I'm a guy who loves hockey shirts, and loves when teams make a change to their jersey style, colors, or logo. The Dallas Stars have recently done all three, so earlier this week I decided to order one of the new Stars t-shirts. I had it down between a Jamie Benn shirt and a Loui Eriksson shirt, but Loui has been my favorite player on the Stars for a while, so I went with the Eriksson shirt. A few days later on the Fourth of July, I thought to myself, it'll be funny if Eriksson ends up getting traded and never actually plays a game in these jerseys. Well, as fate would have it, that thought would become a reality just a few hours later, as he was brought here to Boston in a shocking trade.
There are many changes happening to the Bruins roster right now, and using the word skeptical to describe many Bruins fans right now would be a bit of an understatement. I myself am still somewhat mad that the Bruins have already given up on the young and talented Tyler Seguin, but looking at all of these moves, if you take a step back and look at them without emotional attachment to the players, you may realize that the Bruins are just as good as before, and honestly might even be a stronger contender next year.
I'm gonna take a look at the players leaving versus the players coming in and give you my take on the situations, but first here is the Bruins depth chart from the end of the season, followed by my projected depth chart for next year based on the roster at the moment, to give a good sense of who is filling what spaces.
BRUINS 2012-13
Milan Lucic David Krejci Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron Jaromir Jagr
Daniel Paille Chris Kelly Tyler Seguin
Shawn Thornton Greg Campbell Rich Peverley
Zdeno Chara Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference Johnny Boychuk
Adam McQuaid Torey Krug
Rask
Khudobin
BRUINS PROJECTED 2013-14
Milan Lucic David Krejci Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille Carl Soderberg Ryan Spooner
Shawn Thornton Greg Campbell Chris Kelly
Zdeno Chara Dennis Seidenberg
Adam McQuaid Johnny Boychuk
Dougie Hamilton Torey Krug
Rask
Svedberg
FORWARDS:
Add-Iginla, Eriksson, Soderberg, Spooner
Lose-Horton, Jagr, Seguin, Peverley
There are three big storylines among the forwards: the Tyler Seguin trade, Nathan Horton leaving, and the eventual acquisition of Jarome Iginla.
I was blown away when I first found out that Seguin was traded. I knew his name had been tossed around, but I assumed it was only in an attempt to give the kid some motivation. Most Bruins fans will always be skeptical of this move, and quite probably, it will be a regret in the future when Seguin develops into a star in the league. But he still may not, and in that case, this will be a great move. But, in the short term, this still is a great move if you really think about it. Essentially, this trade amounts to Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley for Loui Eriksson and some prospects. Eriksson, will take the place of Seguin in the lineup, and should provide more consistent scoring in the short term than Seguin has been. While talented, Seguin did not perform well in the playoffs, so you are essentially replacing minimal scoring with a guy who has put up a few 70-point seasons, and was capable of consistently putting up 25-35 goals a year on a team that has not been very good for a while. Eriksson, who is also a great two-way player, is also a much better fit for the Bruins system than Seguin was. Seguin will likely become a big scorer in Dallas, but because of the Bruins style of play, I'm not so sure that he would have broken out as a scoring star with Boston. Eriksson, will likely move into Jagr's position on the right wing with Bergeron and Marchand, where Seguin had been previously. Meanwhile, the Bruins also gave up another player I liked a lot in Rich Peverley. But as much as he has been valuable for us in the past, he had a really poor season and was playing on the fourth line by the end of the playoffs. The Bruins have several young players who can step into his roster spot and contribute, the most likley of which is probably Ryan Spooner. Other candidates are Jordan Caron, Jared Knight, Carter Camper, Seth Griffith, and Alexander Khokhlachev. Rielly Smith and Matt Fraser, who are two solid young prospects acquired in this deal, will also fight for that position.
The Bruins were also surprised when Nathan Horton informed them that he would not be returning, instead seeking a quieter life in Columbus. As I stated in my last post, I think while Horton will be missed, he was also an inconsistent scorer, and I think Jarome Iginla will easily make up for the loss of his scoring. Jagr is gone too, so that's one more spot to take,and that will be filled by Carl Soderberg, who is a more promising player than he showed at the end of the year. Carl Soderberg was a great scorer in Europe and just needs a little time to get adjusted to the speed of the NHL.
As I said before, Jarome Iginla will have no problem filling the void of Nathan Horton. e is not as old as you would think, he's 36, the same age as Chara, and he has been carrying a team on his back for his entire career. He is more than capable of stepping up and contributing to a more well-rounded team, and was an important asset tot the Penguins, whether Bruins fans are aware of that or not. He struggled in the Boston series, but so did that entire team. And in regards to the unique situation of Iginla going to Boston after the deadline fiasco, Bruins fans need to suck it up and realize that this is an outstanding player, a future Hall of Famer, and a standup guy, whose only real crime is wanting to win his first Stanley Cup after a long and impressive career. If you asked any non-Bruins fan or player before the deadline whether Pittsburgh or Boston was the better contender, likely most of them would have said Pittsburgh, and also after a career of playing without a talented center, it is extremely hard to pass up the opportunity to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Iginla very correctly called those two the best players in the world when he went to Pittsburgh, and if you are a Bruins fan and try to deny that, than you need a serious reality check. So don't boo Iginla, cheer for him. He is a great player, and will be an outstanding fit for this team.
DEFENSE:
Add-Hamilton
Lose-Ference
Personally, I've never been a huge fan of Andrew Ference. He is an unbelievable guy and great in the community, so I wish him all the best, but to me he's just an okay defenseman. He makes some decent plays on occasion, but he also makes a lot of mistakes. Honestly his most valuable assets are heart and leadership and I feel great for the guy to be going back to play for his hometown team in Edmonton. But in Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski, the Bruins have two great defensive prospects who can step in and contribute right away. They can be just as good as Ference defensively while providing a lot more offense.
GOALIES:
Add-Svedberg
Lose-Khudobin
Anton Khudobin was a solid backup for the Bruins, but he did not play enough to be missed all that much by the Bruins. Niklas Svedberg had an outstanding season in Providence, and is more than capable of filling that role. New acquisition Chad Johnson is also a candidate for the backup job and was solid in relief of Mike Smith and Jason LaBarbera in Phoenix this year. Now all we need to do is get Rask signed........
So all in all, don't panic Bruins fans. The Bruins are still in great shape. I would still like them to add another bottom-six forward with that plays a hard-nosed game but still capable of providing some offense, but really, the B's will be very good again next year. Just don't boo Iginla, welcome Eriksson with open arms, and don't be bitter about losing the guys you've grown attached to. I think they will contend with the Red Wings to win the new division next year.
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