The Bruins should look South to Florida for a trade

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

The hits just keep on coming for the Boston Bruins. After leaving Tuesday night's game in the second period against the Ottawa Senators, Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference will be on the shelf for the next six-weeks with another groin injury.

Last year Ference played in just 47 regular season games for the Bruins and just three playoff games before undergoing surgery to repair the damaged groin. The Bruins have now lost 71 man games due to injury thus far. With Patrice Bergeron out for the next two-to-three weeks and Mark Stuart still sidelined with a broken sternum, those man games are going to increase fast and furiously.

But it's not just the injuries that should make Chiarelli and co. hit the panic button soon. It's also the lack of full-out effort and sub-par level of play from a few named players.

One blue-liner in particular has been Matt Hunwick. After being rewarded a two-year contract this offseason, No. 48 has been inconsistent in 2009-10 on both ends of the ice and both sides of the puck. His offensive numbers are way down from what was expected of him, and his defensive play has been somewhat suspect throughout the season.

His poor performance earned him a healthy scratch for a couple of nights a few weeks ago, giving way for Johnny Boychuk to make his mark. It didn't take long for Boychuk to shine and became a legitimate top-4 defenseman on this squad—completely surpassing Hunwick on the depth charts with his size, shot, and all around play on the blue-line. No. 55's superior abilities have earned him added playing time, including on the power play.

For the Bruins to go deep into the playoffs this season, they are going to need a defensive core with a bit more depth and experience.

Take for instance last season: the Bruins relied heavily, not only on Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman, but from Steve Montador as well when the depth got thin at defense—Hunwick and Ference playing just four total playoff games.

While Montador is a good, physical defenseman himself, he just wasn't good enough to pick up the slack. When a player like Montador is logging an average of 19:32 per game in the playoffs, yet is playing 29:30 in a Game Seven, you know your team is lacking depth.

With the injury bug in full-effect this season, as it was last, it could be time for Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins organization to make a move, quickly.

While they could look south to their AHL affiliates in Providence for some Band-Aids over the next few weeks, I think they should look even further.

Jordan Leopold of the Florida Panthers is one player who should be on the Bruins radar in the very near future. The 29-year-old has bounced around between three different teams throughout his eight years in the NHL—Colorado, Calgary, and Florida—and has been a solid addition to their defensive core.

Prior to signing with Florida in July, Leopold made his second stint with the Calgary Flames—traded from the Colorado Avalanche on Mar. 3, 2009 trade deadline. Although the Flames were bounced in the Western Conference Quarter-finals in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks, Leopold led the team in total time on ice—23:09 average—while averaging 1:43 of ice time on the power play, and 3:00 on the shorthand.

The oft-injured Leopold had nursed numerous injuries from 2006-08, but has played two full-seasons in his career—83 regular season games last year between COL and CGY—and is on pace for another 82 game campaign this season.

Donny Rivette, a columnist for the LitterBoxCats.com on SBNation, has been following the Panthers for a number of years now. I was fortunate enough to pick his brain on the 6'1” 200 lb. Leopold to even further my case. Rivette obliged and went on to say...

“Leopold has been a quiet force on Florida's blueline.” Rivette said, “While his 14 points (6 goals) are above average among NHL defensemen in 43 games so far this year, the minus-6 he has collected belies his contributions to an admittedly bad club through the first quarter of the season. In fact, his plus-minus was better in that period.

Leopold continues to be solid through the 43 games thus far for the Panthers. Leopold ranks second on the club with an average of 22:21 minutes of ice time per game, and first amongst all Panthers on the penalty kill averaging 3:12 minutes.

“The loss of rookie phenom Dmitry Kulikov to injury allowed for Leopold to grab more ice time” Rivette added, “and the result has been consistency in scoring..."

And for all the time that Leopold plays every game, the price tag is relatively cheap for a veteran who has a Stanley Cup playoff series under his belt—along with 46 career playoff games.

“His $1.75M one-year deal really hasn't garnered any attention; peeking at Florida's blueline, the aforementioned Kulikov injury, Ville Koistinen's ups and downs, and Dennis Seidenberg's ($2.25M) emergence as a top four player have all kept Leopold under the radar. He shows up, plays hard, and works extraordinarily well with fellow defenseman Keith Ballard. Wish I could add words like "flash" but it wouldn't be fair: he's earning his contract by playing to his abilities."

The Panthers have not made the playoffs since the Pavel Bure days in 2000. Currently, Florida is in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with 41 points, and are just four points shy of the eighth-place Montreal Canadiens. And team like the Atlanta Thrasher [1-6-3 in their last 10] could make moving up the rankings a little easier for the Cats. Anything can happen in the NHL.

“If the Cats are staring at another playoff-less spring, I'm seeing just about everyone on the roster being labeled "expendable", short of David Booth, Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Michael Frolik and Kulikov.”Rivette said. “Leopold's one-year contract may make it that much easier to deal him as a rental player; there is certainly a market for a consistent second-pair defender among clubs seeking depth heading to the postseason.

During the Olympic break in February, the NHL roster are frozen and locked from Feb. 12 – Feb. 28. Add on the fact that the trade deadline is Mar. 3, 2010, there really isn't that much time to act.

Rivette conclude with, “In any event, Florida's blueline will have a very different look next year. Bottom line: Leopold would add quality blueline depth (with a touch of offense) to any organization for the stretch run, but their prices rise as the deadline approaches...and the Panthers continue to look up from the depths of the conference.”

Adding Leopold to Julien's system could bring out the best in him, as it has with Derek Morris this season. Further, it would give the Bruins an even amount of left- and right-handed shots, and it could make the defensive pairings look something like this:

Chara—Wideman
Leopold—Morris
Stuart—Boychuk

It's times like these where the trade of No. 81 to the Toronto Maple Leafs could really pay dividends. Boston has a number of expendable players [Wheeler, Ryder, Hunwick] to add to the mix, and a second-round pick [their own or from Toronto] to sweeten the pot—the Bruins have the chips that could make a move like this happen.

With the recent acquisition of Miroslav Satan, who should put some added pucks in the net; is that the answer? Probably not.

Will the trade for a solid defensman such as Jordan Leopold help? Perhaps. And he could just be the piece of the puzzle that the Bruins need.

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