While I don’t cover the Boston Bruins on a regular basis anymore, I of course still keep tabs on them. When you cover a team for eleven seasons you tend to build relationships and I still keep in touch with players, members of the organization and the media that covers that team daily. I also appreciate the constant support from Bruins fans on twitter and as the current Bruins team continues to be ravaged (specifically on the blue line) by injuries, plenty of those Bruins fans that follow me on Twitter have asked me what Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli may do before or at the March 5 NHL trade deadline.
Already without minutes-eating rearguard Dennis Seidenberg (torn ACL and MCL) out for the season, defenseman Adam McQuaid is now out with what’s believed to be a leg injury and according to a team source there’s a chance McQuaid may not return until after the Olympic break. That’s not to say head coach Claude Julien has been lying to the media saying that McQuaid’s prognosis is hard to assess and he is “day-to-day” but there is a solid chance that with McQuaid – who already missed 19 games with a groin injury – may be told to heal up for the stretch run and return in late February.
I still think the Bruins could use a bit more scoring up front but it’s clear that even with the likes of Matt Bartkowski and Kevan Miller doing a solid job as this team steers through the injury spell on defense, they need another defenseman and preferably an established veteran defenseman that can eat up some minutes like Seidenberg did. Rangers defenseman and impending UFA Dan Girardi’s name has constantly been linked to the Bruins and as well he should be. Giradi is just the type of gritty stay-at-home defenseman that could fill that Seidenberg role.
But right now the going asking price for Girardi is reportedly a first round pick and two top prospects. That’s a bit expensive for a rental and while the Bruins are very much in the “win now” mode, they still must build for the future. That’s why Julien, Chiarelli and the Bruins brass have allowed Bartkowski, Hamilton and Miller to become regulars on the blue line. Miller’s recent two-year one-way deal was another indication that the Bruins blue line was another indication that this blue line is getting younger. Now Girardi is by no means old at 29 and if they could lock him up then this would be a great acquisition no matter what the cost. But without that guarantee are they willing to sacrifice the rising youth they already have?
As Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe recently pointed out chances are that Chiarelli will find a middle of the road, stay at home impending UFA veteran like Senators defenseman Chris Phillips, Islanders blueliner Andrew MacDonald or Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey.
But one name to keep an eye on if he became available is Jets 23 year-old defenseman Zach Bogosian. Yes the Jets appeared to put a ton of faith in the Massena, NY native and former Cushing Academy defenseman signing him to a seven-year, $36 million extension this past summer but it’s well documented that Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is reevaluating his core players like Bogosian, Evander Kane and impending UFA Dustin Byfuglien. If Cheveldayoff was to make Bogosian – who is locked up for six more years with a $5.1 million cap hit — available chances are Chiarelli would make a play. Sources have told me numerous times over the last few years that Chiarelli has expressed interest in Bogosian and with the upside he has, Chiarelli and his staff would likely be willing to take on that salary if they could shed elsewhere. That’s a big if right now but worth keeping an eye on.
It should be noted that one NHL source suggested the Bruins have interest in Byfuglien but it’s hard to believe because a.) Byfuglien’s deficiencies couldn’t survive in Julien’s system and b.) They would be willing to meet what could be a similar asking price for Girardi if they won’t for Girardi. But make no doubt, the Bruins – who just held their pro scouting meetings in Las Vegas – are looking for blue line help. The question is are they looking for a stopgap or an impact player?
