Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 3

What happened to the defensively minded Bruins? You know, that team that struggled to score goals, but were at the top of the NHL in goals allowed and penalty killing? I miss those guys.

The B's have allowed 22 goals in their last 4 games. And in the last 5 games, they've allowed 9 power play goals, in 22 attempts (a 59.1% kill rate). They're PK unit has plummeted to 14th in the NHL and 10th in the East.

And that's just the first problem this team's been having. They don't care for the puck. Last night, they tried so many low-percentage passes, trying to sneak it past Toronto's players, as if they didn't realize they were playing against another team.

The defensemen haven't been playing their best. We saw Grabovski score the game-winner when he was by himself against both Seidenberg and Ference. How does that happen? Chara helped Toronto score earlier when he tripped Tim Thomas. Missed assignments, lack of communication, lack of physicality, these problems have plagued the blue-liners for about a week now.

Either Fraud Julien isn't the defensive genius we once thought he was, or his soldiers have stopped listening.

And the power play unit, which scored another breakaway goal, needs to adjust its philosophy once they've entered the offensive zone. As it is, Chara and Recchi camp out on the blue-line, Krejci by the halfwall, Lucic and someone else in the slot. Then they hover in their little territories. There's no movement, no bodies cycling around, causing disruption and confusion, or at least getting open for a pass. On a power play, Zdeno Chara should not be moving around more than the forwards.

Then there's guys like Blake Wheeler. What does he contribute?

Then there's guys like Daniel Paille. He does his job as a role-player, but the ratio of role-player to playmaker on this team is way off balance.

David Krejci simply isn't a top line center. You have to be able to score in order to be on of those. And to score, you have to be able to shoot. He's on pace to finish the season with 12 goals and 56 points. That's simply not good enough.

Maybe Lucic-Bergeron-Marchand for a top line? Recchi-Krejci-Ryder for the 2nd? Wheeler-Seguin-Horton on the slump line. Thinking about this, should the Bruins get a puck moving defensemen with forwards like these? To me, if they can't get a decent enough forward to supplement this group, then they should keep Toronto's pick and hope to build for 2011-12. Because one more defenseman won't turn David Krejci into a 30 goal scorer, nor will it give Blake Wheeler a purpose.

Bruins at Islanders Thursday night.

-The Commodore

Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 0

After Tyler Seguin netted his first goal on home ice, the Garden crowd chanted "Thank You, Kessel" over and over again. While I laughed and thought it was a quality chant, the fans probably should have been thanking Tim Thomas. Or maybe they should have thanked all the other NHL teams that didn't want him this off-season.

Thomas became the first Bruin goalie since Tiny Thompson to start a season with 5 straight wins. Tiny started the 1938-39 campaign with a 6-0 run. If not for a really stupid decision with the puck last week, Thomas would have 3 shutouts already.



Thomas only had to stop 20 shots, a credit to the Bruins' defensemen and forwards, who harassed the Leafs in the neutral zone for most of the game. But Thomas made solid positional saves, two or three of the acrobatic variety, and most importantly his puck handling was, shall we say, more traditional.

On the other side of things, the Bruins played excellent special teams hockey. They scored a power play goal, killed 5 penalties, and were very close to some shorthanded goals. If this team kills penalties as well as they did last year, but adds some consistency to the power play, they can become very dangerous in a playoff series.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg both had sensational games in all three zones. Chara assisted on Bergeron's goal (the 100th of his career), and it was Seidenberg who set-up Seguin. Nathan Horton's point streak ended, but he did boost his season penalty minutes total from 0 to 15 with just a few punches.



Horton got a 10 minute misconduct for punching Phaneuf AFTER this picture. These refs weren't my favorites.

Blake Wheeler continues to be useless. He made one or two decent plays, but then caught Dennis Wideman Disease (DWD) and made some really awful ones too. Andrew Ference had a similar night. Adam McQuaid was very solid filling in for Boychuk. He made one glaring mistake, but also nipped it in the bud very quickly. Mark Stuart was physical and played a very sound game.



The Bruins have started a stretch of divisional games the right way. They travel to Ottawa on Saturday, then Buffalo next Tuesday. Then it's Washington again? Yes it is. Great job, NHL. The Bruins will play Washington three times in a 17 day span. Then once more for the remaining 156 days of the season.

Anyway, Bruins at the 4-5-1 Senators Saturday night.

-The Commodore

Bruins Didn't Do Shit!

The Bruins were one of the best teams in the NHL last year. This year is a different story. After trading away Kessel, and Kobasew, not to mention losing Aaron Ward the Bruins lack offense. They haven't looked right all season. Yet, there was hope.

Hope that they would make a deal and bring in a big time forward, or at the very least a veteran who could provide some kind of scoring punch. Instead, the Bruins did shit, except pick up a defenseman who is really no better then Morris (who is now gone).

Listen, I get the Kessel trade. I really do. You can't pass up 2 1st rounds, and 1 2nd round draft pick, and the Bruins are in place to get a top 3 pick. Still, this is a team that was so close to making a Stanley Cup push last year, and now we are back to playing the waiting game.

It is not just the GM's fault, because guys like Krejci, and Ryder just haven't been the same players. Yet, I still will never understand why the Bruins gave away a 20+ goal scorer (Kobasew) for basically nothing. I am not saying the season would have been much different, but when you trade away 35+ goals (Kessel) you would think that you would want to keep the rest of your offense in tact.

Bruins 5, Leafs 2

Remember that hubris I alluded to a few days ago? That overconfidence the Bruins sometimes get when they get a 3 goal lead, or they sweep the Canadiens? We saw a bit of that last night. The good news is, they woke up just before it was too late to wake up.

How valuable has Mark Recchi been to this team since coming here from the Lightning? In 48 games wearing Black & Gold, he's scored 17 goals. Not bad for a guy who we all thought would only contribute experience to the Bruins' playoff equation.

It looks like Rask is the #1 goalie for right now. Thomas wasn't awful in that 7-2 loss in Montreal, but some injury problems and perhaps a bit of stress from performing perfectly with nothing but losses to show for it; seem to have caught up with him. Plus, Rask is the hot hand. His GAA in 12 games is 1.98, and his SV% is .931. You don't pull a goalie when they're performing like he is.

And don't worry about Thomas, either. This isn't the first time he's been pushed aside, although this is still temporary. And Thomas won the Vezina last year after only appearing in 54 games.

The Bruins have won 7 of 9, so I get to include a pic of Jeri Ryan, a.k.a. Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.



Bruins @ Islanders Saturday night.

-The Commodore

Bruins Send Kessel to Toronto

It's finally happened. The Bruins and Maple Leafs agreed to the terms late Friday night. The Leafs got Phil Kessel, the Bruins received a pair of 1st round draft picks, as well as a 2nd rounder. Almost immediately after the deal was announced, the Leafs declared that Kessel's services had been secured for 5 additional seasons and for a price of $27 million.

I'll give credit to Phil and his agent, who I doubted in a previous post. They got precisely what they wanted. And I can't blame them. They wanted a big contract RIGHT NOW and they got it. So what if they kept their former team and former fans in limbo for months, and so what if they cost their new team some premium picks. Phil and his agent treated this situation just like he treats a breakaway on the ice. All they wanted to do was score, and they certainly did that.

As a Bruins fan, this is hardly something to celebrate. You don't run your leading scorer out of town, then have a parade when he's gone. And Toronto wouldn't be my first choice of teams for Kessel to wind up with. Nashville would have been better.

You don't celebrate, but we as fans shouldn't mourn, either. Any Bruins fan out there that thinks Kessel was worth $27M is probably also wearing an Adam Vinatieri jersey with a Nomar Garciaparra t-shirt underneath it. As good as Kessel was, and as great as he someday might be, that amount of cap commitment is simply unfeasible for the Bruins. Perhaps a one year, $5 million deal would have worked, but that's not what Kessel wanted.



I think it was the length of the deal that kept Kessel and the Bruins apart. After this season, Marc Savard's an unrestricted free agent. Milan Lucic is a restricted one. Do you think a team or two might send offer sheets to Lucic? And then there's the uncertainty in the NHL salary cap. So long as the Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, and Atlanta Thrashers of the world continue to bring in subpar revenues, the Bruins, Rangers, and Red Wings of the world will have to shed talent.

And here's what this came down to: Phil Kessel got what he wanted. So did the Maple Leafs. But Toronto's benefit is simply a byproduct of Kessel's desires. The perturbed and almost always emotionally unstable Bruins fan will bemoan Jeremy "Scrooge" Jacobs. But this wasn't JUST about the money. It was about the cap.



"Where will those 36 goals come from?" Has been the refrain of WEEI's Pete Shepherd this week. Well, here's my answer:

9 of those goals came against the Islanders and Lightning, the two worst teams in the NHL. The Bruins will win those games again by multiple goal margins, so Kessel's 9 scores won't be missed.



15 more of those goals came against other non-playoff teams. Once again, the Bruins will find goals in these games without the great Phil Kessel.

Then there's those 8 goals against playoff teams. 8 goals. In 34 games.

I'll tell you exactly where these 8 goals will come from. Patrice Bergeron. Byron Bitz. Milan Lucic. Marco Sturm. Mark Rechhi, and so on. Even with the loss of Phil Kessel, the Bruins have almost unparalleled depth at forward. And they're going to win a lot of games without Kessel.

-The Commodore

Kessel Trade "Imminent"

Last night the Bruins were up in Toronto for a preseason game against the Maple Leafs. The GMs of both teams reportedly met for "about an hour" before the game. The major topic of discussion: Phil Kessel. The Leafs might be offering a package that includes a pair of 1st round draft picks. The Nashville Predators have also publicly expressed interest in Kessel.

I'd rather the Bruins send Kessel to Nashville and the Western Conference. You never want to trade a player within your own Conference, let alone your own Division. Just imagine if Joe Thornton were playing for the Senators instead of the Sharks.

The B's will be criticized if they make this move, but what choice do they have? Sacrifice their depth at forward to hang on to one player, who's fairly one-dimensional and has yet to PROVE he's a big-time scorer? I don't think so.

-The Commodore

Another Kessel Rumor

Seems like there is 1 everyday...

"If the Maple Leafs signed Phil Kessel to an offer sheet and the Bruins didn't match it, they'd owe Boston a first, second and third round pick in compensation. But Boston has said it would match any offer sheet, so Leafs GM Brian Burke is rumored to be offering more. The Toronto Sun reports Burke will likely pony up an extra first round pick -- in addition to a first, second and third -- for the 21-year-old restricted free agent. These talks are heating up because Kessel said he's done negotiating with the Bruins, the Boston Globe reports (ESPN)."


So there are three scenarios left:
1) He'll be traded
2) he'll be signed to an offer sheet by another team and the Bruins will or won't match it or...
3) he'll play for the qualifying offer the Bruins gave him earlier this summer.


Any of these scenarios I am fine with. If another team signs him the Bruins get draft picks. A trade we would probably get some kind of player and a pick or two, and the last (and the one I want to happen) he comes back for 1 more year. my guess, which hasn't changed from the beginning, is that he will play for peanuts this year, and then bolt at the end of the season. We will see though...

Latest On Phil Kessel Rumors (UPDATED)

"Toronto GM Brian Burke and Boston GM Peter Chiarelli, both of whom will be in attendance here at rookie camp on Monday, reported no developments on the Phil Kessel front. Burke made a deal on Saturday to reacquire a second-round draft pick, triggering alarms that he might be readying an offer sheet for Kessel, a restricted free agent.

''Nothing...yet,'' Chiarelli wrote via email when asked if there were any news pertaining to the 21-year-old Kessel (Boston.com)."

It doesn't sounds like a lot of new here, but if you read between the lines there might be. If Toronto offers Kessel an offer sheet the Bruins are not going to be able to match, BUT with Toronto gaining that 2nd round pick it could mean that they are ready to do so, and the Bruins will get a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft pick. Not bad for a guy they have very little shot at bringing back. We'll keep you posted..


***UPDATE***

According to ESPN the Bruins have annoucned they will match any offer. I don't know how they could do that, but that is what they are reporting....

Another Phil Kessel Update

Seems like the Sharks are not going to walk away from this...

"The Sharks are still interested in Phil Kessel, and it appears they may submit an offer sheet for the restricted free agent, Slam Sports reports. The Boston Bruins don't have the cap space to sign the restricted free agent because the 21-year-old center is demanding $5 million. For the Bruins to sign Kessel, they would have to dismantle their roster to stay under the cap. So if the Sharks sign Kessel, they would likely not match the offer sheet (ESPN)."

I really thought Kessel would be back, but if the Sharks offer him an offer sheet i don't see how the Bruins could match it. I like Kessel a lot, but he is not worth $5 million at this time. A lot of his points are against bad teams, and there have been a lot of stats that really question how good he is. We'll keep ya posted, but it seems his days in Boston could be over...

Kessel To Sharks?

"We wrote earlier that three teams, including the Rangers, are interested in Phil Kessel. Another team interested might be the Sharks, Canwest News Services reports. The Boston Bruins don't have the cap space to sign the restricted free agent because the 21-year-old center is demanding $5 million. For the Bruins to sign Kessel, they would have to dismantle their roster to stay under the cap. As for the Rangers, But the talks have died down with the Bruins (ESPN)."

Sounds like ESPN is really reaching here. I don't really believe any of this. If a team wanted to trade for Kessel they would have already done it, or they will wait till he proves he is healthy. I expect Kessel to eventually cave and sign a 1 year deal with the Bruins.

Phil Kessel Update

"Trade talks surrounding Phil Kessel are heating up. The Boston Bruins don't have the cap space to sign the restricted free agent because the 21-year-old center is demanding $5 million. For the Bruins to sign Kessel, they would have to dismantle their roster to stay under the cap. At least three teams, including the New York Rangers, are rumored to be interested (ESPN)."

I would Kessel to be back on the Bruins, and for some reason I still think he will be, but for that to happen the Bruins are going to have to make a trade, or Kessel is going to have to back down. My guess is that Kessel backs down and signs a 1 year deal, and then try his luck again next offseason. We'll keep ya posted...

The Latest On Phil Kessel

"Phil Kessel has no leverage. The 22-year-old is still unsigned, but he has no arbitration rights and, if he doesn't sign by Dec. 1, he can't play the 2009-10 season, which means another year of leverage-less negotiations. Right now, negotiations are at a stand still.

So what can Kessel do?

Go Dany Heatley on the Bruins and demand a trade, the Boston Globe writes. It's the only way he gets leverage but, of course, the Heatley case proves this can be risky, too. The Globe predicts he is being offered no more than David Krejci -- something in the range of three years at $3.75 million per. So another option would be to trudge through this season on a qualifying contract and become a free agent next season (ESPN)."

Basically.....he is coming back. He doesn't have a choice. I would assume all of this is pissing him off, but he has no leverage at all. My guess is that he'll just sign a qualifying contract and become a free agent next season. With him on the team I really think the Bruins are once again going to be atop the Eastern Conference, and with the way this team is setup I think they could be a lot more deadly in the playoffs...

Chiarelli Wants To Keep Kessel

Intesting couple of quotes from Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli...

“We are at a point where (salary) cap-wise we are coming close to the end so there has to be some shuffling. I’m not adverse to that and we still have another player to sign in Phil Kessel [stats]. Summer is not done yet.”

Chiarelli believes he has enough wiggle room under the $56.8 million salary cap to get Kessel onboard.

“I like where we are because we have for the most part our team in place,” he said. “Cap-wise we are getting up there, but certainly Phil is a player that if there comes a point where we have to make a move to get him in the mix I will certainly do that (Boston Herald).”

This is the first time this offseason that the Bruins have shown any interesting in bringing Kessel back next season. If Chiarelli thinks he can get this done then I believe him. Like I said in the past couple of Bruins' posts there is not a big market left for Kessel, so the Bruins might be able to get him to lower his asking price...

Could This Be Why The Bruins Don't Want Kessel?

Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe wrote a great article today breaking down Kessel's production for the Bruins. The way he did it was by looking up who Kessel scored his goals against, then broke down the percentage against "playoff teams". Here is how Kessel did...

1. Loui Eriksson, 63.9 percent
2. Dany Heatley, 61.5
3. Patrick Marleau, 55.3
4. Rick Nash, 55
5. Zach Parise, 51.1
6. Thomas Vanek, 50
7. Ilya Kovalchuk, 48.9
8. Mike Cammalleri, 48.7
9. Marian Hossa, 47.5
10. Alex Ovechkin, 42.9
11. Jeff Carter, 39.1
12. Eric Staal, 37.5
13. Kessel, 19.4

There is a huge drop off from 12 to 13. So when Kessel is asking for $5 million a year the Bruins can use this stat against him. This also could explain why the market for Kessel is so down. He is not a great two way player (meaning playing defense along with offense), and the Bruins just don't have a high feeling of value for Kessel.

Still, I want Kessel back, but I found this information very interesting and at least now I can understand Boston's thinking on the value of Kessel.

Bruins Salary Cap Breakdown

So they finally announced that Hunwick got a 2 year deal worth $2.9 million. Here is how the rest of the Bruins roster is coming together...

Marc Savard, $5 million
Patrice Bergeron, $4.75 million
Michael Ryder, $4 million
David Krejci, $3.75 million
Marco Sturm, $3.5 million
Chuck Kobasew, $2,333,333 million
Glen Murray, $1,383,333 million (buyout)
Mark Recchi, $1 million
Blake Wheeler, $875,000
Milan Lucic, $850,000
Steve Begin, $850,000
Byron Bitz, $687,500
Peter Schaefer, $566,667 (buyout)
Shawn Thornton, $516,667
Zdeno Chara, $7.5 million
Dennis Wideman, $3.875 million
Aaron Ward, $2.5 million
Matt Hunwick, $1.45 million
Andrew Ference, $1.4 million
Mark Stuart, $1.3 million
Tim Thomas, $5 million
Tuukka Rask, $850,000

That gives them a cap hit of $53,937,500, so they are $2,862,500 under the $56.8 million salary cap. Don't think that is enough to bring back Kessel, and even if they were teams usually like to leave themselves a little cap room going into the season in case of injuries, ect. It will be really interesting to see if the Bruins are done, or if they will deal someone like Marco Sturm, or Marc Savard.

Bruins Not Close To Signing Kessel

"The Phil Kessel contract talks, if the sides are indeed still talking, have not progressed. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli slams down the Cone of Silence at the mere mention of No. 81, and agent Wade Arnott - not nearly as chatty as his boss, Don Meehan - has politely refused a handful of opportunities to comment on his client, a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights (Boston.com)."

I really like Kessel and I want to see him back, but it almost seems like tghe Bruins know there is very little market for Kessel (much like the Celtics and Big Baby). So maybe they are trying to wait him out so that they can sign him to a short money 1 year deal, and then Kessel will try to cash in next summer. We will see, but I really would like to see him back with the Bruins next year. He is such an exciting player, and with this offense the Bruins could be "over-the-top" good.

Krejci Injury Update

Krejci said his rehab is going well. The 23-year-old is coming off a career-best season (22-51-73 totals), for which he earned a three-year, $11.25 million contract in June. Krejci isn’t expected to be ready for the Oct. 1 season opener against Washington, but he’s been encouraged by his recovery.

“The doctors and people I do rehab with say I am on schedule,” Krejci said. “I think I’ll be on the ice in September. I already started working out at the gym and on the bike and stuff like that. I’m getting back in shape. It’s still too early to say when I’m going to be playing exactly (Boston Herald).”

The NHL season is so long that Krecji not being ready for the first couple of games isn't a big deal. From everything I have been reading he seems to be on track for a late October return.

In other news Sturm (who everyone seems to forget about) will be ready to start the season. The big question is Krecji's close friend Kessel. There is nothing new to report on him. I hope he comes back, but I have to admit it seems to be getting less and less likely...

Compensation For Kessel

I found this really interesting. I did not know the rules about players who are restricted free agents, and what the compensation is if he chooses to leave the Bruins. Well now I know....

"However, if the 21-year-old Kessel does sign one of those Group 2 offer sheets, the Bruins, if they were to decide not to match the offer and keep Kessel for a minimum of one year, would be due compensation. According to the CBA, if the offer is between $3 million and $4,520,150, the Bruins would receive a first- and third-round draft pick. If the offer is between $4.52 million and $6 million, compensation would be a first-, second- and a third-round pick (Boston.com)."

So at least we know if he walks the Bruins will get some nice draft picks in return...

Kessel To Toronto? (UPDATED)

"Boston's interest in acquiring Tomas Kaberle, reported here on boston.com last night, took an interesting twist here today when tsn.ca's Bob McKenzie reported that the Bruins have offered Phil Kessel to the Leafs for Kaberle and the Leafs' seventh pick in tonight's NHL draft here at the Bell Center. Peter Chiarelli, the Bruins general manager, did not return at email last night when asked about Boston's interest in acquiring Kaberle, the 31-year-old Czech-born backliner (Boston.com)."

Kessel is one of my favorite players, but if the Bruins can pull off this deal I can't argue with it. Kaberle is an All-Star defenseman, and the Bruins would have a really strong defensive unit if they were able to get him. On top of that getting the 7th pick in the draft and could use that pick to draft another huge defenseman 6-5 Jared Cowen, who is said to be the next Chara. Anyways something to keep an eye on since this deal really sounds like it might happen.


***UPDATE***

The Bruins and Maple Leafs late last night discussed the possibility of a Phil Kessel-for-Tomas Kaberle swap, but according to a source familiar with the discussion between the teams' respective general managers, the conversation did not include the Leafs sending the No. 7 overall pick in tonight's NHL draft here to Boston.

''Not a chance that's happening,'' said the source in reference to the No. 7 pick. ''Wasn't offered, and there isn't a chance the Leafs do that deal (Boston.com).''

I was going to say that this deal was too good to be true, but if the Bruins don't think they can resign Kessel, then getting an All-Star defenseman isn't too shabby. This story I am sure will be updated again today...

Bruins Trade Kessel To Move Up In Draft?

I reported earlier that the Bruins are looking to move up in the draft to get their hands on Chris Kreider. Well now they are reporting it may be Kessel that gets traded...

"The Bruins are looking to trade up to get their hands on someone they covet, and they may trade 21-year-old Phil Kessel to get him, the Star Tribune reports. Chiarelli wants to trade Kessel because he's demanding a deal worth between $4.5 and $5 million a season, and the Bruins are looking to cut salary (ESPN)."

I disagree with this. I really think if someone is going to get delt it will be Savard. It would really hurt me to see Kessel go, and I still think he will be in a Bruins uniform next season. The Bruins do need to dump some salary with they want Kessel back, but shipping out Savard would certainly help that.