Despite premature cries regarding the need for a 'sniper' in the Hub, nobody expected the Boston Bruins to do much when it came to the first 48 hours of NHL free agency. But on the heels of a Friday conference with B's GM
Peter Chiarelli confirming that the Bruins would be quiet when the clock struck noon on July 1st, the weekend didn't end without a few potential 'targets' falling off the Bruins' board.
Most notably, veteran forward
Ray Whitney.
Linked to Boston since the club's failed attempt to obtain him during the 2010 trade deadline, the end of Whitney's two-year stint with the Phoenix Coyotes surely would've left Chiarelli and company salivating at the opportunity to bring him back East where he'd don the Black-and-Gold for the first time in his 20-year career. Ask around and you'd hear that despite his age, the 40-year-old Whitney embodied everything the Bruins needed to rebound from another postseason headlined by a woeful power-play.
Finishing his tenure as a 'Yote with 134 points in 157 games -- 46 of which coming on the man-advantage -- Whitney would've brought a veteran attitude and leadership to a room many believed to have lost with the retirement of
Mark Recchi. In other words, Whitney was the complete package for Boston, right? Well, maybe to the common fan, but not in PC's world according to his post-frenzy comments with the media.
"In past years, we’ve actually had – not too often – but we’ve had one or two players that we would really want to have part of our team and we go after them," Chiarelli said on Sunday when pressed about missing out on a main target. "That applied to Michael Ryder. I didn’t have a player like that this year that I thought that I could get right off the hop, so that speaks to how I feel about our team."
Missing out on Whitney, who signed a two-year pact with the Dallas Stars worth a total of $9 million, it was another free-agency bonanza that left the B's sitting on the sidelines with their money in their pockets. But is that the way they
should've gone about it? I can't see why not. In a world where the Bruins' needs are blown out of proportions thanks to the club's first opening round exit in four years, the idea that the prices were too rich for Boston's blood is simply an undeniable truth. Whitney, despite his offensive upside and potential to revitalize a power-play that stumbled and fumbled its way to an early exit, is not a player the Bruins want to pay 4.5 million for in 2013-14.
Lost in the panic of overzealous Boston fans is the fact that the Black-and-Gold finished the year with 260 goals scored, good for second in the league, all without a single 30-goal scorer or 70-point player on their roster. They averaged the league's third best nightly output at (3.17), third most shots per game (32.4), and led the entire league with 201 (193 coming at 5-on-5 and eight 4-on-4 markers) total even-strength goals.
To be as blunt as can be, they weren't in search of a major upgrade to a roster that finished with these totals despite playing without top-line winger
Nathan Horton for nearly the entire second half of the season. But on a squad featuring four full lines as of this moment -- assuming that
Jordan Caron rebounds to nab a full-time spot on Boston's third line -- Chiarelli did note his willingness to 'dabble' into a market teeming with secondary (see: bottom six/bottom pairing) help.
"I’m not actively looking for anything," he admitted, adding, "If something can improve our team, I’ll – we’ll consider anything. The secondary market you referred to – again I would take the same approach. Not actively looking, but whether it’s the secondary market in free agency or the next market with respect to trades, we’ll continue to look at that stuff."
So, just where will any potential help come from? Given the departure of
Benoit Pouliot on day two of the draft and his eventual signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, some would say that the third line wing spot is Caron's to lose, and would be better served for a free agent signing that can bolster the Bruins' special teams play at an affordable price. What about the still-capable
Jaromir Jagr? Too rich and too in demand for Boston's blood.
Zach Parise? For the one billionth time, it's not happening. How about a
Steve Sullivan-like player? Hell, how about Steve Sullivan himself?
After a one year stint in Pittsburgh featuring another solid season from the soon-to-be 38-year-old winger capped by 17 goals and 48 points, Sullivan's hit the open market as a potential back-up plan for just about everybody that'll swing and miss on the aforementioned player sweepstakes.
But can he work in Boston? Ab-so-lutely. Besides the obvious plus of 21 power-play points last season, Sullivan tore through Northeast Division opponents not named the Bruins, tallying up an impressive four goals and nine assists in 16 games. Becoming one of the Pens' power-play specialists, the 5-foot-8 Sullivan finished the season with 15:21 of time-on-ice per game with 17.8 shifts, putting him as a perfect fit on a Boston third line that'd feature
Chris Kelly the the versatile
Rich Peverley.
Beyond a potential forward spot coming a veteran's way this summer, Chiarelli did note his desire to potentially add a seventh defensemen willing to take a two-way deal with the club.
Follow me on Twitter, shoot me an email at [email protected], or become Facebook friends with the HockeyBuzz Bruins profile for links, interactions, and updates.
*********
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Bruins Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Bruins related on HockeyBuzz. For more information,
click here.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
Join the Discussion:
»