The NHL trading deadline came and went yesterday. Boston stayed blockbuster free, and while they did get into the action, there are no overpriced prima donna superstars booking flights into Logan.
The Bruins made three minor deals yesterday, acquiring defensemen Sean Brown and Jeff Norton from the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, respectively, and center Darryl Laplante from the Minnesota Wild.
None of these guys is going to come to town and immediately elevate the team to a higher level. Brown and Norton should help the Bruins sure up the defense, however, and a strong blue line will be crucial if the B’s want to make a long postseason run.
Brown had spent his entire career with the Oilers, scoring 35 points in 269 games before being sent to the B’s for defensemen Bobby Allen. Norton, a Massachusetts native, is joining his eighth team in his 15-year career. Norton has played in limited action with the Panthers this season due to injuries, and has wracked up just four assists. Laplante, 24, has spent the entire season in the minors, and the Bruins have assigned him to play in Providence.
The real story for the Bruins is not the trades that they made; it’s the ones they didn’t. The Bruins management made a statement yesterday, deciding the team that had taken the ice for the past six months had all the tools and talent necessary to make a legitimate run for the Stanley Cup. Rather than risk altering the chemistry that has been evident on this team since the start of the season, the Bruins decided to keep their cohesive unit together.
The Bruins are well known for their miserly ways, allowing great players to walk away rather than offering them fair compensation. Many feared they would trade away Byron Dafoe or Bill Guerin for this very reason. Both Guerin and Dafoe will be unrestricted free agents this off-season, and both will be demanding big money. There is a possibility that one or even both of them could accept better offers elsewhere and the Bruins would get nothing. Rather than trade one of them away, ensuring at least some compensation, the Bruins rolled the dice and focused on the present instead of the future.
The present for the Bruins is looking good right now, although there are some questions surrounding the team. Joe Thornton’s shoulder seems to get worse with every report, and the Bruins are also dealing with an injured Martin Lapointe and Kyle McLaren. Despite these obstacles, the Bruins are pressuring the Flyers for the top spot in the conference.
The Flyers, however, are not about to pull a Jane Swift and hand the East to the Bruins. Unlike the Bruins, the Flyers jumped on the blockbuster bandwagon that drove up and down the East Coast yesterday, and mortgaged the future for a chance of winning this year. Desperate for a center after injuries sidelined Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau, the Flyers sent top goaltending prospect Maxime Ouellet, and next year’s first, second and third round draft picks to the Washington Capitals for 39-year-old Adam Oates. Oates, who leads the league in assists and is fourth in scoring, should hold down the fort at center for the Flyers while Primeau and Roenick rehab their injuries.
If the playoffs had started last night, the Bruins would open up against the New Jersey Devils. After yesterday’s trade deadline, the Devils are a decidedly different team than the one the Bruins faced off against earlier this season. Citing a need for change, the Devils shipped Jason Arnott and Randy McKay to the Dallas Stars for forwards Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner. The Devils hope the new arrivals will help them bust out of the rut they’ve been in this season and into a higher seed.
If the Bruins continue to play consistently, there is a very good chance they could be taking on the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. The Rangers are making a push for that spot, and they are pulling the trigger to make that happen. The Rangers picked up a high-profile and even higher-paid legitimate superstar in Pavel Bure on Monday without having to give up too much in return. The Rangers continued their tinkering yesterday, picking up not only former BU star Tom Poti but also forward Rem Murray for Mike York.
It’ll be interesting to see which deals work out and which ones leave general managers crying and unemployed. The bottom line for the Bruins, unlike some of their Eastern Conference opponents, however, is that they will continue on with their team still intact and the rumors behind them. The moves they made or didn’t are in the past, and now all the focus will be on winning the Cup.
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