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On the heels of losing Jarome Iginla to a three-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche yesterday, the Boston Bruins made their first moves of the summer with the signings of defenseman Chris Breen and goaltender Jeremy Smith to one-year, two-way contracts with the club. Now, I know what you’re thinking here-- Let’s plan the parade, baby.
Given’s the Bruins’ current surplus of NHL caliber defensemen -- they have six signed to their NHL roster with restricted free agents Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski still without new contracts, though given qualifying offers this past weekend -- Breen’s signing certainly comes with more of a focus on the American Hockey League farm down in Providence.
Skating at 6-foot-7, the 25-year-old Breen made his NHL debut this past season, tallying two assists and five minutes in penalties in nine games with the Calgary Flames, but has spent most of his career with the Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. Breen’s recorded nine goals, 30 points, and 172 minutes in penalties in a combined 245 games in the AHL over the last five seasons.
Prior to his pro days, Breen spent his junior career between three different clubs in the Ontario Hockey League -- including the Saginaw Spirit, Erie Otters, and Peterborough Petes -- and was even a teammate of current B’s prospect Ryan Spooner during his time with the Petes.
If on the NHL squad, Breen would count for $600,000 against Boston’s cap.
But with eight defensemen slated to skate on the roster in 2014-15, and with Zach Trotman and David Warsofsky banging at the door for NHL jobs, it seems extremely unlikely that you’ll see Breen log anything more than an emergency call up with the B’s this year.
As for Smith, well, it’s more of what you just read about in regards to Breen.
A former second-round pick of the Nashville Predators, taken with the 54th overall pick in 2007, the 25-year-old Smith comes to the B’s organization after just one year with the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 38 games with the Falcons this past season, Smith won 21 contests, and posted an .898 save percentage and 2.78 goals against average. He’ll be the P-Bruins’ backup plan (pun intended), to the 20-year-old Malcolm Subban, whose expected to log No. 1 goaltender minutes in the minors with Niklas Svedberg making the hop to the NHL.
At the NHL level (God, you’d hope that’s not the case next season), Smith’s deal is worth $550,000.
If you’re a Bruins fan, these are the who-the-hell-cares signings you usually read about in August.
But in case you haven’t realized it by now, the Black-and-Gold are broke.
It’s going to be an absolute chore for the club to re-sign all their restricted free agents -- a list headlined by Krug and Reilly Smith -- let alone add outside talents at the current market prices. That’s why the Bruins haven’t made a move, and that’s exactly why they couldn’t land Radim Vrbata, though they were among the rumored finalists for the Czech winger’s services before he decided on a two-year, $10 million pact with the Vancouver Canucks.
Unless somebody wants to come to Boston for a million or less, it seems like the Bruins are only adding pieces to their NHL roster by way of a trade. That’s something that they’re aware of, too.
“We’ve been looking at a couple of things, couple of trades. I don’t know when or if they’ll come down. If you look back historically at us, we generally really haven’t delved deeply into this market other than it maybe being a trade market,… B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “Last year, we had Iggy. Year before was our own guys – [Tyler Seguin], [Milan] Lucic and [Brad] Marchand. The year before, [Benoit] Pouliot. So trades happen. Sometimes, they stretch longer than July 1. I’m in on a couple; I don’t know if they’ll happen, but we’ll keep pecking away at them.…
It’s an interesting discussion that opens up way too many options at this point in the summer. Could the B’s try yet again to bring Bobby Ryan to the Bruins? What about Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle? San Jose’s Patrick Marleau? Or maybe even one of the dozen forwards the New York Islanders, a team looking for defensive help, have on Long Island? It’s a toss up, really.
But if there’s a trade to be made, it’ll start with a member of the B’s blue line.
“We have nine [NHL defensemen], so I got to do something. I can do it now. I can do it during the summer. The very latest point is when we have to submit our roster, which is on the eve of [the season],… Chiarelli said of the B’s defensive situation. “You saw what prices were for defensemen. I’m happy with the D that we have. We have more than enough. I’ve had guys call me for our D from the moment we lost. They want our D. They’re coached well, they’ve developed well, so I’m pretty comfortable with that we have. [We have] to figure out the right formula; that’s what our jobs are.…
Another guy that’s on the block for the Bruins is former first-round pick Jordan Caron.
“I’ve gotten a couple calls from him today and I have talked to him about this. It may be that it is time for him to get a chance with another team,… said Chiarelli. “I do believe he can be a full time player. As I said at the draft, I’ve talked to a few teams about him and Jordan [Caron] wants to stay in Boston but he would welcome another opportunity also. So I will continue to explore those.…
Now, what Caron and a depth defenseman get you on the trade market remains to be seen at this point in time, but I’m fairly certain that it won’t be anything close to the value of a guy like Iginla.
What a headache.
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