Open Letter To Steven Kampfer

Defenseman Steven Kampfer was traded from Boston to Minnesota on Monday

Dear Steven:

On behalf of all of Bruins Nation, I'd like to wish you luck in your future with the Minnesota organization. It's a shame to see you go to be honest. You were an integral part of the defense last season. When you were called up from Providence, you more or less gave the defense a shot in the arm and added an offensive boost with your speed and ability to jump into the play, as well as your presence on the powerplay. It's too bad you injured your knee in Providence early in the year, otherwise you may have earned yourself a full time spot on the blue line once again. You didn't complain though, and being the 7th defenseman didn't seem to bother you, and for that we thank you. Many of us Bruins fans were excited at your potential and enjoyed thinking that you may have been a major part of the defensive corps in the coming years. This is a business, as I'm sure you understand, and sometimes you have to give up something valuable to acquire a piece you need for a playoff run, as is the case with your trade. Despite this, we're all saddened to see you leave Boston, and we wish you all the best for a long and successful NHL career. We hope you come back to us here in Boston one day to once again wear the black and gold and be the piece of the defense we all know you can be. Minnesota is a great hockey city, and you'll enjoy your time there, however long it may be. Just do us fans a favor, though. When you play us, try to let the B's score a goal or two, just for kicks. In all seriousness though, we hope you enjoy Minnesota and their passionate fanbase. We hope to see you again one day, once again representing the Boston Bruins organization.

Sincerely,
Boston Bruins Nation

Bruins Acquire 3 At Deadline

Welcome back, old friend.

Yesterday, as you all know, was the NHL trade deadline. In 2 separate moves, the Bruins acquired forward Brian Rolston and Mike Mottau from the Islanders for two prospects, Yannick Riendeau and Marc Cantin, playing for the Bruins ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, and defenseman Greg Zanon from the Wild in exchange for second year defenseman Steven Kampfer.

Most of us remember Rolston from his playing days with the Bruins. Rolston was part of the package that Colorado sent to Boston in exchange for Bruins legend Ray Bourque. Rolston played for the Bruins from 1999 up until the 2004-2005 lockout, after which the Bruins did not resign him and he signed with the Minnesota Wild. Rolston was a key member of the Bruins of the early 21st century. Although many of those teams were not very good, Rolston's versatility and leadership skills made him a top notch player during his tenure with the Bruins.

Mike Mottau is a native of Quincy and grew up rooting for the Bruins. Mottau is a veteran defenseman with a left handed shot, and, just like Rolston, brings leadership qualities to the locker room. His leadership could prove to be useful, especially with the Bruins gearing up for a playoff run, where they will likely call up multiple minor league defensemen as "Black Aces". He will likely be a healthy scratch during the playoffs, barring injury, but can still prove to be a good presence for the young players working their way through the system, especially the likes of top prospect Dougie Hamilton.

Greg Zanon is another left handed shooting defenseman and has proven over his career to be a solid shutdown player on the back end. He is now third on the Bruins in blocked shots with 101 on the season and will likely prove to be a key addition to the defense corps. This acquisition will also allow Claude Julien to pair Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg together during the playoffs, a pairing that dominated opposing forwards during last year's Stanley Cup run.

These moves are very underrated ones. Adding depth on the forward front and defense front in Rolston and Mottau, as well as adding another shutdown defenseman in Zanon was something the Bruins were looking to do, and it appears that they have accomplished exactly that. GM Peter Chiarelli did admit that he would have liked to have acquired another forward, but the deals just weren't there. After Monday, the Bruins look ready to make another deep playoff run as they begin their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.

All Is Quiet On The Trade Front...So Far

As of right now, there's been no real activity on the trade ront, not just for the Brins, but throughout the league. The Canadiens sent Andre Kostitsyn packing to join his borther Sergei in Nashville, but other than that and a few waiver claims, very little has come out in the way of rumors, nevermind deals being closed.

Many players that were speculated as Bruins targets have since been pulled from the market, such as Tuomo Ruutu, who signed a contract extension with Carolina last week, and Ryan Smyth, who has been told he isn't going anywhere and is currently negotiating an extension with the Oilers. Forward Alex Hemsky also inked a new two year deal with Edmonton, which effectively pulled him off the market.

Other speculated targets, such as Jaroslav Spacek, are likely to be dealt today. Spacek was pulled from practice this morning and is likely to be traded. His likely destination has not been speculated upon, but his name was not mentioned by team officials or media members at Bruins practice this morning.

GM Peter Chiarelli has stated his intentions to keep the main roster intact, but with injuries to Nathan Horton, Rich Peverley, and most recently Johnny Boychuk, Chiarelli may be forced to part with a roster player in order to make any sort of significant move.

It's been rumored that Bruins are one of the teams in on Winnipeg defenseman Johnny Oduya, and have also been talking to Colorado about forward David Jones. While these are just rumors, they're ones that do have the chance to pick up steam as the deadline looms closer and closer.

While today has been slow thus far, TSN's Bob McKenzie believes it is likely to pick up an d that more trades will come as the dominos begin to fall, so to speak. He believes a likely candidate to be traded is Buffalo forward Derek Roy. There's always a chance he lands in boston if traded, but there haven't been any rumors as of yet as to where he may land, if he is even dealt.

Trade updates will come as they roll out, so be sure to follow me on Twitter for Bruins and NHL updates.

UPDATE:

Detroit has traded defenseman Mike Commodore to Tampa Bay for a Conditional 7th Round Pick.

Ottawa acquires Matt Gilroy for Tampa Bay's Brian Lee.

Vancouver acquires forward Sami Pahlsson for an unnamed player and two 4th Round Draft Picks.

Chicago acquires defenseman Johnny Oduya for 2013 2nd Round Pick and 2013 3rd Round Pick

San Jose acquires forwards Daniel Winnik and T.J. Galliardi from Colorado

Colorado is reportedly done trading. David Jones will not be dealt to Boston if the report is accurate.

Bruins have acquired forward Brian Rolston and defenseman Mike Mottau for Marc Cantin and Yannick Riendeau.

Rick Nash has not been traded. This has been confirmed by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bruins have acquired defenseman Greg Zanon from Minnesota for defenseman Steven Kampfer.

Predators have acquired forward Paul Gaustad and a 4th Round Pick from Buffalo in exchange for a 1st Round Pick

Rangers have acquired defenseman John Scott from Chicago for a 5th Round Pick.

The Time Has Come To Wheel And Deal

As of today, the Bruins are limping their way through the rest of the regular season. Subpar performances and devastating injuries are taking a toll on the once dominant team. Even worse is that those who are expected to be top performers, such as Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk, and David Krejci, are struggling to find their games. The trade deadline is in five days, and GM Peter Chiarelli has been sitting on his hands for the most part. The team is one of the three on Columbus superstar Rick Nash's list of teams he would accept a trade to, with the Rangers and Flyers being the other two. The Bruins have had some preliminary talks with Columbus GM Scott Howson about Nash, but it appears the starting point for any deal for the franchise cornerstone would have to start with goalie Tuukka Rask, an asset the Bruins do not want to part with any time soon. Sources say the Bruins have also had some discussions about Columbus forward Jeff Carter, some dating back to the days of Phil Kessel, when a Kessel for Carter swap was discussed. But, the Bruins may not have to shoot for the stars if they want to hit a homerun. There are plenty of options on the trade market, and although the prices may be somewhat inflated, it may be worth it to sacrifice a small part of the future to help in the present.

There are a few players that could be beneficial additions to this Bruins squad, including rugged forward Tuomo Ruutu out of Carolina, whom GM Peter Chiarelli has received multiple reccomendations on from former Carolina players currently playing here in Boston. The Finn could be a great fit playing wing alongside power forward Milan Lucic and struggling center David Krejci, who may be able to find his stride if given the right assets. With Nathan Horton out for presumably the rest of the season, adding a top 6 forward appears to be a necessity for the B's, who continue to struggle with putting the puck in the net. Other targets on the forward front could be Edmonton winger Ales Hemsky, although a trade for Hemsky could prove to be costly, as he has a history of injury issues. When healthy, Hemsky is one of the most underrated socrers in the league. He has a nose for the net and has put up many high scoring seasons. But, again, his health is a major factor in any trade. Ray Whitney, Shane Doan, and Ryan Smyth are also options the Bruins could pursue, but with Phoenix making the lives of every NHL GM interested in their players a living hell and Ryan Smyth stating his intentions to remain in Edmonton, those could prove to be unattainable assets for the B's.

On the defense front, Joe Corvo has turned into the second coming of Tomas Kaberle. Corvo's play has dropped significantly from where it once was this season, and with the recent extension of Johnny Boychuk, it appears he is heading out the door at season's end. While it may not be possible to deal Corvo anywhere, picking up another defenseman who can give Corvo some real competition as well as improve both the defense's offensive capabilities and their defensive play. Carolina defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, acquired in a deal with Montreal earlier this season, could be a good pickup. The Bruins have long had interest in the 37 year old defenseman, dating back to his free agent status in 2009, where the Bruins showed strong interest in Spacek, but were ultimately trumped by the Canadiens. Spacek is known for his comic touch in the locker room, and he could provide some good two way play, as well as job competition. He's an unrestricted free agent after the season, so the Bruins wouldn't be tied down to his $2.5M cap hit. Other targets could include Carolina's Joni Pitkanen, who could bring some much needed life to this powerplay, and possibly Edmonton blueliner Ryan Whitney, a Boston native who could add a bit of offensive spark as well as some leadership intangibles in the locker room.

One wild card around the league is the Anaheim Ducks. The team hasn't responded to the hiring of former Washington bench boss Bruce Boudreau, and most of the league seems to be keeping an eye on whether GM Bob Murray decides to deal star players Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf. Murray has openly stated that everyone is available, with the exception of veterans Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, and any one of the three aforementioned players could draw major interest on Causeway Street. The price would likely be steep though, probably requiring at least one core roster player, such as Milan Lucic or David Krejci, and a top flight prospect such as 2011 draftee Doug Hamilton, which is a price Chiarelli probably will not want to pay.

All of these are legitimate possibilities, so keep your eye on the market Bruins fans. We may be in for a surprising deadline.

Bruins Offer 4 Forwards Extensions

After signing defenseman Johnny Boychuk to a three year extension the other day, the Bruins have now offered contract extensions to four impensing UFA's: Chris Kelly, Greg Campbell, Shawn Thornton, and Daniel Paille. The report never made it into the TSN Insider Trading Post by Bob McKenzie, but it was tweeted shortly afterwards by McKenize himself.

This is good news. After locking up Krejci, Peverley, and Boychuk, many fans were beginning to wonder if they would extend their other UFA's, most importantly center Chris Kelly, who has become an integral part of the team's identity as a gritty, hard working team. Kelly had previously stated publicly that he wants to stay in Boston, and this contract offer shows that the Bruins want to keep him in Boston.

What this also shows is that the Bruins have completely changed their organizational philosophy from the pre-lockout one. They like to lock up their guys beforehand, and the guys that don't accept extension offers end up walking. This shows that the team wants to know ahead of free agency what holes they'll need to fill over the summer and how much money they'll have to work with. It's a smart thing to do. Not many GM's can sit through an entire season and wait until the last minute to try and re-sign the players they want to keep, mostly because they'll end up overpaying and possibly filling holes that don't even need to be filled to begin with.

Details of the offers have not been released and are not known, and they most likely will not be known until the players accept or deny their respective offers.

Bruins Extend Boychuk

Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk releases one of his monster slapshots from the blueline. The defender was signed to three year contract extension today.

So I'm guessing most of you are going to come here expecting some sort of post talking about how this is a great deal for the Bruins and that Boychuk is a top notch defender. Wrong. That is not at all what I'm going to say about this deal. Today, the Bruins signed Johnny Boychuk to a 3 year, $10.008M extension that will carry a cap hit of $3.36M. The deal was first reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN (Twitter link).

Now to what I think of the deal. I know a lot of people in the media believe this is a good deal for the Bruins, and also think that Boychuk is a great defenseman who can play against anyone's top lines and log tons of minutes. I disagree. Boychuk made the team in 2010 as the spare part basically. But we all know the story of that trainwreck season, there was injury after injury, constant inconsistent play, borderline NHL'ers getting significant ice time because there were so many players hurt, no significant trade to help the team in the immediate future (save for the Seidenberg steal), and to top it all off, the biggest choke job in the history of the NHL. Boychuk came up that year and won the hearts of many Bruins fans (and a few pink hats). His monster shot, gigantuan hits, and his solid defense made him appaear to be a diamond in the rough that Chiarelli found in a crap for crap trade with Colorado. But after 2010, his play dropped significantly. His offensive numbers dropped and his defense became horrendous. His hits were still there, but they weren't as timely as they were in 2010.

Many people praise Boychuk for his play against opposing teams' top lines and top scoring threats, as well as for his ability to log big minutes every night. Well no frigging duh, anyone who's paired with Zdeno Chara every night is going to look good. I can't count how many times I've seen Thomas and Rask save his ass on big 2 on 1 situations or even flat out breakaways because Boychuk was out of position or stepped up to make a hit at the worst possible time. He can still shoot, that's pretty clear, but his offensive numbers are not what you'd expect out of a guy who started his NHL career as a winger. This season he has 10 points. That's kind of horrendous considering what was expected of him offensively.

Personally, I wouldn't have signed Boychuk period. I would've waited out the season, make some calls at the deadline and see what you could get for him or Corvo, then, assuming there was no offer that made sense for the team, let Boychuk and Corvo play out the season and re-sign who played better. And if they both played, horrendous, let them both walk, slot Kampfer into one spot, and either make a trade, sign a D, or give Hamilton a shot and see what he can do in the 6 slot. Boychuk shouldn't have gotten the money he did. Chiarelli payed him like he was on the open market, and he isn't even good enough to make that kind of money on the open market. I would've offered maybe 1 or 2 years at $2.5M at the most, and if he asked for more, I would've shut down negotiations and let him earn his money.

I really hope Chiarelli knows what he's doing, because this was a crap deal in my view.

Bruins Trade Rumors

With three weeks left until the NHL Trading Deadline, the Bruins are limping along. They're practically Jekyll and Hyde. One game they'll look good/great and the next they'll look like the team that spent a month in the league basement. It's widely known that the Bruins are interested in adding depth, but it's possible they may look for something a little bigger. Depth on forward could prove to be crucial, as Zach Hamill has shown to be just mediocre in his stint with the Bruins (he was just placed on waivers about 2 minutes before I typed this), and Jordan Caron has spent most of this season up and down between Boston and Providence. Defensive depth may not be the route the team takes either. With Joe Corvo and Johnny Boychuk both struggling to find their stride this late in the season, it could be time to move one of them and bring in a new body that can help on the powerplay, a job which Corvo was supposed to do, or help out defensively, something Boychuk has done a considerably poor job at the past two seasons. There are many options out there on the market for both forward and defense, and some prices are high. Also, the health of winger Nathan Horton will be a key factor in what moves they make. Here are some of the team's reported targets.

• Tuomo Ruutu - Ruutu's price tag is reportedly fairly high, but it wouldn't be so high that the Bruins wouldn't even consider. They've reportedly inquired on Ruutu, but they aren't the only team interested. The scoring forward is drawing a lot of interest around the league and could go anywhere, but he could very well just stay in Carolina.
• Drew Stafford - One name that I haven't heard come up much. Stafford has been a Bruins killer for most of his career, and even if the Bruins don't trade for him, they'd be able to breathe a little easier if he was traded out of the Eastern Conference. The high scoring forward has enjoyed success with the Sabres, and the Bruins could use a player like hm.
• Ryan Smyth - Another interesting name. Smyth is aging, but he still has scoring touch. Again, the Bruins could use another body up front to put the puck in the net, but the issue with Smyth is he has a No Trade Clause, and it's unknown whether or not he would consider waiving it to go to Boston if an offer was made.
• Ray Whitney - This would be a great addition. Whitney's getting up there in age, but he's still a talented scorer and could be the veteran presence that fills the void left by Mark Recchi. Phoenix has yet to determine whether they're buying or selling yet though, so talks between the Coyotes and any team for any player would be at a standstill.
• Vinny Prospal - The Blue Jackets are, unsurprisingly, in the league basement once again. They're obviously selling, and their top priority is center Jeff Carter, who really just wants the get the hell out of Columbus (can you blame him?). Another player they're shopping is Vinny Prospal. Prospal could be another addition to be a veteran presence, and he could be had cheap, likely for a prospect such as Jordan Caron (please no) or just a second round pick. He could add a little extra scoring touch to the lineup as well.
• Hal Gill - God no. Please, just no. The guy isn't good. He's big, yes, but he's not talented and he's extremely slow and easy to beat on the rush. Not the guy you'd want on your blueline.
• Jaroslav Spacek - The man traded for Tomas Kaberle. Spacek has been solid for Carolina since the trade, and he could be a useful powerplay weapon.
• Steve Staios - He could be a solid guy to replace Boychuk. He doesn't score many points, but he's a solid stay at home defenseman, and with the way the Bruins have been playing as of late, they could use a guy like that.

Also, Claude Julien spoke about Nathan Horton the other day. "When you see him in full practice with us, that's going to be the next sign. Until then, that's all I can tell you. You take steps and he's got to stay symptom-free. You go from the bike, to the ice, to contact. You've got to make sure the next day, or the next few days, that there's no setbacks."