Bruins and Satan - A Match Made in Heaven?

Saatanan Saatana - Has 51% Ownership of the Letter A

TSN is reporting that the Bruins have signed veteran winger Miroslav Satan for about $700,000. Satan won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins last year, but has (from what I can tell) been without a contract for the 2009-2010 Season, so far.

Satan was a 50 to 70 point scorer in his Buffalo years, and racked up 66 points with the Islanders in the 05-06 season, but has obviously had diminishing numbers in more recent years. He put up 36 points in 65 games with the Pens last season.

For my part, I've never been a fan of Satan, as I've seen too many games where he just floats around, out of position, waiting for scoring opportunities - rather than creating them, or taking care of his defensive responsibilities.

It is noteworthy that Satan's plus-minus rating is all over the place, going from +16 to -3, +6 to -15, +12 to -8 in successive years. What the hell, dude?

And his little "phone me!" goal celebration when he wanted a trade out of Buffalo was, to me, something that reeked of a player without class - especially stinky given that he was in an organization that had helped him reach the Stanley Cup Finals and two All-Star Games. I think it is also telling that only a few seasons removed from his little celebration, Satan was sitting at home waiting for someone to phone him with a job.

However, the Bruins are obviously far below last year's scoring output (when the team led the league in goals-for), and their powerplay is a dismal mess, so hopefully a little bit of Satanic Magic will help the Bruins' offense as they wait for Lucic to recover from injury.

It is also hopeful that the Bruins stalwart defense can compensate for Satan's appearance on the team, because, if previous season have been any indication, he's going to make gaffs that lead to counter-attack scoring chances.

Let's hope the season doesn't go to hell now that the B's have added Satan.

Aaaaaand other Satan-related humour....

Bruins Make Savvy Move

TSN is reporting that the Bruins have locked up forward Marc Savard to a 7-year contract, with an average annual cap hit of $4.2 million. This is great news for the Bruins Nation, as Savard has continued to be an over-achieving / under-appreciated asset in the NHL, and the Bruins clearly want to retain his services long-term.

One of the darkest days for me as a Bruins fan (and there have been quite a few) was the day that Joe Thornton was traded away. At the time (and now!), Thornton was in the top five in scoring, and in exchange the Bruins received players who are simply not in the upper ranks - only one of whom still plays for the club (and before anyone considers this an insult, I will say again that I am big fan of Marco Sturm, but everyone must acknowledge that he does not put up the points that Thornton does). It was yet another example of the Bruins scuttling the quality of the team for some short-term gains.

Conversely, one of the happiest days for me as a Bruins fan came on July 1st, 2006, when the B's signed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard, ending a looooooong drought where the B's chose the bottom line over on-ice performance. They've both been outstanding Bruins.

As Savard approached unrestricted free agency, I was pretty concerned that the team would decide to shop around, once again bringing in role players and mid-level talent for an elite set-up man. Fortunately, the Bruins decided to stay-the-course they chose a few seasons ago, and re-up Savard for the long haul.

A great move for the Bruins, a great opportunity for Savard, and hopefully, a move that puts Savard onto the radar of the Team Canada management, who have thus far criminally overlooked Savvy for the Olympics.

Welcome back, Savvy.

Kessel Saga Reaches New Impass

Greetings from the off-season!

Just a quick word to say that the NHL Regular Season is about 3 weeks away, and Bruins action will be heating up in the next little while. So expect some new posts at Black, White and Gold. Because otherwise the off-season is a bit of a slog.

To whit: The only thing more boring than the latest Phoenix Coyotes tales of woe, or possibly the newest high drama in the NHLPA, is the contract status for Bruins' winger Phil Kessel.

The Bruins have about $1.7 million left in the coffers under the NHL salary-cap rules, and Kessel seems to be demanding about $4 to $5 million per season. Which is shocking to me. Now, I'm not that good at math, but I think that means the Bruins will not be able to re-sign Kessel without moving other players to do so.

Complicating things, the latest update is that Kessel has stated (through his agent) that he will no longer negotiate with the B's.

On the other side, GM Peter Chiarelli has stated that the Bruins will match any contract that another NHL club offers Kessel. Perhaps the thinking in the Bruins' camp is to simply wait and let the other clubs (rather than Kessel himself) determine Kessel's worth. Because honestly, is Kessel worth $5 million dollars a season? That would put him on-par with Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron, and frankly, neither his numbers nor his two-way game is on par with these players.

So why is any of this news? It's not really.

But this saga maintains it's status on various sports sites because one of the teams most-interested in Kessel are the Maple Leafs. As Alex Mogilny once proved, even the hemorrhoids of NHL players are front page news for the voracious fans in Toronto.

What is most-likely to happen with Kessel? Probably that the Bruins will match any contract offer, and Kessel will spend his last year with the Bruins.

Realistically, of course, another club could offer him a contract so exaggerated that the Bruins have no choice but to let him walk away. I mean, if someone offers Kessel a $7.5 million contract, are the Bruins going to match this, and put Kessel on-par with Chara's contract? Not likely.

The ideal, obviously, would be for the Bruins to match any contract offers, and then begin shopping Kessel. While I may balk at him receiving $5 per year, I think he's a strong winger with tremendous potential, and if he doesn't want to negotiate with the Bruins, perhaps he can yield a high return via trade.

If nothing else, it would end the debate about his contract that's been ongoing for at least a year. Something hockey fans - even those few in Phoenix - would embrace.

bruins trade aaron ward, sign derek morris

Sometimes the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes of NHL clubs make little sense to outsiders such as you and me.

Yesterday the Bruins traded Aaron Ward back to Carolina (where he won a cup), for Patrick Eaves and a late-round draft pick. The Bruins then put Eaves on unconditional waivers, seemingly with no intention of having him join the club.

All of the above seemed to be an effort to clear some space under the salary cap, and left the blogosphere (read: normal humans who do not work for the Bruins) suspecting this salary dump was to enable GM Chiarelli to re-sign Phil Kessel.

Hang on to your hat: the blogosphere got something wrong.

The Bruins went out this morning (or, late last night if your sleep-patterns match my own) and signed free-agent defender Derek Morris.

Morris, as you may remember, was one of the names being thrown around at last year's trade deadline as a potential pick-up for a team looking to bolster their back line with an offensive-defenseman. He ended up signing with the Rangers, because apparently, at some point every NHL player has to.

Now Morris, the former first-round draft pick (Flames in '96), comes to the Bruins on a one-year deal.

The reality is that Morris has a truly great first pass out of the zone, he's solid on the powerplay, offering a right-handed shot and enough playmaking to play pivot from the blue line with the man advantage. So there are skills there, for sure.

On the other hand, without Aaron Ward, the Bruins are far more suspect defensively. Partnered with Zdeno Chara last season, Ward was responsible for making sure Chara looked Norris-worthy, covering up for defensive gaffs by the Bruins captain.

Ward blocked shots, dished out hits, and played with a nasty streak that inspired a similar attitude in other Bruins. He played injured for nearly two seasons, but unfortunately, that meant that with his salary ($2.5 million) and age, he became a player on the bubble as the Bruins moved forward under salary cap constraints.

Derek Morris is simply not a replacement for Ward's presence in the defensive zone, and frankly none of the remaining Bruins defenders are stay-at-home types who can pick up the slack. This absence will remain an issue for the Bruins as the season approaches, and getting a legitimate defensive-defenseman will become more pressing if the Bruins wish to build on last season's achievements.

...Arguably more pressing than re-signing Phil Kessel.

bruins free agents, salary cap and next year's plans

This weekend's NHL Draft (taking place just a few minutes away from my house, in fact) has brought a spotlight on the Bruins' players who are not locked to long-term contracts.

In particular, a rumour was circling yesterday involving Phil Kessel, who becomes a Restricted Free Agent as of July 1st, that would see him go to Toronto for Tomas Kaberle. The deal seems to have broken down due to nobody really understanding whether it was Kessel and draft picks for Kaberle, or Kaberle and draft picks for Kessel.

Ridiculous.

This reminds me of how, a few years ago, the Bruins announced they had signed Jonas Hoglund only to have the deal annulled due to a faulty fax machine, or how Ray Shero agreed to become GM only to then change it up and sign with Pittsburgh while the Bruins were organizing the press conference to announce his arrival (on the other side of that, while Shero has the Cup, I think Chiarelli has done the better work as GM).

Regardless, what this all suggests is that the Bruins will probably try to move Kessel rather than ink him to a long-term deal. The money that Kessel will probably demand on the open market (somewhere around $5 million, when he's probably at a stage of his development that should garner $2.75 - $3.5 million) was better spent by the B's on David Krejci - who, while less explosive than Kessel, is a more consistent player in both ends of the ice and is at a different stage of development.

Kessel reminds me of a young Marian Hossa, who entered the league as a legitimate offensive threat but would disappear for long stretches of games. While Kessel had a far better season than last year, and has shown a tremendous amount of character in both his professional and personal life, he does seem to be one of those players that simply needs more experience to fully bloom into a well-rounded NHL player. I have no doubt it will come, but the reality of today's NHL is that the Bruins only have a certain amount of time and cap room to wait for Kessel to become the player he can be.

Having said that, Chiarelli has stated he'll match any offer put forward for Kessel, but given the team's salary cap concerns, I would expect that Kessel will be moved shortly thereafter, regardless of how much they want to retain Kessel.

When the season ended, the B's had several important pieces remaining unsigned - including the aforementioned Krejci and Kessel, but most importantly, Vezina Trophy winning goalie, Tim Thomas. The Bruins made the right move and ensured Thomas will remain with the club for the next four years by inking him to a $20 million contract. Props to Chiarelli for getting this deal done.

This means that backup Manny Fernandez will be allowed to walk (or, more reasonably, hobble) into free agency, and that Tuuka Rask will probably be brought up for NHL seasoning. It should make for an interesting and emotionally explosive goaltending tandem. Hopefully, the Bruins have maintained their stick sponsors through next season.

Matt Hunwick and Byron Bitz are also RFAs this year, and both are young enough and played well enough in the playoffs to warrant contracts. I expect the Bruins will find a way to bring both these guys into the fold. These two are the Bruins' primary concerns after Kessel as they represent high quality prospects with tremendous size and desire to get dirty.

Coming up on Unrestricted Free Agency are defensive stalwarts PJ Axelsson and Stephane Yelle, and ironically, the less-defensively-sound Steve Montador. I believe Axelsson is the longest-serving Bruin but I doubt the B's will be able to retain him with the other players they have to bring under contract. In fact, I would be surprised if, after money is allocated to Bitz and Hunwick, the Bruins have any budget room for another big-ticket UFA, so I suspect they'll all be set free (including Shane Hnidy and the handsome Mark Recchi).

If the Bruins lose / set free Hnidy and Montador, but are able to bring Hunwick under contract, that will mean that he and Mark Stuart will see increased responsibilities next season. I would suspect that Chiarelli will also try to bring in another veteran with a mean streak, as that would retain the identity of the team and offer some mentorship to younger defenders without over-burdening Chara with yet another responsibility.

Prospects Wacey Rabbit, Carl Soderberg and Martin St. Pierre are also Restricted Free Agents with Soderberg being the priority signing. Should those kids all come on board they could serve with the Big Club in limited roles, potentially replacing Yelle and, through group-effort, Axelsson.

I sort of feel like the Bruins can reel in Hunwick and Bitz, give them a bigger role, and try to sign Kessel in order to deal him for other young guns. If they can do the above, and let the other UFAs they have coming up walk away, then they will experience a drop in team depth, but they could get lucky and have some kids fill in admirably (it happened this year with nearly every young kid on the team, with Krejci, Wheeler and Stuart having wonderful years), and still be a very competitive team next year, while building toward the seasons that follow.

On that score, the bigger concern for the future is what to do at the end of next season when Wheeler, Lucic, Mark Stuart and Marc Savard all come up as Free Agents. Ugh. Headacheville.

bruins claim eastern conference title, tim thomas inks new deal

Yesterday's 1-0 win over the New York Rangers gave the Bruins enough points to officially claim the Eastern Conference title, effectively guaranteeing the team home-ice advantage for as long as they are in the Eastern portion of the playoff table.

They may, in fact, still be able to leap-frog the Sharks for the President's Trophy (most points in the League), as the Sharks only stand one-point ahead of the B's as of this morning's writing. To do so would give the B's home-ice advantage in every round of the playoffs, including the Finals. While it makes it hard to type, my fingers are crossed that they can reach the Finals to take advantage of this.

Yesterday's win was remarkable on a few fronts. The shut-out was Tim Thomas' 5th of the year, and his first since inking a 4-year, $20 million dollar deal with the Bruins on Thursday. Thomas was set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer, and there was a lot of talk about whether he would test the open market as this may be his last opportunity to find that giant payday that every UFA desires. Instead he chose a fair deal with the one NHL team that has given him the chance to prove himself at the highest level, and he rewarded the team with his loyalty.

For his part, Thomas is currently the NHL leader in goals-against average and save percentage, and this year enjoyed his second consecutive first-team All-Star appearance. To my mind, he is on that short list of players on the Bruins' squad that could have been born to be Bruins: he's the ultimate underdog, remaining signed (by Colorado) but not playing in the bigs before being cut, then posting League MVP rankings in other professional leagues before being given another shot at the NHL (ridiculous in the face of so many porous goalies who are still kicking around the league – particularly in Colorado), his style (and gear!) is unorthodox but ridiculously effective, and he he's a tremendous competitor, never giving up on a play and always playing with pride, even when the odds seem stacked against him.

That last point was especially evident in yesterday's match up against the Rangers. During a routine stoppage in play, Thomas was in front of his crease, stretching, when Uber-Douche Sean Avery skated by and clocked Thomas in the back of the head with his stick. In typical Avery fashion, he then just skated away like it was completely unintentional, obviously expecting no retribution for his bullshit.

Thomas, who clearly has no fear of mixing it up with anyone, got up and charged Avery, punching him in the back of the head, and drilling Frederik Sjostrom in the face when he came in to Avery's defense (surely an unpalatable situation for any of Avery's teammates), as other players went to work on Avery. In the typical form of NHL justice, Avery and Thomas were both given minor penalties on the play.

After the game, Thomas explained that he actually enjoys competing against Avery's tenacity during the game, but in being clubbed in the back of the head with a stick, intentionally, during a stoppage in play, Avery once again shows that he has trouble understanding what everyone else sees as the normal boundaries of competition in the NHL.

Personally, I don't want to spend any of my time thinking or writing about Avery, who is little more than Steve Downie with a Vogue subscription, but I will say that I hope someone fills him in (and smartens him up) in a manner not dissimilar to what Jordan Tootoon recently experienced. If there's any lesson the NHL seems to teach again and again, it's that what goes around, comes around.

And that lesson (in a positive sense) was just reiterated to Thomas, whose commitment to the every shot on every play for the Bruins was recently rewarded with a new contract. Just in time for a nice, long playoff run. Fingers crossed.

Of Note: The B's have not registered 50 wins since the 1992-93 season; if the playoffs started today, the Bruins would face these same Rangers in the first round; by re-signing Thomas the Bruins have slotted in one piece of the UFA puzzle – questions remain about whether Fernandez will be re-signed in the off-season, or whether Tuuka Rask will be brought up from Providence to back up Thomas; the Bruins' next game is on Tuesday, against the Senators in Ottawa.

bruins at the nhl trading deadline

If you somehow missed it, the NHL trading deadline was this afternoon. Perhaps you also slept through the 200000 hours of coverage over the last few days. I am sure you can get very detailed information about it somewhere.

The Bruins picks of Mark Recchi and Steve Montador bring experience - a euphemism for veteran, itself a euphemism for old - and skill to a team that is fairly new to the playoffs. In the case of Recchi, the Bruins have added the highest level of playoff success to the team.

I agree with the sentiment expressed by Tony Massarotti in the Boston Globe: this is not the year to throw away top flight players like Kessel, Krejci, Wheeler, et al., for a ton of rental players at the ends of their contracts. This is a Bruins club that has been pretty well crafted but is young and needs time to develop. In fact, I would say deserves the time to develop to its full potential. We beleaguered fans certainly deserve that.

Recchi won a cup in 91 and most recently in 2006 - he's a left-handed shot, which the Bruins lost with Sturm's injury, and he's obviously a passionate playoff performer. It's a good pick-up that could go either way, just as this team does.

Montador I know less about, though I remember him playing with Calgary when they had the scariest defense corps in the West (Leopold, Regehr, Montador, that curly haired weirdo that played for Carolina, Phaneuf and, I think, Daryll Strawberry). He's a hardnosed player, and my impression is that he can be prone to bad penalties, but he may be a bit of an insurance policy in the 'grit' department.

Going away from the Bruins are Nokelainen to the Ducks, Karsums, Lashoff to Tampa Bay. All three are good players, and could have excellent success with the new clubs. Long-time readers will know I am a fan of the rangy Nokelainen, but he's coming to the age where it will soon be clear if he's a diamond in the rough, or just the rough.

The Bruins also got a second-round draft pick with Recchi's deal. Krejci and Lucic were second-round picks, by way of example of the potential importance of this to the overall measurement of the deal.

Hopefully the team will start to gel again now that the deadline has passed, and those young minds can relax and play some solid hockey. They've been consistently inconsistent lately, dropping a lead and ultimately the win against Philly last night, blowing out the Ducks and Panthers a couple games earlier. Perhaps the addition of new firepower and tenacity will breathe some energy back into their game, and help re-form the hard-forecheck, all attack defense identity they've maintained for most of the season.

Or perhaps we'll be back here in a few weeks, asking why we didn't blow this team up, or at least trade for Strawberry.

does murray linger on?

Former Bruin forward, Glen Murray, bought out by the Bruins this past summer, may be entitled to his full contract value after all, sources are saying.

The issue will revolve around whether Murray left the club with a pre-existing ankle injury (in which case he's entitled to full contract value), or whether he told the Bruins (and other clubs) that he was perfectly healthy.

The whole scenario seems reminiscent of that of Alexei Zhamnov, who signed to the B's for big money in 2005-2006, played a total of 24 under-whelming games, and still received his full contract over several seasons. A situation that (coupled with some dubious management decisions) hamstrung the Bruins' salary cap for two seaons.

Now finally free of the Zhamnov contract, and seemingly free of a rapidly-aging former sniper and his full contract, the Bruins may be forced to pay up, despite apparently operating in good faith with Murray.

It is an especially tricky situation, given that the Bruins currently sit with only about $680, 000 in cap space....and the persistent rumour that they are pursuing free-agent Brendan Shanahan.

The Bruins play the Leafs this evening.

bruins sign stephane yelle

Hard working, hard checking forward Stephane Yelle has signed with the Spoked-B on a one-year contract. Yelle comes over from the Calgary Flames as a free agent, and will join other former-Flames Andrew Ference, Chuck Kobasew and (in the early days of his career) Marc Savard.

I am excited about the addition of Yelle, as he brings a lot of grit and character while playing a smart, simple game. The only downside is that he has battled injuries for several seasons.

Welcome aboard!

Now, don't screw it up.

glen murray gone

As has been written about here and so many other places, the Bruins have ended their relationship with forward Glen Murray.

A tough decision that apparently neither party enjoyed, the Bruins send Murray to Free Agency and move into the 2008-2009 season a little younger and a little faster.

We will wait to see if they are a little better.

Muzz will be missed.

the ones we've got, and the ones that got away

By now everyone knows that the Bruins' Eastern Conference rivals, the Ottawa Senators, have picked up UFA Jason Smith, who I recommended the B's acquire. The Sens have apparently decided that leadership and proven skill are the attributes they need this year. Huh. Interesting.

For the Bruins, their pre-season development camp continues, and all reports are that Patrice Bergeron and Manny "Four-Game" Fernandez are on the ice, and in full health. This bodes well for the team, given that these two players represent a number one scorer (proven) and number one goalie (debatable) being back in the fold.

In theory, the team can only be better this year than last, right? I mean, that's how it works, yes?

Oh.

bruins re-up petteri nokelainen

Young forward Petteri Nokelainen has apparently re-signed with the Bruins, according to Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe.

This makes me very happy. Nokelainen is a rangy kid with good hands, that, I think, will be able to use his size to gain space as his game develops. He had a commanding presence during the year, especially in the 7-playoff games against the Habs, playing with a surprising amount of grit.

His numbers weren't great for the 2007-2008 season, but I think he's got a tremendous amount of potential, and also think its a good sign that the Bruins brass recognize his assets-in-the-rough.

...but defense wins championships

When you think of Bruins clubs in the past, one thing stands out: the presence of phenomenally talented, offensively minded defensemen, dominating the play on the ice.

But for every Ray Bourque, there was a Don Sweeney lined up opposite on the blue line. For every Bobby Orr, there was a Dallas Smith, there to give Bobby the freedom to be the player he was. Going into the 2008-2009 season, we have team captain Zdeno Chara, and...

Andrew Ference?

This is not a shot at Ference (though, notably, he was a team-worst minus 14 last year) , or any other Bruin defender, but rather just to point out that the One-Two defensive pairing in the NHL can shape the identity of an entire team for several seasons. And right now, the Bruins have some good defensemen - some young and improving, others older but reliable - but none that are the blue chip to partner with Chara.

Going into the free-agent season, I think the B's should be most concerned with building a One-Two pairing that will elevate the entire club, and here are the three most intriguing free agents available for this purpose:

Jason Smith: Slim, angry, tough as nails. Was the captain of the Oilers and Flyers. Was the entire Oiler defense for awhile, and gave Philadelphia stability and an intimidating presence in their own zone. Would be an excellent Bruin, a great leader in the dressing room, and a solid, consistent support for Chara - who often gets beat when he tries to do too much. Smith's 2007-2008 salary was around $1.9 million.

Michal Rozsival: Rozsival is strong, speedy and reliable, and he puts up big numbers. His 2007-2008 salary of $2.3 million may scare away the Bruins brass, but consecutive seasons with more than 30 points and huge plus / minus numbers (a whopping plus 35 in 2005-2006), Rozsival represents a rare package that is worth paying for.

Brooks Orpik: Has one of the coolest names in the NHL, which is a plus when partnered with Zdeno Chara, Orpik is just coming into his own entering his 5th NHL season. Smart and reliable, with an excellent ability to make the first pass out of the zone, Orpik is an under-recognized asset, and a good bargain at his 2007-2008 salary of $1.075 million.

Hopefully the Bruins will make the smart decision and build from the blue line out, finding a partner for Chara, the big-minutes defender that they shelled out for last season. It would be the smart move, and possibly bring the team one step closer to a championship.

bruins depth chart - what does the team need

In light of the upcoming free agency period (beginning July 1st), I thought it wise to post the Bruins depth chart, to show who the B's have and what holes they need to fill.

Here's an interesting interface to view the Bruins lineup on the CBS page.

After a season with several players over-achieving and the development of some younger talent, the Bruins are hoping to build on last year's successes.

Noting, of course, that for a team that missed the playoffs in two previous seasons, had their top scorer crushed by a season-ending concussion, and replaced a brand new coach after just one season behind the bench, the benchmarks for team "successes" are a little lower than most clubs.

As the Bruins head into this year's Free Agency period, there's a lot of media chatter than the team will aim to pick up Marian Hossa, the mercenary sharpshooter who went to the Finals with the Penguins in 2008.

There's also some evidence that the Bruins are part of a select few with authority to talk to Brian Campbell, the former Buffalo defender who brought his free-wheeling defensive play to San Jose last year.

And while there's no denying that the Bruins, or any team, would benefit from the impressive numbers that these players bring (seriously, click the link and check their stats), there's a price to pay for trying to land the big-ticket free agent. Often it comes at the expense of salary cap flexibility, and if the marquee player goes down with an injury, so too does a disproportionate amount of the team's success.

The question that needs asking is: are the Bruins one big free agent away from making a lot of noise in the Eastern Conference?

Should the Bruins be filling out the roster with one Restricted Free Agent giant, or should they, instead, be looking to fill holes in the club with fast, efficient talent, and build on their 2008 successes incrementally?

I'm of two minds. Last year's acquisition of Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara certainly paid dividends, and showed that management is willing to spend money. However, it was the delicate balance of players that surrounded these two that brought the team into the post-season for the first time since 2004-2005.

Team chemistry is a mix and a balance, in other words, and I'm not convinced that adding a new player at the expense of a serviceable role player already on the team, or a few moderately priced players available as free agents, is the best option.

So which way will the Bruins go?

As is always the case with the Black, White and Gold, only management knows for sure.