrison in action against Montreal last season

The Calgary Flames have a new center.

Veteran Brendan Morrison, who played for the Washington Capitals last season, has signed a contract with the Flames, the team announced on Monday.

The 35-year-old native of Pitt Meadows was recently on a professional tryout contract with Vancouver but was released on Sunday.

That gave the Flames a chance to sign Morrison to shore up the centre position which is currently hit by injuries to Daymond Langkow (neck), Matt Stajan (shoulder), Ryan Stone (knee) and David Moss (shoulder). All four players are listed as indefinite with their injuries.

BRENDAN MORRISON HIGHLIGHTS
BRENDAN MORRISON CAREER STATS


"The emphasis is to get off to a good start and having a veteran in the top six is important," said Flames assistant general manager Jay Feaster. "That's not to say (players like Mikael Backlund) have not had good camps. The kids are going to be fine but right now we want a veteran."

"He's a good character guy," Feaster said of Morrison, who is expected to wear No. 8 as a Flame. "There will be no problem with him fitting into the dressing room."

Morrison has played with the New Jersey Devils, the Vancouver Canucks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Dallas Stars and, most recently, with the Washington Capitals.

Morrison, a native of Pitt Meadows, B.C., and former Hobey Baker winner, has played 829 NHL games tallying 187 goals and 360 assists for 547 points. With the Caps last season he had 42 points, including 12 goals in 74 games.

"I anticipate coming in  and contributing. I am a versatile player who can play center and play wing," said Morrison, who was part of the Canucks 'West Coast Express Line' with Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund.

While Morrison has obvious ties to the West Coast, he is looking forward to joining the Flames, which could be as early as Tuesday morning for practice.

"I think the team has good make-up. I think this team is in the mix in the West," said Morrison. "There is the potential to have three good scoring lines."

Feaster said the staus of the Flames injured players has not changed and that there is a possibility that one or two players could start the season on the  long term injury list. Langkow is not skating at this point and has been prescribed rest by doctors.

"Having those guys healthy would be great. It's going to happen at some point but it won't be on our opening night," said Feaster.

NHL teams must submit their rosters on Wednesday.

BRENDAN MORRISON

POSITION: Centre

BORN: Pitt Meadows, BC (August 15, 1975)

HEIGHT: 511" WEIGHT: 185 lbs.

SHOOTS: Left

HOW ACQUIRED: Signed as free agent on October 3, 2010.

DRAFTED: New Jersey 2^nd round (39^th overall) in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1992-93	Penticton Panthers	BCJHL	56	35	59	94	45	-	-	-	-	-
1993-94	U. of Michigan	NCAA	38	20	28	48	24	-	-	-	-	-
1994-95	U. of Michigan	NCAA	39	23	53	76	42	-	-	-	-	-
1995-96	U. of Michigan	NCAA	35	28	44	72	41	-	-	-	-	-
1996-97	U. of Michigan	NCAA	43	31	57	88	52	-	-	-	-	-
1997-98	New Jersey Devils	NHL	11	5	4	9	0	3	0	1	1	0
1997-98	Albany River Rats	AHL	72	35	49	84	44	8	3	4	7	19
1998-99	New Jersey Devils	NHL	76	13	33	46	18	7	0	2	2	0
1999-00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	12	2	7	9	10	-	-	-	-	-
1999-00	New Jersey Devils	NHL	44	5	21	26	8	-	-	-	-	-
1999-00	Pardubice HC	Czech	6	5	2	7	2	-	-	-	-	-
2000-01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	16	38	54	42	4	1	2	3	0
2001-02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	23	44	67	26	6	0	2	2	6
2002-03	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	25	46	71	36	14	4	7	11	18
2003-04	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	22	38	60	50	7	2	3	5	8
2004-05	Linkoping HC	SEL	45	16	28	44	50	6	0	2	2	10
2005-06	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	19	37	56	84	-	-	-	-	-
2006-07	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	20	31	51	60	12	1	3	4	6
2007-08	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	39	9	16	25	18	-	-	-	-	-
2008-09	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	62	10	12	22	16	-	-	-	-	-
2008-09	Dallas Stars	NHL	19	6	3	9	16	-	-	-	-	-
2009-10	Washington Capitals	NHL	74	12	30	42	40	5	0	1	1	2
	TOTALS	NHL	829	187	360	547	424	58	8	21	29	40