Obviously the big aquisiton for the Bruins was Jaromir Jagr, but we all knew Chiarelli wasn't done. The defense this year hadn't been spectacular and Chiarelli said he wanted to add a defenseman to the mix. A lot of fans wanted someone like Yandle or Ryan or Boyle — either the NHL unicorn (PMD) to help on the power play or a shut down defenseman to help what's been a really weird season defensively for the team.
So Chia brings in Wade Redden. Yep, Wade Redden.
Redden played for the Senators for what felt like forever, averaging in the mid 30s-50 point range per season. Then he signed a rediculous contract with the NY Rangers and just shit the bed compared to his salary.
He eventually for waived by the Rangers and signed with the Blues. And now he's in Boston. Not exactly the move a lot fans were hoping for, but Chia opted to get defensive depth instead of brining in someone to shake things up on the blue line. Chia's not igornat of Wade's… interesting carrer.
“Wade isn’t the player that he used to be, but he’s a very smart player,” Chiarelli said. “He can help us in certain ways and you’ll get to talk to him. He’s a good person, too.”
Redden was teammates with Chara and Kelly back in Ottawa. Why Wade and not someone else? Cap flex.
“There were players with multiple years on their contracts, and we considered a couple, but it was more about leaving us with [cap] flexibility,” he said. “We’ve got some guys we have to re-sign, and I’d like to try and sign those guys.”
Chiarelli said he wanted to bring the band back together.
Bruins also kicked off the trade deadline with a really lackluster move, trading Maxime Sauve for Rob Flick. From CSNNE:
The Bruins sent 2008 second-round pick Max Sauve to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for gritty, fighting center Rob Flick. The 22-year-old Flick is a lefty shooting center that isn’t an offensive guy, but has racked up nearly 100 PIMs in each of his two AHL seasons while putting his 6-foot-2, 208-pound frame to good use. Flick had five points and 97 penalty minutes in 51 games for the Rockford IceHogs this season.
So traded an offensive kid for a fighter. Whatever works.
Here's the full press conference from Chiarelli.
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