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2013-14 Player Preview: Danny Paille, Shawn Thornton |
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Ty Anderson
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The Basics
Name: Danny Paille (No. 20)
Position: Left Wing/Right Wing
Height and weight: 6-feet, 200 pounds.
How he got here: Paille was traded to Boston from the Buffalo Sabres in Oct. 2009 in exchange for a 2010 third round draft choice along with a 2010 fourth round conditional pick.
The Stats
- Paille’s 10 goals in 2013 tied for the most he’s recorded in any of his four seasons with Boston.
- Six of Paille’s 35 goals with the Black-and-Gold have been scored shorthanded.
- No full-time forward on the Bruins took fewer penalties (4) than Paille last season.
The Money
The 29-year-old winger enters 2013-14 in the second year of a three-year extension worth $3.9 million signed back in June 2012, and with a $1.3 million cap-hit, Paille is a complete steal given his role on the Bruins and noteable contract comparables.
Featuring identical cap-hits to former Bruin forwards Vladimir Sobotka (St. Louis) and Benoit Pouliot (New York Rangers), Paille’s outshined (and unlike the formers) has earned his keep in the Hub by establishing himself as one of Claude Julien’s truly versatile skaters.
While his skill-set is best suited for bottom-six minutes (and shines perfectly on the Bruins’ ‘Merlot Line’), Paille has willingly stepped up and proved worthy of legitimate ice-time whenever needed, pushing the talent around him to be even stronger.
The Past
Spending the lockout with the Flyers’ Max Talbot on Ilves (Finland), Paille brought a solid Finnish sample featuring two goals and six points in just nine games back to Boston in what was perhaps his most successful season as a Bruin.
Striking with 10 goals and 17 points in just 46 games -- matching his Bruin high for goals set back in a 74-game 2009-10 -- there’s no way to deny that Paille was a true model of efficiency for the Bruins’ spotty attack in 2013. Despite skating with the team’s second lowest average time on ice among forwards (his 12:10 per game was second lowest next to Shawn Thornton’s 8:40 per game), the former first round pick from 2002 finished with the fourth most goals among Bruin skaters.
A speedy fixture on the Bruins’ shorthanded forward core -- which finished the year with an 87.1% success rate on the penalty-kill, good for fourth best in league -- the switch to the playoffs brought about more consistency in-your-face play from No. 20. As if you honestly expected anything less.
Skating as part of the Bruins’ pesterizing fourth line, Paille saw a bump up to the Boston third line following the broken leg to Gregory Campbell, and was actually one of the few Bruins that put together a solid six games against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.
Forming a new-look third line with Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin, Paille struck with two goals (both game-winners), four points, and amassed 13 hits.
The Future
While three-year linemates Campbell and Thornton are likely to remain on the Bruins’ fourth line, 2013-14 presents an interesting opportunity for Paille if the club’s run of third line futility continues on into a year primed for secondary scoring chances.
In an open camp competition for a spot on the third line centered by Kelly, continued sputtering from any number of the Bruins’ younger options, you can bet anything that Paille will be the first to get the call for a bump up to spark the line’s effectiveness.
But if Paille’s life as a Bruin continues on the fourth line, you can expect more of the same, with his role in the defensive-zone remaining a must-have for Julien’s penalty-kill.
Like every other year, Paille’s going to see some time on various lines throughout the year, and with his versatility, it’s easy to peg him for eight goals and 19 points in 82 games.
The Basics
Name: Shawn Thornton (No. 22)
Position: Left Wing
Height and weight: 6-foot-2, 217 pounds.
How he got here: Following a 2007 Stanley Cup win with the Anaheim Ducks, Thornton signed with the Bruins in July 2007, and has since inked two separate extensions with the club.
The Stats
- Trailing Derek Sanderson and currently sitting in 21st with 674 minutes in the box, Thornton enters the 2013-14 season just 12 penalty minutes away from entering the franchise’s top-20 leaders for penalty minutes.
- 16 of Thornton’s 18 goals over the last three seasons have come in winning efforts for the B’s.
- Thornton has engaged in 42 fighting majors since the start of the 2010-11 season.
The Money
Naturally, I’ve found that it’s tough to sell somebody on an “enforcer” with a $1.1 million cap-hit.
But as the 36-year-old Thornton heads into the second and final year of an extension featuring a cap-hit of just that, there’s a clear difference between Thornton and your average brute. Thornton can play hockey. He’s not bad at all, in fact. With matching cap-hits to noted fighters Ben Eager (Edmonton) and Tanner Glass (Pittsburgh), the clear difference between Thornton and the aforementioned is that like I said, Thornton can do more than muck it up.
Eager, for all intents and purposes, brings nothing but goonery to a hockey team. The only thing that’s more nightmare-inducing than playing him in the third period of a close game would be looking at his career track and seeing that some general manager took him with a first round pick in 2002.
Thornton, who perhaps benefits from playing with ‘sound’ players such as Paille and Gregory Campbell, is a heart-and-soul type that brings energy on every shift. More than an enforcer at this stage of his career, Thornton’s ever evolving role as one of the Bruins’ leaders has made him worth the $1.1 million price tag.
The Past
Year six in Boston saw Thornton engage in eight fights, but Thornton’s role brought about a scary scene for the first time during his tenure with the Bruins following a one-sided bout against the Sabres’ John Scott early in the year. Concussed on a massive blow from the 6-foot-8 Scott, and missing the next two games, there was a slight hesitation from Boston fans whenever they saw their fan favorite drop the mitts and expose himself to another potential concussion.
But finishing the year with five post-Scott fights without an incident, Thornton returned to his imposing, hard-skating game and finished the year with three goals and seven points in 45 games.
In the postseason, Thornton was relied upon as the fourth line’s energy presence and forechecking extraordinaire on the ice, and finished with four points in 22 games.
The Future
In a contract year with the Bruins and at 36 years old, the harsh reality of Thornton’s situation is that it may be his last season with the Black-and-Gold given the club’s desire to continue to move forward with a budding youth movement.
A painful thought if there ever was one, you can expect Thornton to not even worry about that, stand his ground, and contribute with five goals, 13 points, and 14 fighting majors in 82 games.
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