Name: Mark Recchi
Position: Right wing
Age: 42
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 195
Shoots: Left
Status: $1M salary UFA
Line combinations:
Regular season, EV: 38.91% w/Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm, 14.02% w/Bergeron and Daniel Paille.
Regular season, PP: 34.04% w/David Krejci and Blake Wheeler
Playoffs, EV: 38.61% w/Bergeron and Paille, 26.94% w/Bergeron and Milan Lucic.
Playoffs, PP: 51.06% w/Bergeron and Krejci
The Good: Where to begin? Hustle; extra effort in every game; a Captain in-and-out of the locker room even without the "C" etched on his jersey; a leader by example...Recchi was an absolute stud all season long.
At age 42, Recchi was one player on the 2009-10 Boston Bruins roster who showed up to play every night. And there weren't too many that did. The durable right winger played in 81 games this season, and was a healthy (rest) scratch for the Boston's meaningless Game 82 against the Capitals. Recchi's 43 points was fourth-best on the B's roster; his 18 goals tied him for third-most; was one of 11 players on the positive side of the plus/minus (plus-4); and his eight power play goals topped the Black-and-Gold's charts.
In 13 playoff games, the 20-plus year veteran continued to step-up his game as if he was 22 again -- logging the second-most total ice time (TOI) of any Bruins forward with 253:20 (19:32 per game), the most power play time of any forward with over 37 minutes (2:50 avg./game), and chipped-in with top-5 forward minutes on the penalty kill (1:43 avg./game). No. 28 also compiled six goals (first), four assists, 10 points (T-3), three PPG's (first), and 26 shots on goal throughout the post season.
The Bad: I dare anyone to find a poor, negative aspect of the future Hall-of-Famers game. The ageless Recchi did it all from the man-up, to the man-down, and everywhere in between.
Final Grade:
The Bruins' brass traded away two younger prospects -- Martins Karsums and Matt Lashoff -- to the Tampa Bay Lighting for Recchi and second-round pick for this year, back on Mar. 3, 2009. It was a steal of a trade then, and on Jul. 2, 2009, Chiarelli re-signed the two-time Stanley Cup winner for another season at a mere $1M.
Well, the time's approaching once again for the Bruins to re-sign the UFA Recchi once again. Because this is one leader, especially for the price, that the B's can't lose to free-agency. With either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin to be drafted in the fold for next season, and a handful of AHL players expected to make a push for the Bruins' roster, a role model like Recchi would be absolutely paramount for all of these young guns to learn from.
Next Bruins report card: No. 30 Tim Thomas
Other report cards:
Dennis Wideman
Marco Sturm
Milan Lucic
Daniel Paille
Andrew Ference
Shawn Thornton
Blake Wheeler
Follow Mark on Twitter, on Facebook, and on his Hub of Hockey Bruins blog.
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