From a reactionary standpoint, I’m glad to see Wideman go. He seemed lost last year, and for $4 million, he should know where he’s going. But I am concerned with the Bruin’s overall roster strategy. Too often recently, it seems like they have traded away players at their lowest trade value (Kessel excluded). At the same time, they sign players to extensions, while the players are at their highest value. I feel this is why the Bruins are currently hitting their heads on the salary cap and scoring near the bottom of the league.
Rumors are Bruins will trade Savard. I don’t think it’ll happen. A team struggling to score is not going to trade its best playmaker, and make their team better. Also, he has a pretty cap-friendly contract, and is coming off a pretty big concussion. He had a bad year, so he won’t return as much as he could. I do think the Bruins need to make a trade, and Tim Thomas is the best bet.
The problem with trading Tim Thomas is that people will look at his age and remaining contract and determine that he isn’t worth it. But he proved that in a strong defensive minded organization he can be a great goal tender. He had an injury he played through, so he could rebound and have a better year. Dark horse trade partner would be Atlanta. They just signed the Bruins Asst. Coach Ramsay. He knows what Thomas is capable of, and Atlanta is looking to drastically improve their defense. Though I think Philly is the best matchup of a team needing goaltending, and enough overpaid wingers to swing a deal that works both ways.
The Bruins may be wary of trading Thomas because they may want the insurance behind young goaltender Tuuka Rask. In that case, they might be looking into trading Bergeron to Atlanta. They need offensive more than the defense Bergeron provides, and Ramsay would probably love to have such a defensive-minded center on his team. Boston can replace Bergeron with Seguin and save some money to add more wingers.
My hopes are that Thomas goes to Philly and returns a Danny Briere to play with Savard and Lucic. This should recreate the Lucic, Savard, Kessel line, and leave Wheeler, Krejci, and Horton on the second line. Seguin could take the third line with Ryder and Recchi and make that a high scoring option. The fourth line would then be Thornton and any number of guys from Paille, Sobotka, Marchand, Begin.
Look at Wheeler to go somewhere if they make a trade to open a door for Caron or Lehtonen to get a shot. Personally I think Wheeler and Horton make a good combo for Krejci. Either way, I think the Bruins should be a better balanced team next year, and ready to compete for the Eastern Conference Finals.
