The Boston Bruins headed into the NHL trade deadline on Mar. 3 after the Olympic break on a sour note. En route to snapping a four-game winning streak, the Bruins lost with yet another lackluster effort Tuesday night, 4-1, to the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden.
Going into Tuesday night's contests in third-place -- one-point ahead of Montreal -- in the Northeast Division, the B's dipped back down into the log-jam of the Eastern Conference; parked in eighth-place with 65 points along with the New York Rangers.
A win on Tuesday night would have put the B's in sole possession of seventh-place in the East; two-points shy of the sixth-place Philadelphia Flyers, and five points ahead of the 12th seed Tampa Bay Lightning.
But taking 10 points in the six games prior was an accomplishment considering their horrendous 10-game losing streak that lasted the three weeks prior.
No, yesterday was the day where Peter Chiarelli was going to right the ship by wheeling-and-dealing the appropriate pieces to improve this borderline playoff club. He was going to address two major weaknesses, seek out those suitable replacements, and acquire them. A top-nine forward who can light the lamp, and add another puck-moving defenseman to provide some depth come playoff time.
After all, he had the chips to do so. A whole bunch of AHL players: some of them being highly touted and drafted, while some are on the brink of making an NHL roster. Virtually any roster player not named Chara, Rask, Bergeron, Krejci, or Savard could have, and should have, been available for the right price. And then the draft picks: 11 total in this upcoming 2010 NHL Entry Draft; nine total first- and second-rounders over the next two drafts; and 11 total first-, second-, and third-rounders over the next two.
So to kick off Twitter, TSN, and other media outlets so anxiously awaiting the breaking trade news around the NHL, the Bruins traded defenseman Derek Morris back to the Phoenix Coyotes for a conditional fourth-round draft pick.
When Dominic Moore and Jordan Leopold both landed the selling Florida Panthers a second-round pick each, how the heck does a No. 2 defenseman on a top-five defensive team in the NHL merit a conditional fourth-round pick?
The one and only theory was that the transaction was a quick salary-cap move to acquire more players in other deals. Morris, an impeding UFA, was on the books for $3.3 million this season with a zero-percent chance of being re-signed after his tenure here in Boston.
The clearing of salary landed the Bruins another defenseman: Dennis Seidenberg from Carl's Used Car Lot, known as the Florida Panthers. The B's acquired Seidenberg and defenseman Matthew Bartowski for Byron Bitz, AHL forward Craig Weller [from Minnesota via Kobasew trade in Oct.] and a second-round pick in this year's 2010 NHL Entry Draft [from Tamp Bay via Mark Recchi trade last season].
Tick for tack, a lateral move to a slight upgrade at best on the blue line for Boston. Seidenberg, 6'1" 210 lbs., leads the NHL with 179 blocked shots, and has 2-21-23 scoring totals, including eight power play points through 62 games this season, 116 shots on goal, and logs nearly 23 minutes of TOI per game.
But one interesting twist on Seidenberg's contract, as I wrote on my blog earlier today. Seidenberg [$2.25M cap-hit] had his salary structured to where he would make a $1 million base salary this season, and an additional $1.25 million in bonuses to be awarded on June 30, 2010. So even though we are over three-quarters done with the 2009-10 NHL season, the money-strapped Black-and-Gold are on the hook for over half of Seidenberg's salary. If they had traded for Leopold, however, that cap-hit would have been at $381K.
As for losing Bitz, he's replaceable. Very replaceable [see: Vladimir Sobotka]. Plus the Bruins shaved nearly $700K off their salary-cap for next season. That will almost cover the maximum entry-level salary for the potential Taylor Hall , Tylor Seguin, or Cam Fowler.
After watching TSN all day, following Tweets and other chat rooms, I preceded to watch, Toronto Maple Leafs' general manager, Brian Burke's post trade deadline press conference. He made me -- for a brief moment -- become envious of the Maple Leaf nation. Here's what he had to say about the trade deadline:
"If you've got to make major adjustments to your team in March, then I think you've screwed up badly in the fundamental structure of the team before that."
This Bruins team has been an average team, filled with a whole bunch of average players with above-average contracts. There's no way Chiarelli could've changed this playoff bubble team into a Stanley Cup contender in just one day. No way.
But what he did do, however, was keep this team on the brink of making the playoffs and making an early tee-time at their local golf club. Instead of addressing the issues of this team, Chiarelli continued to run in place as he has been all season.
Trade Kobasew for cap-space and acquire Paille. Trade Morris, clear cap-room, acquire Seidenberg.
At the end of the day -- and the end of the season -- the Bruins will continue to struggle with their major weaknesses and voids: moving the puck out of their zone and hitting the back of the net. This all in part because the price tag to push this team into a true playoff contending team was too much for the Sporting New NHL Executive of the Year.
Chiarelli had the chips, players, and picks to keep the integrity of the Boston Bruins' will to compete alive. Instead, he stood pat, as he'll continue to watch this team struggle for the next five weeks.
Comments
Short of the Bruins acquiring a major goal scorer or getting someone to take the albatross that Tim Thomas' contract will become there was no point in them trading one of those first round picks. Yes the east is weak, but even if they got to the finals, they were going to lose to a team from the west anyways. The Bruins best option to trade away one/some of those chips was lost when Ilya Kovalchuk went to New Jersey. With so many teams being in the mix, there were no true game changers available. Even if the Bruins were to offer up both #1's (which would have just been stupid) because no one wants to be seen as throwing up a white flag on a season that has shown so much parity in the league.
I'm expecting bigger things in the offseason. This season was never meant to be. It happens. The chances of the injury bug striking this team next year as viciously as it did this year are very slim. I'll watch as many games as I can stomach going forward, but I don't think they'll be surprising anyone in the playoffs.
"This Bruins team has been an average team, filled with a whole bunch of average players with above-average contracts."
That's a really negative and superficial way to look at it. I hate this grass is always greener way fans look at the Bruins talent. Many seem incapable of seeing the B's from the outside. In fact the Bruins have great talent at every position. Their contracts are all very much in line with their talent. The Thomas/Rask tandem is the greatest bang for the buck in the entire NHL. These are facts based on a statistical comparison against other teams, not opinion. If Kovalchuk was a Bruin now you and the other GM wannabees surely would be complaining about how they overpaid him. Get real.
Underachieving as a team doesn't magically change the talent level. In my opinion most the "loud" fans such as you are way off the mark. It is time people started complaining about those whose job it is to get the most out of the players. That's the true problem.
BobbyOrr, If you have ever read any of my stuff before, you would know that I was anti-Kovalchuk to Boston. This team, with or without him, is not a Cup contender.
However, I think PC did a bad job with a number of things: contracts and this past trade deadline. The Lucic contract is horrendous. Seven years for Savard is ridiculous; but it's a good thing he circumvented the current CBA where the overall cap-hit is at $4M-ish.
He didn't have to trade the farm for an elite, but he could have traded for a few more slightly above-average players for a hundred reasons. Fans, spark in the locker room, etc. Look at the price of some of the players that were traded. Not that expensive.
Aside from Chara, Savard, maybe Krejci, Rask (so far), Bergeron; I still stand by that comment. Paille, Wheeler, Sturm, Ryder, Stuart etc...are all average - slightly above average players. And if you dispute that, try taking the blinders off, my friend.
"This Bruins team has been an average team, filled with a whole bunch of average players with above-average contracts."
That's a really negative and superficial way to look at it. I hate this grass is always greener way fans look at the Bruins talent. Many seem incapable of seeing the B's from the outside. In fact the Bruins have great talent at every position. Their contracts are all very much in line with their talent. The Thomas/Rask tandem is the greatest bang for the buck in the entire NHL. These are facts based on a statistical comparison against other teams, not opinion. If Kovalchuk was a Bruin now you and the other GM wannabees surely would be complaining about how they overpaid him. Get real.
Underachieving as a team doesn't magically change the talent level. In my opinion most the "loud" fans such as you are way off the mark. It is time people started complaining about those whose job it is to get the most out of the players. That's the true problem.
"Aside from Chara, Savard, maybe Krejci, Rask (so far), Bergeron; I still stand by that comment. Paille, Wheeler, Sturm, Ryder, Stuart etc...are all average - slightly above average players. And if you dispute that, try taking the blinders off, my friend. "
You didn't actually say that in your post. You implied that the stars were overpaid too. The guys you mention above all have average contracts, except perhaps for Ryder. He has certainly been a disappointment this year. But so has the whole team... that's my point. The talent is just one part of the equation and I claim that part is solid, which is why all this deadline stuff makes little sense. The problem is with the team as a whole, not the talent. The team issue falls straight into Julien's lap and NOBODY is calling him on it.
I'm expecting bigger things in the offseason. This season was never meant to be. It happens. The chances of the injury bug striking this team next year as viciously as it did this year are very slim. I'll watch as many games as I can stomach going forward, but I don't think they'll be surprising anyone in the playoffs.
sorry for the double post...refresh doesn't work well with this page.
BobbyOrr, You're getting away from the whole point. Sure, the onus could be placed on Julien, and that has happened here in Boston. You being from Canada, I'm sure you could have missed the weeks-worth of lynching on good 'ol Claude. I, however, am not one of them, and I'm not about to start now. How many times can the media beat that to death?
Yesterday was the NHL trade deadline. I wasn't 100% specific about the "average players" comments. Oh well. That's not the point. The point is that Peter Chiarelli is responsible for putting together a playoff contending team again. So far, they are on the bubble. He has the chips to make deals happen. He didn't do that. Players, Marc Savard in particular, had some choice words to say about whom they'd like to see in the locker room by Mar. 3. Therefor, I'd call that a failure.
If you want to continue to bash Claude, go right ahead. If you agree with PC and his non-moves, good for you. You are in the minority.
jdog71,
Thank you, you are totally making my point (BobbyOrr). As a fan, you are one of many who are incredibly upset at the non-moves yesterday. And as a fan, you are the ones who pay money to sit in the seats, buy concessions, and other Bruins paraphernalia at the Pro Shop. And if you (not personally) will cease to do that because PC seems like this season is a wash and doesn't care to "sacrifice the future" to advance an extra round in the East's playoffs, then I call that bad PR.
The plethora of picks, decent prospects, and NHL-ready players were at his disposal -- and he dropped the ball. Fans are getting ticked and I don't blame them. Bottom line.
Chris, I agree. I like the non-moving of any No. 1 picks. That being said, they had five second-round picks over the next two years. PC received a conditional fourth-round pick for Morris (robbed) but deals TB's second-round for Seidenberg. I love Seids, but that makes no sense to me. Raffi Torres -- I'm not a huge fan -- was a player 91 wanted to play with for the remainder of this season. He went for Buffalo's second-round pick (worse than this year's Bostons's, TB's, or Toronto's) and a bag-of-pucks defenseman.
I'm not saying he's the answer here, but it would have shown that the Bruins' management isn't ready to give up on this season. Cam Neely called it a "hiccup" year, and that doesn't bode well for the fans who are paying in to this team.
Let's, for arguments sake, give him a D for the day. After all, he acquired three "question mark" defensemen, whether they'll ever crack the Bruins' NHL roster or not. Ever.
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