After missing out on
Michael Ryder,
Brenden Morrow, and
Jarome Iginla, you had a feeling that it was going to take an army of Ray Shero's to make it four straight strikeouts for general manager
Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins. But without the Pens to swipe in at the last moment (You'd hope -- strike that, pray), Chiarelli's fourth deadline attempt to bolster a tired Boston roster came with a home run that's landed the legendary
Jaromir Jagr in town for two prospects and a draft pick.
This one, with all due respect to the Dallas Stars, is a steal for Boston.
The first and most well known piece of the Stars' return is forward
Lane MacDermid. Used primarily as the Bruins' extra skater in 2013, the 6-foot-3 forward will head to Dallas after a Boston career that lasted just eight games, recording zero points and tallying up 13 hits along with 15 penalty minutes. Your typical 'energy guy', the Connecticut-born forward simply had no room to grow with this Boston roster, especially when looking at the lack of open spots on the Bruins' bottom-six, with five of the six spots filled by guys signed 'til at least through the 2013-14 season.
Currently battling a minor injury that kept him out of practice today, the 23-year-old will head to Dallas' big league squad, where he'll by all means get the chance to play in an NHL game, something he hasn't done since Feb. 6 against the Montreal Canadiens.
The other tangible prospect heading the Stars' way is 2012 fifth rounder and current Plymouth Whaler,
Cody Payne. Selected with the 145th overall pick last summer, the 19-year-old Payne will join a budding Dallas prospect pool on the heels of a 24-goal, 45-point campaign with the Whalers.
And the final piece heading Dallas' way is a conditional draft pick based on how the Black-and-Gold fare in this year's playoffs. It'll stay a second rounder if Boston fails to advance beyond the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but becomes a first if the club reaches the Conference Finals and beyond.
At 41, there's no denying Jagr's legacy as one of the league's greatest players to ever lace up the skates, recently becoming the only European-born forward to record 1,000 assists, and it's no secret that 'Jags' can still play. At a fairly high level no less.
Tallying 14 goals and 26 points in 34 games this year, Jagr comes to Boston as a rental that'll likely skate with fellow Czech forward
David Krejci (A player that simply idolized Jagr growing up) on the Bruins' first line, and aim to bolster a B's power-play that's clicking at a mere 15.2% success rate, 25th in the league.
The Jagr talk, however, will have to cease just for a bit tonight as the B's play host to the Ottawa Senators for the fourth meeting between the two Northeast foes this year.
Beating the Sens in the previous three, needing more than 60 minutes to do it in two of those contests, the B's are appearing to give the nod to the 26-year-old
Anton Khudobin for the second straight game.
Stopping all 26 shots thrown his way in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Buffalo, Khudobin will take the crease for what will be his third career game against the Sens. The Kazakh backup has been as solid as can be in his previous two games against the Sens, boasting a 2-0-0 record and stopping all but two of the 73 shots he's faced. A winner in three of his last four, and putting the B's in another situation that ends with
Tuukka Rask watching from the bench, the Boston coaching staff won't tip their hand or even let the thought of a 'goaltending controversy' surface in this lockout-shortened season.
"I’m going to keep telling you guys what I’ve told you before, both goaltenders are going to get their fair share of games, and we have to moving forwarding here," Boston coach
Claude Julien said after the morning skate. "This month is not going to be any easier than March, so both guys are going to be utilized moving forward."
Ottawa will counter with
Robin Lehner for his first start since a 29-save victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning back on Mar. 23.
Lehner has started every Boston-Ottawa game this year, posting a lethal .945 save-percentage against the Black-and-Gold despite leaving the ice as a loser in all three contests, and while I said it last time around given his budding Boston domination, this one could be Lehner's night to do enough to steal two points.
But hey, what about that
Kaspars Daugavins guy the B's claimed from Ottawa last week?! Well, it appears that he's still held up and out of Boston with visa issues.
"I know he was supposed to meet people today because the Easter holiday is over, right? So, people are back at work, so he’s meeting this morning," Julien told reporters today, adding, "I’m not quite sure. We expect him today, whether it happens or not, I don’t know."
At this rate, we simply may never see him.
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