Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
It would be a summer of change for the Boston Bruins. This proved to be especially true for the club’s pending unrestricted free agents. Third-line center
Carl Soderberg landed in Colorado, defenseman
Matt Bartkowski landed a one-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks, and fourth-line pivot
Gregory Campbell even earned a two-year deal with the Blue Jackets.
But of the B’s group of NHL level free agents (fringe NHLers David Warsofsky found work in Pittsburgh, and Justin Florek signed with the New York Islanders while Matt Lindblad signed with the New York Rangers), bottom-six winger
Danny Paille remains without an NHL contract.
It’s Aug. 18, too, which means that Paille’s chances of finding work via a legitimate, NHL contract and not a mere training camp invitation from a team have dipped considerably, you’d imagine.
For the 31-year-old winger, it’s the toughest of breaks, and a continuance of the bad luck that yielded him a disappointing six-goal, 13-point season for the Black and Gold in 2014-15. As you try to forget, it took Paille 21 games to score his first goal of the season for the B’s this past year, and that marker served as his only goal in the first 57 games of the season. His 13 points were the fewest he’d record in a season for the B’s since a 43-game 2010-11 season (Paille played in 71 games this year). And he also ended his season, with the Bruins clinging and chasing the playoffs, as a healthy scratch for the final nine games of the season. The year was a disaster in every way imaginable for the Welland, Ont. native.
In the right role, however, Paille has value to a club.
Despite his age, and 570 hard games at the NHL level (another 75 of the postseason play, too), Paille still has the wheels to make teams’ defense think twice about pinching to keep a puck in the attacking zone. The problem, as a six-year tenure that never No. 20 record more than 10 goals in a year in Boston will tell you, is his ability to finish. Steven Stamkos he is not. Hell, Mike Smith he is not.
If paired with the right centerman, I think Paille is still a capable penalty-killing specialist, and can and will serve as a jack-of-all-trades forward for any coach or team that was willing to bring him on. You just shouldn’t -- and can’t -- expect him to bury chances like a sniper or second-line talent would.
And though it’s an often overblown part of the equation, Paille would bring smarts and veteran know-how to any locker room he’d join. That could prove to be a big get for a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, or the Buffalo Sabres (a team that had a simply horrific penalty kill last season). It would also likely allow one of these teams to move him for an asset -- like, literally anything -- if he gets his groove back and bumps his offensive numbers and advanced metrics back up to par.
There has been interest in Paille’s services, however, and it’s just about finding that right fit.
Could the Bruins, who under Peter Chiarelli informed Paille that the club would not retaining him, be that club? Honestly, while it could and work make sense given Boston’s lack of experienced penalty-killers heading into this year, that seems like a no from Don Sweeney. The Bruins want to get quicker. Paille is quick. The Bruins also want to get younger. Paille, unfortunately is not younger.
And if they did invite him back to the club (and this is my speculation if it did happen, which it likely won’t), it’d be just that… an invite. For a player that won a Cup with so many of those teammates just four years ago, you can’t help but just cringe at the thought of that uncomfortable feeling for No. 20.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
Join the Discussion:
»