He may come with potential concussion problems and a dinged up shoulder, but there's really no way to express just how much the Bruins would have missed perennial playoff hero and Bruin-turned-Jacket Nathan Horton in 2013-14 and beyond if they were shutout in the early stages of this past weekend's free agent frenzy.

And for a little bit, it looked as if that'd be the case for the Black-and-Gold.

It began with the veteran Daniel Alfredsson, who narrowed his final three choices down to Ottawa, Detroit, and Boston, but ultimately left for the chance to win a Cup with the Swede-heavy Red Wings in Motown. Then the New Jersey Devils -- the Bruins' lone legitimate competition for the services of former three-year Bruin Michael Ryder -- came in and finalized a two-year pact with the Newfoundland-born sniper worth $7 million.

With some of more unrealistic options but options nevertheless off the board as well with Ryane Clowe's signing with New Jersey and David Clarkson's inking with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins' list of potential top-six wingers were dwindling. And fast. For a moment there, we were actually talking about a potential 'offseason splash' Boston signing of Los Angeles winger Dustin Penner. Eek.

Then perhaps the most unexpected of heroes came barging through B's general manager Peter Chiarelli's door-- or in this case, phone. The same guy that said no to the Bruins just three months earlier, the 35-year-old Jarome Iginla, realizing the Pens' tight cap situation, wanted to see what Boston was up to.

"When [Iginla's agent] Don Meehan called and it raised my eyebrows, I said 'Really?’ And I was excited," Chiarelli said of Iginla's inquiry as to Boston's situation. "Towards the end of the day, maybe around dinnertime, Meehan contacted me and said that Jarome would like to join your team. So we worked out terms of a contract and here we are."

For one year and for a potential six million dollars, the Bruins got their guy.

Inking a performance-based deal with the club -- with a base salary of $1.8 million, $3.7 million in performance bonuses, and $500,000 in playoff bonuses -- it was a deal with the intentions of showing Iginla what he missed out on last year when he opted to go to Pittsburgh (where he was quite successful) instead of join a tight-knitted Boston squad.

"It’s a performance based deal based on Jarome’s age. He’s over thirty five. It’s actually a very good gesture by Jarome [Iginla] similar to the one Mark Recchi made two years in a row that is a cap friendly deal. He will get the bulk of his compensation in performance bonuses, attainable performance bonuses," Chiarelli noted of Iginla's contract with the club. "Only if you exceed the cap cushion does an overage apply to next year. It was a 1.8 base as the release stated with 4.2 in performance bonuses. We’ve got a 4.8 allowance. We got a couple of smaller bonuses on other players.

"Jarome [Iginla] worked hard to get us into a deal that was friendly for us and would get him properly paid too. I give Jarome [Iginla] credit for that. We’ve acquired a player here who’s a terrific player. He’s a Hall of Fame player. We’ve lost some leadership when Andy Ference left and [Rich Peverley] and [Nathan Horton]," said Chiarelli. "We feel that Jarome [Iginla] is going to bring us some terrific leadership, terrific performance. He’s motivated. I don’t want to go through the events from the trade deadline, but I can tell you this. My opinion on him as a person and a player has not changed since then. We tried to get him then and we’re very happy to have him now. He’s a highly motivated, elite player and we look forward to him helping us win the Cup again."

Recording five goals and 11 points in 13 regular season contests with Pittsburgh in 2013, and adding four goals and 12 points in 15 playoff contests, the 6-foot-1 winger knew that Boston was a strong organization and an even better city to play in, even if he did choose the Pens over the B's the last time around.

"My family and I are very excited to be joining the Bruins organization. I’ve only heard great things from friends and stuff who’ve played there. Ference, [Chuck Kobasew], Recchi amongst many others about the city, the team and the group of players there," Iginla said in his opening statement as a Bruin. "I love the way they play. I know there’s going to be questions and stuff as far as choices and things like that, but they were always a team—not being in Calgary—that if I were to move I would want to play for. I know that sounds maybe a little bit different when at the deadline not going to Boston, but it was a tough decision and it wasn’t one I took lightly or easily. Boston and Pitt were the two out of thirty teams that I was actually down to."

Of course, there’s some noted differences in Iginla’s tone from three months ago, but when it came to his decision three months ago, it’s hard to argue the obvious points from the veteran winger when pressed about the 2013 NHL season’s version of “the Decision”.

“At the time (of the trade), Pittsburgh was really—they were rolling. They are two great organizations and they were just on a real roll. At the time, leaving at the deadline, I believed it was a great chance to win. We did make the final four. It was a great experience, a great organization. We would have liked to gone further, but we ran into the Bruins,” Iginla admitted, adding, “But this time around it was looking at it and I wasn’t sure if there was going to be an opportunity. I wasn’t sure how Peter [Chiarelli] felt or the Bruins felt about possibly having me. I did ask my agent to explore it. I’m thrilled that it was a chance.”

And at the end of the day, both Iginla and the Bruins knew what they had here -- the best option.

In a light market on the wing, and particularly once the names started flying off the board, the Bruins knew that their chances of adding an elite talent without trading assets were dwindling, and with dollars being thrown around, Iginla knew that his options for bona fide Cup contenders with openings for him were dwindling. And like businessmen do, they worked out a deal that benefited both parties.

But for Boston, the benefits of having Iginla are just beginning.

He’s another year older, yes, but if there’s one thing you can say about the 16-year pro, it’s that he’s still capable of performing on a team’s top-six at a level that’s more than adequate. While the Bruins did make him look ghostly in their four-game sweep of the Pens in the Eastern Conference Final, Iginla was a noticeable presence in the previous two rounds, with the aforementioned 12 points in 11 games, and on the heels of a year where he recorded 14 goals and 33 points in 44 games. It’s also worth noting that these figures came despite a post-lockout start that saw No. 12 pot just one goal in his first 16 games of the year. It was ‘average’ by his standards, and motivation for 2013-14.

“As you get older, once you have one people start thinking how much is left in the tank. I still feel great. If you look over my career, I’ve had some average years and I think I’m going to bounce back,” the Edmonton-born forward said of his role moving forward. “I expect to produce and be good for the Bruins and help contribute to a great regular season and be a contending team. The goal is to win and all that, but it’s the whole process too and you can't obviously tell who’s going to win at the start. But I think the Bruins year in, year out are a very, very competitive, hard team to play against. And I think I can be a part of that and be very effective still. And I don't expect a lot less, if that answers your question. I expect to be very good this year.”

Expected to slide into the Bruins’ top line, skating on the opposition wing of Milan Lucic and centered by David Krejci, Iginla’s long awaited introduction to the Spoked-B gives the redesigned right-side of the B’s forward core a new-look -- an insanely dangerous one at that.

“In my mind, Iginla’s an elite, offensive player who’s a warrior. Anytime you can get someone like that, you go after it. His style of play fits in with our team,” Chiarelli noted of a player that’s scored over 500 goals at the NHL level. “He’s a very motivated individual player. You look at all those things when you’re building a team and one of the things that we discussed with Jarome’s group is the future beyond this year and we would hope there is one, but this gives Jarome [Iginla] a chance to look at our organization and play with us and see how successful we’ll be.”

Capable of playing the point on the power-play or anywhere else for that matter -- a spot now vacant due to the Tyler Seguin trade -- the signing of Iginla to a cap-friendly $1.8 million hit in 2013-14 gives the Bruins the potential to add pieces (a scary thought at this point, really), while finalizing a new deal for the 26-year-old Tuukka Rask.

Imagine saying this after it all: Iginla's helping the Bruins out in more ways than one.

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