Our Crazy Division (aka, WTF happened while I was gone???)

Free-agent frenzies are always a spectacle, but my experience of the past week has been truly surreal.


Six days ago, my wife and I left the Port of New Orleans to celebrate our 10th anniversary with a Carribbean cruise. During our time abroad, I had literally no connection to the outside world -- cell coverage was nonexistent, internet was outrageously expensive, and sitting around watching TV was out of the question.


Yesterday we arrived back in port. With dry land came a cell signal, and the first opportunity to read through five bizarre days of Northeast Division mayhem. I was taken aback by what I saw:

Mike Komisarek is a Maple Leaf. What the.... really??? How do things like this happen? I don't know who has the bigger balls, Komisarek for signing a contract with the Leafs or Brian Burke for offering it. This will of course make the Leafs a little better and give Komisarek some welcome relief from being over his head as a top-pairing defenseman. But more importantly, the Boston/Montreal/Toronto drama just got bumped up another notch.

Better get used to it, Mike.

Alex Kovalev is a Sen. A signing so bad I want to laugh and cringe at the same time. The Sens have chemistry problems, depth problems, locker room problems and a star winger holding out and refusing trades at the same time. So what do they do? Acquire a coach-killing prima donna who's notorious for his inconsistency. Yeah, that really helps. And from Kovalev's point of view... why??? So he can be mocked in the twilight of his career? Yeesh.

Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Jaro Spacek and Hal Gill are Canadiens, but Saku Koivu is not. Bob Gainey must be on the clock to produce a winning team; there is no other explanation for this McRebuild. The Habs add a little bit of character to replace the disgraceful "leadership" of last season, but at what cost? With the exception of Cammalleri, this is a list of guys who were supposed to be stars by now and have become second-liners instead. Gomez is a coach killer and Gill is a pylon. This experiment will not last long.



Colton Orr is a Leaf. Go ahead and open Youtube in your browser the next time the Leafs and Bruins play. That way, you'll be the first on the scene for the Lucic/Orr footage.



Steve Montador is a Sabre. Good riddance, ya bum. Buffalo is going to rue the day they let Spacek go and signed this turnover machine.



Steve Begin is a Bruin. I'm trying to get excited about this, but really... it's a dumb signing. Presumably this means Stephane Yelle will not be returning, which is a shame because he's better than Begin. It also means the Bruins have made their logjam at the center position even more complicated, while ignoring the wings again.

Um, ok... I guess we needed this guy for some reason. Maybe.

Nik Antropov is a Thrasher. Good for him. Antropov is one of those pseudo-stars who will thrive with low expectations and good linemates. He's a legit top-6, and the Thrashers need as many as they can get.


Chris Higgins is a Ranger. They found the cash to sign Mathieu Darche, but couldn't keep a heart-and-soul guy like Higgins?


Martin St. Pierre is a Sen, Jeremy Reich is an Isle, and Shane Hnidy is a Wild. Three signings that will affect your fantasy pool in no way whatsoever.



So where does the dust settle?

Toronto is trending up.
Ottawa is trending down.
Buffalo is trending down.
Montreal is holding even for now, but will be down in the long run.
Boston is holding even.

Here Come The Vultures! Chiarelli getting heat for management decisions

Well, it's been almost half a week since the Bruins punched Carolina's ticket to the Final Four. In Boston Bruins fandom, that's plenty long enough to forget about the magical joyride of a #1 seed and sweep over the Habs -- time for some drawn-out 20/20-hindsight analysis of management decisions!

Deadline Blunder?

WEEI's Joe Haggerty (Big Bad Blog) rips Chiarelli for his biggest "mis-step" at the trade deadline -- trading for Ducks defenseman Steve Montador. The premise of the article is that there were numerous other defensemen available, Montador was... well, the shittiest one left.

(I should take a moment to air my biases. In my humble opinion, Montador was the worst player on the Bruins' playoff roster. He never came close to fulfilling his limited promise as a deadline acquisition. In fact, he was f.r.e.a.k.i.n.g t.e.r.r.i.b.l.e, to the point that he became difficult to tolerate. Offensively he's a turnover machine with an unintimidating shot, yet he still plays aggressively at inappropriate moments. Defensively he's advertised as "rugged", but has nowhere near the physical presence of a Wideman or Ward... or even a Ference.)

Still, there's little merit to Haggerty's argument that the Bruins should have shot the moon for an elite defenseman. After all, Montador was brought in to provide a little third-pairing depth -- nobody expected he would end up being a top-4 player and manning the point on the power play in a Game 7 playoff scenario.

Haggerty's idea of a "better" trade would have been something like the Pahlsson-Wisniewski deal that helped put both the Ducks and Blackhawks into Cup contention. But he fails to recognize that the Bruins weren't shopping anyone nearly as valuable as Pahlsson. In the end, they merely lost Petterri Nokelainen, a borderline depth forward who was obsolete the moment Byron Bitz pulled on a Boston sweater. Even offering a package of draft picks would be questionabe asset management for an organization one season removed from April elimination.

Avoiding the "impulse buy"

The true heart of the matter is in this argument:

The Bruins GM said several times during the year that the ”window” can sometimes be a narrow one for an NHL team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. The “window” way of thinking is a byproduct of the NHL salary cap. A team can change drastically from year-to-year given the financial situation of any particular team.

It’s also the best reason why Boston’s braintrust should have gone for broke this year.

This sort of thinking drives me crazy, because it's based entirely on impatience rather than strategic planning. Consider the teams which are still in Cup contention this season -- how many of them are operating as if on a one-year "window" to win a Cup?

• Detroit has strung together 15 dynastic seasons by refusing to trade futures for rentals. They do their shopping in the offseason, when real bargains arise.
• Carolina didn't panic during their post-Cup dropoff and have returned to the semifinals without moving any of their elite players.
• Chicago is the Western equivalent to the Bruins, building chemistry between young core players with long-term contention in mind.
• Only Pittsburgh has tried, and failed, to accelerate the process through trades. We saw how that worked out when Hossa signed with the Wings.

Even though Boston could have used a stronger counterattack against the Carolina forecheck, perennial Cup winners are built on Draft Day, not Deadline Day. Chiarelli's body of work happens mostly in the quiet summer months, when veterans renegotiate their contracts and prospects commit to working their way through a competitive farm system.

None of the other deadline-deal blueliners made the difference for their teams when the chips were down, and there's no reason to expect things would have turned out differently for the Bruins.

Bruins: Deeper than a Zen monk.

One thing that every Cup-winning team has in common: depth. As we go deeper into the playoffs, it becomes more and more important to be able to match up all 4 lines and insert new players into the lineup to cover for injury.

Boston has been blessed with an embarrassment of riches this season, dealing away two solid prospects (Lashoff and Nokelainen) at the trade deadline and still retaining more NHL-quality players than can fit on a roster. Here are the guys who could have a big impact despite watching the occasional game as a scratch:

Shane Hnidy

Why he's on the bench: Lack of skill, mostly. Hnidy has a hard time moving the puck under pressure, especially when he's forced to make a quick and accurate pass. He also offers relatively little upside when he has the time and space to make a play.

How he could play a role: The "Sherriff" is a decent defensive player, but his most valuable contribution is grit. He goes into the tough areas with reckless abandon and is always the first to jump into a scrum. In a tough Montreal series he added much-needed snarl.

Steve Montador

Why he's on the bench: Since his deadline trade from Anaheim, Montador hasn't really found a place in the Boston lineup. He's not quite skilled enough to justify a regular shift on defense, and his time as a forward was unproductive.

How he could play a role: Utility players are more valuable in the playoffs, when substitutions are more urgent. Montador's ability to play at nearly any position could make him an attractive "band aid" when injuries start to pile up.

Byron Bitz

Why he's on the bench: Because he's redundant as long as Shawn Thornton is in the lineup. Both are cut from the same mold -- large, bruising enforcers with enough skill to justify a regular shift. Bitz is a little larger, but Thornton's skill set and leadership make him a safer play.

How he could play a role: Bitz and Thornton showed they were capable of playing effectively together, combining for a key goal against Montreal. If a Bruins forward goes down with injury, Bitz is likely Julien's first choice off the bench. He'll be expected to hit, hit, and hit some more to generate offense off the forecheck.

Vladimir Sobotka

Why he's on the bench: The Boston system has proven a bit too deep for the NHL-ready forward. Sobotka would most likely be an "energy" player in most organizations, but veteran forwards like Kobasew and Yelle have kept him in Providence for most of the season.

How he could play a role: Sobotka gives the Bruins a little extra yap when he's on the ice. If Kobasew were to go down, he might be a better replacement than Bitz or Montador. He's hardly a blue chip prospect, but can hold his own in the big leagues.

Tuukka Rask

Why he's on the bench: Manny's making too much money to be the towel boy.

How he could play a role: To be honest, if Tim Thomas gets injured it doesn't really matter what role Rask plays. We could hope for him to have an experience similar to Varlamov in Washington, but realistically it would be asking too much for him to carry a late playoff run.

Other depth options for Boston:

Johnny Boychuk - Stud defensive prospect, not yet ready for prime time.
Jeremy Reich - Depth winger lost in the system after blowing his chance in Boston.
Martin St. Pierre - Undersized but skillful, he won't sniff a callup unless something truly horrible happens.
Peter Schaefer - Remember this guy!? His massive cap hit will keep him safely in Providence, where he can do less harm.

Bruins trade for experience (Recchi), depth (Montador)

Looks like Pete Chiarelli's going to settle on 2 moves today:

To Anaheim:
F Petteri Nokelainen
To Boston:
D Steve Montador

To Tampa:
D Matt Lashoff
F Martins Karsums
To Boston:
F Mark Recchi
2010 2nd round pick

It would appear that these deals went hand-in-hand. By acquiring Montador, Chiarelli gained enough depth on the blueline to safely unload Lashoff. Ultimately, this means that the Bruins traded 3 futures for 2 roster players and a decent draft pick.

It's not the blockbuster Kessel-for-Pronger deal that the media would've loved, but this certainly improves the Bruins' prospects in both the present and future.

For the present - The Bruins just got a little more experienced, a little deeper and a little more stable. Recchi is a much-needed left handed winger, but more importantly a steadying hand in the locker room and a resource for young LWs Lucic and Wheeler. Montador adds depth to the defensive corps, and in the event that a defenseman is injured he will make Claude Julien's decisions a little easier. Neither move will have a dramatic effect on the roster, but both make the Bruins slightly more playoff-ready.

For the future - Lashoff is a solid prospect for Tampa but he didn't appear to have much of a future in Boston after making little out of his chances with the Bruins. Karsums was simply a casualty of the depth chart. The only significant loss is Nokelainen, who has been on IR for a month and looked to have been leapfrogged by prospects like Bitz and Sobotka. And in the process, the Bruins acquired a 2nd round pick -- recent players the Bruins have drafted in the 2nd or later include Lucic, Sobotka, Hunwick, and rookie sensation Kris Versteeg.

Considering the Bruins' cap constraints and the conservative nature of this trading season, I have to give Chiarelli props for improving the Bruins' Cup chances without making any painful sacrifices.

Bruins trade for Montador

Rumors that the Bruins might acquire Jordan Leopold just came to an end -- he was shipped to the Flames. Also, the Ducks took Chris Pronger off the market, squashing those rumors as well.

BREAKING NEWS: As I was typing this, the Bruins traded Petteri Nokaleinen to Anaheim for defenseman Steve Montador. Not much of a move, Montador will be a depth player who can chip in occasionally. Presumably this was a matter of getting something for nothing in the short term, as Noke was unlikely to return to the roster this season and the Bruins will need depth for the playoffs.

In other Northeast Division news:
- The Jackets shipped Pascal Leclaire to Ottawa for Antoine Vermette. This was probably the best shot the Sens had at acquiring a long-term starting goaltender without having to go to the draft. But they'd better hope he recovers from an injury and awful start this season.
- For some reason the Sabres decided they'd rather give Tim Connolly $9 million than trade him.
- The Leafs picked up Martin Gerber after he was waived by the Sens. Their goaltending situation remains a 6/half-dozen situation. The Leafs also signed some guy named Erik Reitz.