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Welcome to another edition of the Hockeybuzz hotstove.
With news that Zdeno Chara will miss at least the next 4-6 weeks with a knee ligament tear, it's gone from bad to worse for a Bruins team off to a slow start.
Dennis Seidenberg has struggled coming back from injury, and the team recently traded Johnny Boychuk, so with Chara out of the lineup their defense went from very good to highly mediocre.
They'll need to rely a lot on Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug regardless, but in today's edition the hotstove discusses whether the Bruins should look for help or tough it out, and who they may target if they decide to get help.
Todd Cordell
I think the Bruins would be smart to ask the Devils about Adam Larsson. With the emergence of Damon Severson, Jon Merrill and Eric Gelinas, Larsson has found himself as the odd man out in all but one game this season, and he played limited minutes in that game.
It seems the Devils don't have much confidence in Larsson, and he doesn't seem to be too confident himself, so a change of scenery could really benefit him.
The Devils have Pete Harrold, who has a lot of NHL experience, playing in Albany and they like him, so he could be recalled as the 7th defensemen should Larsson be moved.
Boston has a lot of games coming up and they're tight for cap, so Larsson and his $900K cap hit could be an easy fit.
He'd fill a need now, is under club control at year's end (RFA) and still has plenty of potential so he seems like a guy worth investing in.
Boston recently acquired a couple 2nds from the Islanders in exchange for Boychuk, and I'm not sure it'd even take both to pry Larsson from New Jersey.
Adam French
Make a move for Andrej Sekera.
There really isn't a player you can get on short notice or even long that can bring what Chara does. It's impossible to replace him and the loss of Boychuk is really noticeable. They had to play McQuaid for 22 minutes and Krug around the same despite almost no PP time, that is a recipe for disaster. Hell even with PK time McQuaid shouldn't hit past 18 in my opinion. The move I propose won't fix there problem, but might stem what could be a major blood flow.
Carolina is garbage, hot steaming garbage without both Staal's. Even with both back they are dreadful. There is no way this team is competing for a playoff spot, they would do well to enter fully into the McEichel-Hanifin race when they can. An easy way to do that is get rid of Sekera who (sadly) might be their best defenseman. With just one year left on his 2.75mil deal, Sekera fits under the Bruins cap situation without having to move salary or even put Chara on LTIR.
What would it cost? I would expect less than Boychuk to be honest...and they did just pick up those second rounders.
2nd round (2015 Philly*) and prospect Matt Fraser
Matt Fraser is on the bubble of a deep Bruins forward core going forward with guys like Khoko and Griffith pressing in, he could be enticing and has been one of the biggest goal scoring threats in the AHL. Seems like a fair "deadline" style of deal that we see every year.
Ryan Wilson
I don't think the Bruins can really do anything about their situation until they legitimately know how long Chara will be out for. LTIR only gives the team cap relief for the time period that the player is out for. When Chara comes back, so does his cap hit.
The Bruins are in cap hell and part of being in cap hell is struggling when injuries hit. Welcome to what the Penguins have gone through the past few seasons.
The Bruins have had a rough couple of months on the roster front. This current product is not a top team in the East anymore. Even with a healthy Chara they took a minor step back from the team that they were.
The salary cap is a son of a female dog when you have to finally pay all of your players.
Chicago will be the next team to navigate these same muddy waters.
Tim Chiasson
I think the Bruins need to test the water and see what the price is for available defenders. The Bruins will still be competitive and four-to-six weeks isn't the end of the world but if you can bring in a player that will help your team for short term and long term they have to at least entertain it.
Chara isn't getting any younger so there is increased risk that this is the start of the end for the big defender. The Bruins shouldn't sell their souls to replace him for a month, though. On the other hand this injury is going to highlight defensive issues when combined with the loss of Boychuk and should kick-start an assessment of personnel on the roster.
It's difficult to add a player to replace Chara's minutes and situations so I don't think they should jump the gun immediately unless the price is right, but I think acquiring a defender should definitely be looked into for Boston.
Michael Stuart
Johnny Boychuk? The wound might be too fresh for that sort of joke to get any laughs.
Losing Chara hurts. And it hurts in a big way. TSN’s Aaron Ward is reporting that he will be held out for four to six weeks, at which point the team will evaluate his need for surgery. Even so, I’m not sure the Bruins have to go out and acquire a defender to replace him at this point in time.
Between now and the end of November, the Bruins will play 15 games. That’s a fairly big chunk of their schedule to be played without Chara. The kicker here, however, is that only 6 (!) of those games will be played against teams that made the playoffs in 2013-14. The Bruins will see the Maple Leafs (x2), the Sabres, the Oilers, the Jets, and the Panthers, among others. It’s not a particularly grinding schedule.
Given this, I’d argue that the Bruins should stand pat for now. Even without Chara, the Bruins are still very dangerous. Don’t let their 4-5-0 record fool you; the Bruins, with Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask leading the way, are every bit as good as the other top Eastern Conference teams. Should Chara need surgery after being evaluated in about a month, Boston may have to explore the trade route. Right now, though, they should stay the course.
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What do you think the Bruins should do? As always, we'd have to hear your thoughts.
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