The Boston Bruins were an opposing general manager ‘yes’ away from trading
Tyler Seguin (and
Rich Peverley as well) for cap relief and/or a warranted shake-up last weekend.
But when top-line winger
Nathan Horton said ‘see ya’ to the Black-and-Gold for the quieter pastures of (insert different NHL team here), it seemed as if the playoffs’ underachievers were saved. Then, with everyone out enjoying the sun on a hot Fourth of July in the Hub, B’s general manager
Peter Chiarelli set off a firework greater than any finale thrown in the sky above the Esplanade: Seguin, Peverley, and prospect
Ryan Button are heading to the Dallas Stars in exchange for
Loui Eriksson, defensive prospect and former first round pick
Joe Morrow, and minor league forwards
Reilly Smith and
Matt Fraser.
Whoa, and you thought those fireworks you bought in New Hampshire were cool.
Amazingly, just like that, the Seguin Era of Bruins Hockey was done. Finished. After 203 regular season games, and with 56 goals and 121 points over that stretch, the Black-and-Gold wiped their hands clean of the 21-year-old just months before the start of a six-year extension that comes with a $5.75 million cap-hit for the former second overall pick. Like I said -- just like
that.
It’s crazy, isn’t it? Well, yeah, but then you look at how the past six days or so have played out for No. 19 in terms of trade rumors, public call-outs, and everything in between.
When it came to the B’s and Seguin, it became painfully clear that something was up.
Chiarelli was certainly not a thrilled man when pressed about Seguin’s involvement in trade rumors throughout draft weekend, and what I found telling was that he didn’t turn to his usual semi-diplomatic ‘I’m not talking about specific players’ cop-out, but instead straight-up called the Brampton, Ont. native out for his recent troublesome behavior.
Shots were undeniably fired.
“He’s gotta commit his mind, and focus on the one task at hand. He’s gotta become more of a professional,” Chiarelli said of Seguin, who scored just one goal in 22 postseason games this past spring. “He’s gotta commit to being a professional and focusing on the game. It’s as simple as that.”
What did we learn from that? Seguin, while seemingly surviving a trade to say Calgary or even Tampa Bay, was not untouchable. Despite his initial status as a key piece of the Bruins’ success not only in the now but also for the next decade (at least), the Bruins’ brass were not pleased, and in a tight cap-world, if the right deal was there for Bruins at the expense of Seguin, it was going to be made.
Entering his fourth year in the NHL, and fourth with Boston, the Bruins simply (and quite literally) couldn’t afford to babysit Seguin any longer. With a soon-to-be 37-year-old captain in
Zdeno Chara, goaltender set to enter his prime, and core in place right now, the Bruins’ time is -- well -- right now. At the heart of it all, the Bruins couldn’t have Seguin, who has just four goals in his last 40 playoff games, continue to be an immature passenger seemingly more interested in the lifestyle that comes with being a superstar on the Black-and-Gold’s top-six rather than just
be a superstar for them.
Concerns acknowledged, this isn’t to suggest that Seguin being a 21-year-old professional hockey player in a city with a plethora of “extracurricular activities” for college-aged residents is the sole reason behind this move from Chiarelli and company. It played a part in the decision-making process, and the B’s will be the first ones to tell you that all personnel decisions are based on factors beyond on-ice performance, but it’s not the driving force behind this seven-player deal.
Seguin, as you certainly know by now, is a natural center. As you also know by now, there’s just no room for him to be just that in Boston. Seemingly stuck with Boston due to the Edmonton Oilers taking winger
Taylor Hall with the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 (the Bruins were never taking anyone besides Hall or Seguin -- it really all just depended on who Edmonton took barring a draft-day trade with the Oil for the No. 1 pick), Seguin was by all means forced to convert to the wing from the beginning with
David Krejci,
Patrice Bergeron, and (at the time)
Marc Savard giving the club an elite top-three down the middle. And even when Savard unfortunately went down with concussion woes, the addition of
Chris Kelly and fourth line stalwart
Gregory Campbell set Seguin up to be a winger for the long haul.
At least in Boston, anyways.
For Seguin, playing the wing worked, yes, with the talented forward potting 45 goals in 129 games since the start of the 2011-12 season (when he became a full-time winger on the B’s roster), but it’s just not where he wanted to be. Of course, you could make the case that he didn’t have the tenacity to be an NHL center at this point in time -- never finishing a season with a faceoff-percentage over 50% since coming to Boston (his best mark coming with a 49.5% in 2010-11) -- but it’s where his game was meant to be played. He was the best center of the 2010 draft class, and it’s where he played when Central Hockey Scouting named him the best prospect in the game of hockey.
On a Boston note, Seguin’s aforementioned misplaced skill-set in a summer of a projected bump up to the top line certainly came into play when looking at the Bruins’ woeful depth on the right side given the inevitable departure of Horton in addition to the likely sayonara heading
Jaromir Jagr’s way, making this an easy case of where potential
natural upgrades could be made. The club’s desire for an upgrade was only expected, especially with Wednesday coming and going with Chiarelli noting that the Bruins’ opening night right wing core could’ve consisted of Seguin (a natural center), Peverley (a natural center),
Jordan Caron (a left winger), and NHL virgin
Jared Knight if they were shutout on both the free agent and trade market.
In short, the Bruins needed what video games would call an ‘optimal trading partner’.
Insert the wing-heavy Stars -- especially with Eriksson on the table -- and here we are.
“[Seguin]’s probably better suited for center,” Chiarelli admitted. “He was very good for us as a winger. I think you’ll see him playing center in Dallas. At least that’s what [Stars GM] Jim Nill said. Dallas needed some centermen. [The trade] allowed them to move [Jamie Benn] back to the wing.”
In a swap that essentially equates out to Eriksson’s valuable $4.25 million cap-hit bringing more bang-for-buck than Seguin’s near six-million tag in 2013-14, the inclusion of the 30-year-old Peverley was a tough move, but an expected one for a cap-crunching Chiarelli set on tweaking a B’s core that -- while still formidable -- battles complacency far too much for any GM’s comfort.
“This move allows us some cap relief because Rich Peverley (makes $3.25 million per year). A good two way player, I had informed him at the exit meetings that we are probably going to have to move him so we worked him and his agent to find a spot,” said Chiarelli of the trade process featuring the undrafted forward from Guelph, Ont.. “So these are two centermen that are going to help Dallas’ team. So, but what I was saying earlier about talking to these two guys that helped you win a Cup it’s a tough conversation to tell them that they’re traded. Tough conversation with Rich to tell him that we were going to trade him. These are moves that are predicated on being a successful franchise going forward and making the moves in a timely manner so that you can capitalize the market as it stands.”
Entering the day tight against the cap and without
Tuukka Rask officially signed yet, the Bruins essentially swapped an inconsistent combination of $9 million out of town for a bonafide top-six winger that makes just $4.25 million for the next three seasons (he’s signed ‘til 2016), and one that at 27 years old, could be set to enter the prime of career.
“[Eriksson]’s a good two-way player. Knows where to find the spots to score. Has a good shot, good release from either side. Can play on the PP [power play]. Probably better suited off the post. Down low, which I’d like to get some left shot skill too, which makes him even more attractive,” Chiarelli said of the Swedish forward. “He can play the right side, and he has left shot skill. He spreads out your power play. He’s fast and a good two-way player. There’s a lot of his game that fits into how we play.”
Bringing left-handed skill to the Bruins’ man-advantage -- something lost if the 41-year-old Jagr doesn’t return to Boston -- it doesn’t hurt that Eriksson’s bringing a reliable, durable game to town.
In seven NHL seasons, and in five years as a full-time NHLer, the former 33rd overall pick from the ‘03 has missed just three games (two games with a head injury and one with the flu in 2010-11), all while averaging a goal every 2.86 games and totaling 130 goals and 307 points in 373 games.
But this trade means more than that. And oh boy, is that an understatement. For starters, it instills the idea that nobody’s bulletproof: You can sell jerseys, or be popular among the locals, but if you’re not living up to the contract you’re given, then you’re out. And while Chiarelli re-establishing himself as the club’s no-nonsense general manager bodes well for the overall performance of the “Jekyll and Hyde” Bruins, where the major benefits come for the Black-and-Gold comes from the financial department, as this is a trade that gives the Bruins much needed cap-room to take care of business.
Leaving the Bruins with enough room to finalize their goaltending core with an expected eight-year deal with the 26-year-old Rask that’ll come with a $7 million cap-hit and call-up of
Niklas Svedberg and his $1 million contract, the inevitable placement of Savard (post concussion symptoms) and his $4+ million cap-hit leaves the Bruins with about $4 to $4.5 million to spend on a top-six winger to join the club.
But is it enough?
Well, probably not for somebody like New Jersey’s
David Clarkson or Horton, who will both seek contracts for well over that, but if the
Danny Briere contract with the Montreal Canadiens is any prelude to the contracts expected to go out to the market’s more experience wingers, it’ll be interesting to see if Chiarelli and the B’s can
actually lure somebody to town. For the veteran-loving Bruins, the first names that’ll pop up are of course
Daniel Alfredsson, who has reportedly narrowed his choices down to Boston, Detroit, or Ottawa, and is coming off yet another successful-but-Cupless year in Sens’ red.
“I’ve spoken to [Alfredsson]’s agent again today and will continue to have some dialogue,” Chiarelli said, clearly gushing over the thought of adding the career-long Senator, adding, “He’s a veteran, he’s a terrific leader, he’s a terrific players and he does anything to win. He’s strong on the puck, he’s got a terrific shot, he has a lot of good things about him.”
Or perhaps the Bruins could take another look at the 35-year-old
Jarome Iginla (currently appearing on the outs in Pittsburgh), who could theoretically finally come to Boston after ‘snubbing’ the Bruins at the deadline this past March with his other preferred suitors having other issues to solve before leaping into the wild, swift-moving free agent market.
Going from broke to signing-capable in a matter of hours, what really happens today is just anybody’s guess. What we know though, is that the Bruins
are going to use that money, but where it goes and how much of it goes to any of the players mentioned isn’t something we’ll know before the free agency period opens at 12 p.m. today at the very least.
“We’ll go into the market, the free agent market, the trade market, we’ve got some space, we’ve got some players to match that we can still move around so I’m not done,” Chiarelli confirmed.
Immediate future aside, just how does this trade read for the Bruins, or for the Stars for that matter? Oddly enough, with the names and unknowns heading each way, this is a rare trade where each fan base can say “We won this trade!” and not be wrong.
In Boston, the Bruins got a top-sixer that fits their style a bit stronger than Seguin
and a solid defensive prospect in Morrow (who’ll provide healthy competition to
Torey Krug and
Matt Bartkowski at this year’s camp),
and a player that’s scored 90 goals and 121 points in 135 AHL games in Fraser. In the Big D, the Stars get the young center they’ve longed for, and one that with proper guidance, will turn out to be a point-per-game player in this league and mature in a more relaxed hockey market where he’s able to turn to former iconic pros such as
Mike Modano,
Marty Turco, and former mentor
Mark Recchi.
But in a city famous for its taunting of ex-talents, especially ones that leave on iffy terms or on the heels of immediate disappointment, is Seguin bound to hear Toronto-esque chants of “Thank You, Seguin!” when he and the Stars come to Boston in 2013 and beyond?
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