It was only a few weeks ago that we sat and watched the Bruins dominate the top seeded Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final to earn their second trip to the Stanley Cup in three years. Even more recently, that same Bruins team was up 2-1 on the Blackhawks, just two wins away from capturing the Cup. But now we sit watching the team we know and love get dismantled by free agency and trade. Horton, Ference, Jagr, Khudobin, Seguin, Peverley: gone. Wouldn’t it make more sense to try and keep together the team that has won the Eastern Conference twice in the last three years? Of course, running a hockey team is a business, and business involves some moving pieces, but this year the Bruins’ front office seemed to go out of their way to dismantle this team.
Obviously the main priority this offseason was to re-sign Tuukka Rask, making sure that they locked up one of the league’s premier goaltenders (He just signed for 8 years, 56 million). Since the salary cap actually went down this offseason, re-signing Rask inevitably meant letting some people go. The logical choices were Ference, Jagr and Khudobin for a variety of reasons. Ference is 34, and with Krug, Bartkowski and Hamilton all playing well under the age of 25, Ference was unfortunately no longer needed on the blue line. Thus, Chiarelli told Ference that he should explore free agency, and wished him the best of luck. He signed with the Edmonton Oilers for 4 years, 13 million dollars: a perfect fit for him.
Jagr was another obvious choice to let go in free agency, mainly because he will turn 42 next season and has looked increasingly slower and slower with every year. A full 82 game season won’t be good for the aging Czech legend. He is yet to sign with anyone, though Montreal is rumored to have shown some interest. Khudobin was simply someone the Bruins couldn’t have hoped to hold on to given his quality of play. He proved this year that he could be a starting goalie in this league, and we couldn’t have kept him around as a backup. He signed with the Carolina Hurricanes for 1 year and 800,000 dollars, though he will probably be extended for more money once he has further proven himself.
Those moves, though some of them unfortunate, were all predictable this offseason. The ones that came as a surprise were the trading of Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley and the departure of Nathan Horton. The trade was the biggest shock of the offseason, but not because it involved Seguin. Instead, the surprise was the timing and the involvement of Peverley. I first caught wind of Seguin’s name in trade talks on the day of the draft. The Bruins were rumored to be looking for a top ten pick as well as an established NHLer for our 21-year-old star. Once the first 10 picks came and went, the trade talks died down and Chiarelli addressed the media about Seguin as if he were staying. Then, on the 4th of July, the news broke that he and Rich Peverley were headed to Dallas for Loui Eriksson and four prospects.
The original explanation for the incredibly one-sided deal (in Dallas’ favor) was that Seguin was traded because it opened a lot of cap space and that the Bruins weren’t happy with his professionalism or maturity. I have three major complaints about this trade. The first is Peverley. Seguin for Eriksson and a prospect or two would have been a fair trade. Letting Dallas take a guy, in Peverley, that was a quality penalty killer and stepped in admirably at center for Kelly in the regular season and Campbell in the playoffs, was just plain unnecessary. He was one of the fastest guys on the team, always gave his best effort, and did absolutely anything the coach asked him to do, but he somehow got bundled with a player we were getting rid of for maturity reasons. That brings me to my second complaint. How can you expect a 21-year-old kid who had barely turned 18 before he was thrown millions of dollars to be mature and professional? Sure, his output was a little low this year, but it was only his third year, and he pumped out 67 points last season. He was +23 this year with 32 points. He has superstar potential in this league. Take Joe Thornton for example. He was an 18-year-old drafted first overall in the draft (Seguin was second), and in his second year he mustered only 41 points and was a mere +3 (same number of games played). He went on to be a league MVP, tallied over 100 points in three separate seasons, and had the most points of any player in the ten year stretch from 2000-2010. Of course the Bruins traded him away too, a move they almost certainly regret.
My last issue with this trade is what we did with the cap space we gained by moving Seguin and Peverley. My first inclination was for the Bruins to re-sign Horton with that space. He told Chiarelli at the end of the season that he was going to explore free agency, undoubtedly because he saw how little cap space the Bruins had for him. However, after freeing up space for him, the Bs didn’t offer him a deal, and he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets for 7 years at 5.3 million a year. The Bruins then signed Jarome Iginla to a one-year contract that is a 6 million dollar hit to their cap, though that money isn’t all guaranteed to Iginla.
Horton’s chemistry with Lucic and Krejci is what will be missed most. Instead of bringing him back, the Bs brought in a guy that actively turned them down this year because he didn’t think they would be contenders. Though Iginla is a class act, and will likely be humble enough to admit his mistake, it still surprises me that Horton wanted to leave Lucic and Krejci and that the Bruins didn’t try harder to keep him around.
Having said all of these negative things about the team, it’s not all bad news. Loui Eriksson is a very underrated forward that plays great two-way hockey. He’s known around the league as the Patrice Bergeron of wingers. He plays a physical style of hockey, takes care of his defensive assignments, and has been a 70 point player in each of the last three 82 game seasons. Those points can be attributed to his immense speed, quick hands, and an unbelievably accurate shot. He will fit well with Bergeron and Marchand in Seguin’s place. He also waived his no trade clause to play for Boston, so he’s clearly coming because he wants to be a part of Julien’s system.
As far as Iginla goes, there isn’t a whole lot to dislike about his game. He’s accumulated 1,106 points in 1,232 career NHL games. He has great leadership skills having been the captain of the Calgary Flames for years, and he will likely quarterback the powerplay with his 371 career powerplay points. He will fit well in Horton’s role if Lucic, Krejci, and the rest of the team can forgive him for choosing Pittsburgh over Boston this season. I’m not here to say the Bruins are in trouble this season, because they’re not. They’re certainly still in position to be contenders; I’m just surprised by the dismantling of such a successful team.
Conrad's Corner Sports 