Monday Musings, 9/20/10

Even though the Red Sox are playing out the rest of their season at Fenway and the Patriots are just getting their season going in Foxboro, hockey is (thankfully) already upon us. The B's open up their pre-season slate against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a game that will apparently only be televised on RDS. (For the curious, the first NESN telecast will be on Saturday night when the Florida Big Money Wideses visit the TD Garden.)

Here are some quick thoughts (hence the title, "Monday Musings") on what's been going on with the B's in recent days.

• Marc Savard's out again This was arguably the biggest Bruins-related news of the weekend, as Savard will apparently be sidelined indefinitely as he recovers from post-concussion syndrome. PCS can persist for up to a year after a person suffers from a concussion, with symptoms ranging from headaches and light sensitivity to vomiting and irritability. The fact that Savard is now suffering these symptoms could lend some credence to earlier rumors that a Savard to Calgary trade was shot down earlier this summer because Savard allegedly failed a concussion test. This was dismissed as ridiculous at the time, considering Savard played in all seven games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But now that he's apparently suffering from severe enough symptoms to keep him out of training camp, one can't help but wonder if the rumors might have actually had some truth to them. If PCS can persist for a year, the B's may have some serious decisions to make. Earlier reports said that Savard would be reevaluated at some point today. If he continues to suffer, however, long term IR may be a possibility. If Savard is put on LTIR, that essentially clinches a spot on the big club for Tyler Seguin, barring a horrendous showing at training camp.
• Too soon? The fact that Savard is out of action again leads one to wonder whether or not the pivot returned to action too soon. It's no secret that Savard is ultra-competitive and wants to win, so watching his team in the playoffs must have killed him. However, other than his game-winning goal in Game 1, Savard wasn't all that effective for the B's. A little rust was to be expected, and one can't fault Savard for wanting to return. However, much like it may have been a blessing in disguise for Patrice Bergeron when the B's got eliminated by the Habs in 07-08 (Bergeron was rumored to be considering a return if the B's advanced), would it have been better for all parties if Savard simply sat out the remainder of the 09-10 campaign? Hindsight is always 20/20, but maybe Savard would have been better off with the full summer's rest.
• Camp observations I was able to go to the second session of training camp on Saturday, and was glad to get a fix of live hockey this early in September. Plenty of vets were at this session, including Milan Lucic, Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron. Tyler Seguin was the main attraction at the second session, and to these eyes he didn't disappoint. Seguin has been getting rave reviews for his attitude and work ethic, and his performance on the ice on Saturday was strong as well. He's a very strong skater, has soft hands and a lightning-quick release. During a 3-on-1 drill, Seguin rifled a wrist shot past Tuukka Rask's glove hand. The puck was almost in the net before Rask even reacted. Seguin made a number of sublime passes during drills as well, passes that probably would have been buried if he had bona fide NHL scorers on the receiving end. It was just one practice, but it appears that the hype fits the kid's actual performance so far.
• Why McGrattan? One of the more puzzling moves so far in camp has been the invitation extended to tough guy Brian McGrattan, most recently of the Calgary Flames. For a team with minimal cap space and a resident tough guy in Shawn Thornton, the invitation is a real head-scratcher. Pundits say that McGrattan's presence is meant to be a wake-up call/challenge to Thornton, but by all accounts management is happy with Thornton's role, his attitude and his performance (if they aren't, why'd they give him a two-year extension this summer?) The rest of the fourth line will be in all likelihood filled out by Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell. Is McGrattan here just to light a fire under Thornton, or are the Bruins really considering adding more muscle to protect youngsters like Seguin?
• Wides updates Uh...there really aren't any. BHN scoured the websites of Florida news organizations like the Sun Sentinel and the Miami Herald, and there were very few mentions of Wides, his Norris Trophy candidacy, and his rocket-goal scoring prowess. Maybe they don't have BHN down there in Florida...that must be it.
• Boychuk's blog I stumbled across this earlier today, apparently Johnny Boychuk will be blogging for ESPNBoston.com throughout the season. Boychuk will be an important player for the B's this season. If he can play at the high level he showed at some points last season, that will go a long way towards tightening up the team's defense. Reading through his post, I realized NHL players pass their summer days a bit differently from NHL website creators. For example, your humble BHN writer spent his summers working full-time. Boychuk went to Atlantis with Milan Lucic, played golf, worked out...oh and he bought a house. I know what you're thinking, and I agree: I bet he's jealous of me too. Anyone can go to the Bahamas, only a few can work in a Shaw's produce department.
  

Kovalchuk gets rejected...Savard effected?

To the surprise of almost no one, Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year deal with the New Jersey Devils was struck down by a Boston-based arbitrator yesterday after he ruled that it willfully circumvented the CBA. The NHL felt that the deal was making a mockery of its salary cap process, as the contract would have had Kovalchuk playing until he was 44, but would have paid him the majority of his money in the first 10 or so years of the deal.

In fact, Kovalchuk would have only gotten just north of 500K per season in the last five years of the contract if he played the entire time. That "if" is likely what caught the NHL's attention: since Kovalchuk signed the deal before he turned 35, he could retire at any time and his cap hit would be wiped off of New Jersey's books.

Not a bad deal for either party, right? If the Devils had Kovalchuk for ten years before he retired, they'd have him at a nice friendly cap hit of around $6 million; In those ten years, Kovalchuk would net around $95 million. Were that the end of the contract, his cap hit would have been $9.5 million per season. Sneaky move there, Lou.

So why does this matter for fans of the Bruins? This little gem from Bloch's decision, tucked in footnote #23 on the second-last page of the document:

"It is true, as the Association observes, that the NHL has registered contracts with structures
similar to the Kovalchuk SPC PA Exh. 8 reflects a list of 11 multi-year agreements, all of which
involve players in their mid to late 30’s and early 40’s. Most of them reflect reasonably
substantial “diveback” (salary reductions that extend over the “tails” of the Agreement). Of these, four such agreements, with players Chris Pronger, *Marc Savard,* Roberto Luongo, and Marian Hossa reflect provisions that are relatively more dramatic than the others...*Several responses are in order: First, while the contracts have, in fact, been registered, their structure has not escaped League notice: those SPCs are being investigated currently with at least the possibility of a subsequent withdrawal of the registration."*

-Source/full ruling from TEAM 1200

The long and short of it, for those who don't enjoy a bit of light summer legalese reading, is that Marc Savard's deal with the Bruins is under investigation by the league again. There was some talk that since the deal has already been registered and approved, it couldn't be looked at again.

However, the CBA dictates, as explained here, that any NHL contract, whether it's been approved or filed or whatever, can be investigated and challenged by the NHL at any time. The NHL could elect to bring the challenge to an arbitrator, who would ultimately have final say.

So what's going to happen? Probably nothing, if only because of the series of consequences that would follow. The deals for Savard, Luongo and Pronger haven't gone into effect yet, as they were contract extensions; Hossa is the only one who has already been paid by his front-loaded deal.

If the NHL were to go back and void those contracts, they'd likely face a full-scale revolt from the NHLPA. The players likely wouldn't look on having their contracts canceled after they were already approved lightly, and could elect to simply sit out another season. Another lockout could essentially kill the NHL in the United States, where hockey already lags behind a number of sports in terms of popularity.

The opinion here is that Savard's deal may be "investigated," but little, if anything, will come of it. The NHL has shown with its Kovalchuk stance that they won't tolerate these deals anymore, but it's unlikely that they'll go back and re-write the history books, so to speak.

If Savard's deal does get wiped clean, however, it puts the B's in an interesting spot: if they really are trying to move him for cap relief, his recently-signed contract extension would no longer be a problem, as he would instead become an unrestricted free agent.

Hmm...I wonder if Peter Chiarelli would be all that upset if Savard's deal got a closer look by Bloch & Co.

Awkward Savard, a few signings and more

It's safe to say that it's been pretty far from a quiet summer over on Causeway Street. There have been trades, re-signings, "draftings" and enough rumors and scuttlebutt to make even the most avid TMZ reader jealous.

And while the arrival of Messrs. Seguin and Horton and the returns of Mark Recchi, Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg and Daniel Paille are important, the biggest story surrounding the B's remains the mysterious case of Marc Savard (sounds like next year's big summer blockbuster).

The reason the whole situation remains puzzling is due to the lack of anything concrete from...well, anyone. Savard hasn't commented publicly at all, and Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli has been vague and cryptic at best. Fans still have very little idea as to why Savard would be on the trade block, so the rampant speculation will continue.

On the surface, there are a few reasons why a trade would be plausible:

• Reason 1: The Bruins feel like Savard, especially with the major concussion he sustained just this past season, is no longer worth the cap space, this despite signing him to a huge extension just a few months ago.
• Reason 2: Savard asked to be traded to be closer to his kids, who live in Ontario.
• Reason 3: The Bruins are tired of Savard being a less-than-ideal teammate, as some sources have painted him as a bad teammate. People who believe this theory point to his delay of game penalty in Game 7 against the Flyers (and subsequent failure to own up to it) as "the last straw."

But really, do any of these reasons, save for Savard asking out, justify trading your number-one center?

The short answer is no, while the long answer is more of a "well, not really." The B's brass clearly think David Krejci is ready to step into more of a number-one role, that Patrice Bergeron will continue to improve and that Seguin is NHL-ready. But trading Savard would leave a giant hole in an offense that was already anemic to start with after last season.

My real question now isn't really whether or not Savard will be traded, it's more of whether or not Savard can actually come back and play for the Bruins at this point, hence the "awkward" title. True, these players are professionals and understand that trades are part of the business, but if Savard didn't ask out, these talks and rumors must have blindsided him.

After all, he did just sign an extension and had wanted to retire as a Bruin. I still don't think trading Savard is a good idea, but at this point, one has to wonder if the bridges have been too badly burnt to be salvaged.

Other tidbits of Bruins happenings:

• Johnny Boychuk returns- A good signing by Chiarelli. Boychuk really emerged as a solid, dependable blueliner last year, and the B's will likely use his howitzer of a shot from the point on the power play from time to time.
• Daniel Paille returns- Another good signing, but I would have preferred to see Paille only get a one-year deal. He was a rock for the Bruins on the PK last year, and will likely partner up with Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell on the fourth-line again this year, but I can't help but feel that a year from now, one of the Bruins' youngsters would be able to fill his spot for less money.
• Still no sign of Wheeler or Stuart- The former has elected for salary arbitration, while the latter decided against it, apparently because an extension is imminent. It will be interesting to see how the B's go about the arbitration process with Wheeler, and how much money he gets. It's no secret that he's talented, but some B's fans have grown tired of waiting for Wheeler to change his game to more of a power-forward style.

So much for the summer not being hockey season. Things continue to heat up, both Bruins-wise and temperature-wise, and it doesn't appear that the rest of the summer will be any different.

Rumors Everywhere!

The days leading up to the NHL Draft are usually pretty interesting. Teams are looking to move up or down and are sometimes looking to flip picks or prospects for established players that will have an immediate impact in the upcoming season.

The Bruins are in the rare position of both anticipating their own draft choice and looking for NHL talent that could push them into Stanley Cup contention. Rarely does a team with a top-five pick have Cup aspirations for the coming season, but that's the place Peter Chiarelli and Co. find themselves in.

The B's will select either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin with the number-two pick, acquired in the Phil Kessel trade, and are considered by some to be a scorer or defenseman or two away from being serious Cup contenders. The B's should return relatively the same team next year, with the addition of Hall/Seguin, a healthy David Krejci and newly-acquired Nathan Horton. A few players, including Dennis Wideman, will be out of the fold, but with their additions, the B's should be a formidable group.

Entering tonight, the only real certainty is that the B's will take either Hall or Seguin at the number-two spot. The rest is completely up in the air, and a number of B's players have been rumored to be on the trading block.

The biggest names that have been bandied about are Tim Thomas and Marc Savard, one an obvious trade candidate and the other a head scratcher.

Thomas has been on his way out since Tuukka Rask took over last season, and now it appears that the first "trade wheels" are in motion. Trading Thomas would free up about $5 million in cap space, valuable money that the B's could use to fill holes elsewhere, namely on the blue line.

There are a number of rumored suitors for the former Vezina winner, the most viable of which appear to be San Jose and Philadelphia, with Washington a dark horse. San Jose let Evgeni Nabokov walk earlier this week, meaning they'll probably be in the market for a new goalie. I suppose it's possible that the Sharks go with Thomas Greiss this coming year, but I can't see a high-caliber team like the Sharks entering this season with an unproven rookie in net.

However, San Jose can probably be crossed off the Thomas trade list, due to Sharks' GM Ron Wilson's assertion that he won't spend too much on goaltending, citing the Blackhawks as an example of how a high-priced goalie doesn't bring Stanley Cup success.

The Flyers remain a viable option for Thomas, as many maintain that the Flyers would have won the Cup if they had a competent netminder.

The other rumor floating around, the more confusing one, is that the B's are looking to trade Savard.

Savard has a partial no-movement clause, allegedly limiting his trades to teams in the East so he can stay close to his family. To me, trading Savard would be absurd. The pivot signed an extremely cap-friendly deal to remain with the Bruins, and has said that he loves playing in Boston. The reasoning for the rumors seems to be that if the Bruins draft Seguin, they'll have him, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Savard down the middle.

Apparently, Savard would be traded to make room for Seguin. This boggles my mind on multiple levels.

• Trading Savard after the deal he just signed would be like a slap in the face to a player who took a pay cut to stay in Boston. The B's don't have great PR in the eyes on many casual fans in Boston, and trading a big name and fan favorite like Savard wouldn't help much.
• Seguin is already going to be under immense pressure to produce as a number-two pick. Trading Savard would essentially place even more pressure on the rookie to produce, be it as a third-center or as a winger.
• The B's had the league's worst offense last year. Why trade your best playmaker?

The hope here is that these are mere rumors and speculation, and that Chiarelli's refusal to shoot down such scuttlebutt amounts to nothing more than good business tactics.

Matt Kalman of the BruinsBlog agrees with me, but ultimately it's up to the Bruins' brain trust. The sentiment of this blogger, however, is that trading Savard would be a huge mistake.

Wides out, Horton in

Wailing and gnashing of teeth for Wides aside, this is a pretty good move for the B's. Horton's stats over the last two seasons are 42 goals and 60 assists for a total of 102 points, all for Florida Panther teams that didn't really sniff the postseason.

The 25-year-old Horton is a pretty big kid, coming in at 6 ft. 2 in. and weighing around 230 pounds. He had recently asked out of Florida, and new Panthers' GM Dale Tallon was apparently happy to oblige him.

Horton was the third pick on the 2003 draft, picked behind Marc-Andre Fleury and Eric Staal and ahead of players like Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf and Ryan Getzlaf.

Hopefully, the big winger can learn a thing or two from a former big winger, current B's president Cam Neely. The 15th overall pick was sent to Florida as well, along with another pick in 2011. The B's now have the 2nd, 32nd and 45th picks in this Friday's draft.

In all likelihood, B's GM Peter Chiarelli isn't done dealing yet. Late June days are usually the hockey doldrums, but the next week could shape up to be a pretty interesting one.

Evander Kane KO's Matt Cooke

Matt Cooke may not have gotten the beating many felt he deserved from the Bruins, but he certainly got what many felt he had coming to him last night at the hands of Evander Kane of the Atlanta Thrashers. Coincidentally enough, the young Kane is named after Evander Holyfield, who undoubtedly approved of the right hook the Thrasher used to drop Cooke.

Best line of the Internet's reaction to the whole thing? "Evander Kane just made Marc Savard's Christmas Card list."

For those who are wondering, Kane isn't an RFA until after the 2012-2013 season.

Trade Deadline Reaction

Some B's fans are unhappy, but really, what did you expect Peter Chiarelli to do?

"Get a scorer!"
"Get a puck moving defenseman!"
"For the love of God, get rid of Michael Ryder!"*

*Let it be known that BHN is a huge Ryder fan, and will not, I repeat, NOT, advocate trading him.


At the end of the day (or more specifically, at the 3 p.m. EST deadline), Chiarelli hadn't done much: out were Derek Morris, Byron Bitz and some picks/prospects, in were Dennis Seidenberg and another prospect.

When I first heard of the Morris trade, it screamed "salary dump." Morris for just a fourth-round pick? He hadn't lit the world on fire here, but was solid enough. So I, along with most other Bruins fans, waited for the other shoe to drop.

Well it's now two days later, and that shoe still isn't here. Chiarelli ended up adding Seidenberg after the Morris move, but that was it. The B's closed up shop, and no offensive help arrived.

Here's what I think happened, and remember, this is purely my opinion: Chiarelli moved Morris to make room for another play, probably a scorer, but the right deal never materialized. Why else would he dump Morris? He clearly isn't giving up on this team yet, so it's not like the B's are in full-on salary dump mode.

As most other pundits have said, there really isn't exactly a wealth of scorers available. The biggest name, Ilya Kovalchuk, was moved weeks ago, and the remaining pickings really were pretty slim.

Ray Whitney? Raffi Torres? Clark MacArthur? Would any of these guys really have put the B's over the top, or been worth the picks/prospects that would have gone the other way?

No, probably not. The truth is that there really isn't much that can be done at this point to make the B's a bona-fide Stanley Cup contender. Even if they had added Kovalchuk, the team has been too inconsistent and frustrating to make fans believe a run at the Cup was possible for this year.

I still think this team has the horses to make serious noise in the playoffs, and hey, with a hot goalie, anything can happen come April/May.

But give Chiarelli credit for one thing: he has seen the writing on the wall in regards to this team, and didn't go for the knee-jerk reaction, which would have been an attempt at a quick fix. Chiarelli has a plan, and has been very patient so far. If he has another season next year like he has this year, both he and Claude Julien will likely be scouring Craigslist for job opportunities.

But with a top-three pick coming regardless of where the B's finish, the team is still in good shape, regardless of the lack of moves on Wednesday.

Overall, I'd give Chiarelli a grade of a "C." I'd rather have Morris here, but Seidenberg is a bit more defensive-minded, and seems solid enough. Chia's grade is really just average: he didn't improve the team, didn't hurt the team, didn't really do...anything.