The Bruins Off-Season - Drafts, Trades and Deals

Now that the sting has worn off from this year's version of the Great Bruins Playoff Failure, it is time to assess the Bruins' off-season maneuvering.

The obvious stuff first:

Drafted Tyler Seguin: considered the 1a (next to Taylor Hall) in this year's draft, Seguin is apparently an "Yzerman-like Centre". The Bruins are so confident in the 18-year old's abilities, they are already making moves based around acquiring him (see below).

Traded Dennis Wideman (and picks) for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell: I'm one of the few Bruins fans that liked Wideman, and thought the fans gave him a rough ride for performing a difficult job. Admittedly, sometimes more poorly than you'd like, but far more often solidly and reliably. Nathan Horton is a solid pick-up, and provides some needed relief on wing - he's a perennial 20 to 30 goal scorer.

Craig Ramsay takes Head Coaching job with the Thrashers: Ramsay is a very cool guy, he reminds me a little of William S. Burroughs, and preaches a solid defense. I believe the Bruins will miss Ramsay's ability to really connect with players and stick to the game plan. Chara has undoubtedly learned a great deal from Ramsay and I wish him all the best in Atlanta, because he got a raw deal in Philly and deserves the opportunity.

Bruins re-sign Boychuk and Recchi: Jonny Boychuk re-upped for 2 years and Recchi for 1, each bringing something good to the Bruins. Smart signings with minor cap hits.

Bruins trade Sobotka to St. Louis: This just happened before the free-agency opened. Sobotka was a restricted free-agent, and I suspect this is a cap pressured situation, because after years of waiting for him, Sobotka finally started coming into his own in last year's playoffs. Too bad he's now a Blue. In exchange the B's get a Boston College player named David Worsofsky, a puck-moving defenseman. And so, the circle of life completes itself - out goes Wideman, in come Worsofsky.

The Rumours:

There are rumours that the B's are dangling Marc Savard as trade bait, now that they've drafted Seguin. I don't know what the Bruins want in return, but I hope they realize players of Savard's ability are very hard to come by. He's got Adam-Oates-ian vision and skill, and he makes mediocre wingers better. Imagine him setting up Horton?

There are also rumblings that the Bruins are willing to trade Tim Thomas, and that Thomas has waived his no-trade clause. Again, I don't know what the Bruins think they need, but to trade away a Vezina-winning goalie after a half-season of being outplayed by a rookie seems a bit rash. The Bruins' road to hell is paved with one-year wonders. They must have believed in Thomas at some point - did they think he was the greater risk of being the one-year wonder than Rask?

I'm not really comfortable with trading away your top Centre and a freshly Vezina'd heroic goalie for mostly-unproven talent. They are shedding contracts but not really looking at the dead wood.
Which brings me to the...

Questions:

Why isn't Ryder's name coming up in trade talks?

Why isn't Sturm's name coming up in trade talks?

and:

What's happening with Blake Wheeler? Are they shedding the big kid, or are they going to continue to invest in his development?

While this isn't the most homoerotic photo of Tyler Seguin I've seen, it is in the top three:

It could be an interesting few days in the Bruins nation if trade or free-agency deals get done. I get the feeling a salary dump is coming on.

Pre-Season NHL - Bruins 2 - Rangers 1

After spending a part of the afternoon tracking down new P2P sites to watch Bruins' pre-season games online, I realized that the NHL Network (which I get on TV) was carrying tonight's match up between the Bruins and the Rangers. The game was fun, even if I had to listen to the announcers for MSG's TV station.

Pre-season games are, of course, ridiculous. The veterans in the club haven't quite shaken off the summer rust, and the billions of kids fighting for roster spots are often out of position, out of sync, and sometimes, out of their depth.

However, tonight's game provided a good opportunity to see some of the less-heralded Bruins, and get a sense of what they can bring. Some highlights included...

Bruins' goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask, who held a shutout until halfway through the 3rd period and looked solid through the game. Rask is trying to play himself into the backup role behind Vezina-winner Tim Thomas, and, pre-season or not, Rask looked completely NHL-ready.

Marco Sturm: It was really good to see Marco Sturm back. Sturm missed nearly all of last season, but looked solid on the right wing tonight, showing the kids what kind of passing some veteran vision can provide.

Johnny Boychuk was paired up with Chara tonight, and outplayed him, in my opinion. Whether Boychuk makes the big squad this year remains to be seen, but he was a physical presence in the game, and generally speaking made smart reads.

Milan Lucic has openly discussed that he's trying to play himself onto the 2010 Team Canada squad, and he clearly took the ice with this goal in mind. He was his usual physical self, but also reminded everyone of his magic mitts, sending a great pass into the shallow slot for Max Sauve's goal. Despite this goal, Sauve is not listed on the Bruins' roster on BostonBruins.com.

Finally, Zach Hamill had the opening goal tonight and looked pretty solid throughout the game. He's been on the cusp of making the Bruins club for a couple of years now, but always ends up back in Providence. Perhaps the shakeup around the whole Kessel situation will bring about a roster spot for Hamill.

Some underwhelming players tonight: Chuck Kobasew - who is no replacement for PJ Axelsson, Brad Marchand - who may just be a kid, but has proven through Team Canada just how influential he can be in a game, and Jamie Arniel - who played okay, but seemed to disappear at points.

Still, for a game without most of the Bruins high-powered players (Savard, Kessel, Krejci, Bergeron, Ryder, etc.) I was pleased with the effort, and pleased with the win.

Mostly, though, I was just pleased to be watching the Bruins again.

bruins sign steve begin, re-up bitz, recchi, boychuk

Two years ago the Bruins made major headlines during the Free Agency period by signing Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard.

At the time, the Bruins club had been eviscerated by a dismal managerial gamble going into the lock-out year (ie: allowing pretty much everyone to walk away on the ill-conceived belief that suitable replacements could be found cheaply and easily in a salary-capped NHL), and the team were left searching for an identity after missing the playoffs in successive seasons. Hence, the signing of two big, splashy players who could both contribute right away and establish the character for the club.

Since that time, the Bruins have largely tried to improve their fortunes by successfully stewarding their younger players, and bolstering them with veteran talent (largely playing specific roles).

The Bruins decided to allow Stephane Yelle to leave via free agency, and in his place comes former-Hab Steve Begin. I make no bones about my dislike of Begin, who once blindsided Savard with a cross check 20 metres away from the play that ended Savard's season, but he is the kind of player the team can use in a variety of situations. He adds grit, some PK ability (which I guess is why he differs from fan-fave Shawn Thornton), and had his best season under Coach Julien in Montreal. Frankly, he's the kind of player that most would rather have as a team-mate than an opponent. Hopefully he stays out of the box and doesn't hurt the team from the inside out.

In other news, the B's also re-upped Mark Recchi, who proved his value throughout the playoffs, chipping in timely goals and leading by example. I am a big fan of Recchi, who, while he has aged, has been rejuvenated by his recent tenures in youth-heavy Pittsburgh and Boston, and provides some guidance for the aforementioned younger players to follow. Welcome back, Mark.

Additionally, the Bruins re-upped Byron Bitz to a multi-year contract (which is very good news, especially in light of Steve Montador leaving via Free Agency), and also came to terms with prospect Johnny Boychuk. I don't know much about Boychuk, but he is one of those players that Bruins faithful have been hearing about for a few years - named the AHL's Defenseman of the Year last season - but remains in the minors. Is this his year to play with the Bigs?

Finally, it looks as though PJ Axelsson will explore the Free Agent market after all, but true to his classiness as a person and a player, will keep the Bruins in consideration as he searches for a potential fit for his services.