Bruins Moves

Hockey fans, tell me how this sounds? Lucic Krejci Iginla as the top line. Marchand Bergeron Eriksson as the second line. Soderberg Kelly Caron on the third line and the Paille Campbell Thornton remaining the same. The first question you would ask is where is Tyler Seguin? Well the Bruins did the unthinkable and traded Tyler Seguin to Dallas for Loui Eriksson and good prospects.

I like the trade from the Bruins perspective. Loui Eriksson is a good player but does not get the recognition he deserves because he plays in Dallas, but Bruins fans will love this player. Joe Morrow is a good defensive prospect and Bruins fans can be expecting to see him in the next 2-3 years.

Now on to Tyler Seguin, the former number two pick has been a lightning rod thus far in his career. In Seguin’s first year he wasn’t great in the regular season and didn’t play in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Tyler Seguin had an amazing first two playoff games against Tampa Bay registering 3 goals and 3 assists. The then thought was he’s here and look out. I firmly believe that the Bruins lose to Tampa Bay if it wasn’t for Seguin but he didn’t have a terrific final against the Canucks. In Seguin’s sophomore season he led the team with 29 goals and the Bruins gave him his new contract, but then came the problems. Seguin got complacent and had a down third year this season. Horton and Lucic had bad years this year too but the difference is they showed up in the playoffs while Seguin registered one goal. It is clear to me that the Bruins are sick of Seguin’s off ice problems and his lack of development on the ice and that is why they traded Tyler Seguin.

Remember when all Bruins fans hated Jarome Iginla for choosing the Penguins over the Bruins last trade deadline and how good it felt when the Bruins swept them out of the playoffs. Well Iginla is now a Bruin and I think he can help this team in some ways. What’s interesting to me is Iginla contacted the Bruins first and he signed a team friendly deal. Iginla is older but still a good player. I expect him to fill in where Horton was on the first line. Regular season I am not worried about Iginla replacing Horton, its the postseason where concern comes. Horton was terrific for Boston in the playoffs and Iginla will have to fill in those shoes.

So what’s left for the Bruins to get done this off-season? I think they addressed all top six forwards and five of the bottom six forwards. I am confident that Jordan Caron can fill in on that 3rd line right-wing but a veteran add wouldn’t hurt there. Overall I think the Bruins are set in the forward position.

On the blue line the Bruins have their top 7 defensemen on the depth chart. Last season Chara-Seidenberg, Boychuk-Ference, and McQuaid-Krug were able to get the job done and all contributed to the Bruins run. Losing Ference means that either Hamilton, Krug, Bartkowski, or McQuaid will have to step up and with the way the Bruins play defense I am confident this will happen. A depth defensive add would be nice but Bruins fans should feel good about the blue line now and into the future.

The Bruins are expected to finalize an extension for Patrice Bergeron sometime soon, locking up the franchise face up front. The B’s also announced Tuukka Rask’s new eight year $56 million extension today, but more on that later…

Bottom line, Bruins fans should be extremely happy with what general manager Peter Chiarelli has done this off-season.