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Let me make this very clear: Veteran forward Ray Whitney is not walking through that door. One of the game's greats, Jaromir Jagr, is not walking through that door. Rick Nash is not walking through that door. But hey, Garnet Exelby is!
What? That's not who you were expecting?
Since the start of free agency, Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli has been open about the club's hunt for a veteran defensemen willing to take a two-way contract, and at 30 years old, Exelby seems to be that guy for the Black-and-Gold after signing a one-year, two-way deal with the Bruins worth up to $600,000.
A veteran of 408 games at the NHL level, but with the last coming all the way back on Apr. 10 2010, this is one of Boston's patented fringe-NHL talent depth signings.
Spending all of last year with the Detroit Red Wings' minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, the 217th overall pick from the '99 Draft finished last season with seven goals and 21 points in 75 contests. However, the 6-foot-1 defensemen isn't coming to Boston 'cause of an offensive spark needed from the point, but rather the physical nature the Northeast Division will surely feel in 2012-13 with some major thuggery added in both Buffalo and Montreal.
Thuggery that Exelby is more than capable of handling.
In his last season of play in the NHL, coming back in 2009-10 when he suited up for 51 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Exelby was among the top 20 defensmen when it came to dropping the gloves, finishing the year with five fights. But beyond that stands a resume of a career headlined by 584 penalty minutes, and comes on the heels of a two-year American Hockey League stint that included a staggering 305 minutes in penalties (That's about half the length of the new Batman movie) in just 152 games.
Barring an additional signing (See: A Mike Mottau return or something of equal value) or youngster breakthrough such as Torey Krug, Tommy Cross, or somebody else from the farm, Exelby could very well begin the year as Boston's seventh defensemen.
But perhaps best of all for the Black-and-Gold when it comes to Exelby's contract is that he can (and will be) sent down to the Providence Bruins (AHL) without the threat of somebody nabbing him off waivers.
B's wrap up RFA signings with contracts for Bartkowski, MacDermid
In a minor bit of news, the Bruins wrapped up their restricted free agent business with one-year, two-way deals for defensemen Matt Bartkowski and forward Lane MacDermid.
Acquired by the Bruins in the deal that sent Dennis Seidenberg to Boston in exchange for an assortment of spare parts, the 24-year-old Bartkowski has had a more than minor, but nevertheless special role with the club. Along for the ride on Boston's road to the 2011 Stanley Cup, eventually lifting the Cup as one of Boston's 'black aces', the only time the Pittsburgh-born blue-liner hasn't found himself down in the 'A' has (mainly) been for games against, you guessed it, his hometown Penguins.
Skating in nine career contests, with zero points and a minus-3 rating over that cup of coffee in the show, three of Bartkowski's nine games have come against the Pens, while he's amassed 45 points in 119 games with the P-Bruins.
Up front, MacDermid comes back to don the Spoked-B (Or Spoked-P) for the fourth season, and may emerge as one of Boston's go-to players if an injury is to strike the fourth line this year. Impressing some by taking on a legit heavyweight in his first NHL game (video below) when he dropped the mitts with New York's Michael Rupp.
MacDermid comes back to Boston with five games of NHL experience, but has skated in 212 games for the P-Bruins in three seasons, tallying 13 goals, 25 assists, and sitting in the sin-bin for 434 penalty minutes.
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