Posted in Transactions July 15th, 2007
Offseason review so far: Meh
To put it mildly, the Bruins’ 2007 offseason activity thus far has been less than noteworthy. Aside from a signing of a coach with a decent track record (Julien) and the acquisition of a decent goaltender, the transaction list has been filled with the signing and re-signings of people who may not be any better than 2nd line material (Shawn Thornton, Dennis Wideman, Bobby Allen, Brandon Bochencski, Jeremy Reich, etc.)…and that’s being generous for most of them.
And the move that MIGHT help the team the most is probably also the most controversial…the acquisition of Manny Fernandez for Petr Kalus and a 2008 pick. In essence, they required a goaltender who’s on par with, if not slightly better than current starter Tim Thomas. And they gave up a top prospect in their farm system to do it. Here’s a note to the Peter Chialrelli: when your team gives up the sixth-most shots on goal in the NHL, getting a slightly better goaltender isn’t going to fix your problem. Not unless you’re planning to put them out there as a 3rd defenseman. It’s like putting a slightly bigger bucket under that hole in your roof.
So what message is being sent by this lack of activity? Although there haven’t been any big-name acquisitions this offseason, the Bruins did splurge for Chara and Savard last off-season. Plus, they also have a young Phil Kessel to build off of. Does PC think that Dave Lewis was responsible for most of this team’s ills and that Claude Julien can take the existing talent and make them a contender? Hmmmmm….
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 15th, 2007 at 8:39 am and is filed under Transactions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
10 Comments on this post
Posted by Russ July 15th, 2007 at 8:45 am
Given the splash that the B’s made last year, and the result (or lack thereof) they got from it, I think it makes a little more sense to try and let the core guys develop more together. And yes, you already know my opinion on the coaching matter - I think Julien is already going to be a difference.
Realistically, looking at the contracts some of the top name guys got, I’m actually glad the B’s didn’t run out and try and snag anyone. I still think we’ll see some more moves, albeit minor ones.
Yeah I’m underwhelmed too, but I’m not going to crucify PC based on how many contracts he has right now that he’d like to move but probably can’t, thanks to the previous regime (Murray and Thomas specifically).
Posted by treebob July 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
As usual Russ I cannot agree with you on Thomas. He has a great contract and he is an amazing back-up and or starter. Toivonen is expendable and they might get a pick or prospect for him.
Posted by Doobie July 17th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Hoooo boy, here comes that Thomasoveh’s Witness again preaching the word of #30… LOL
Posted by number4bobbyorr July 18th, 2007 at 1:28 am
“here comes that Thomasoveh’s Witness again”
Hey — I thought that was me!
Posted by Doobie July 18th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Hah! Well, they *DO* usually come in pairs…
Posted by Russ July 19th, 2007 at 7:43 am
There’s the rub on TT - if he’s a legit starter, then $1M per is a great deal. So why aren’t teams banging down PC’s door trying to grab him now that the B’s have Fernandez?
By the same token - if he’s an amazing back-up, who wants to pay $1M per for a guy who’s going to play 30 games behind an established #1?
Posted by number4bobbyorr July 19th, 2007 at 10:19 am
“So why aren’t teams banging down PC’s door trying to grab him now that the B’s have Fernandez?”
How do you know they aren’t? People read their own views between the lines of what little is actually said all the time, including the Boston media, which only appears to enforce any view that may be popular but off the mark.
Thomas’s problem isn’t on the ice–it’s his reputation (he has none to speak of) that is the problem. If PC is really such an idiot that he doesn’t realize the gift to the team that Thomas is, then some GM out there is going to make himself look pretty darned good by picking him up. And we can sit back and watch yet another former Bruin do well, and fans can say things like, “I didn’t think he played that well for us, what happened?”
I for one am pretty sick of watching very good players look mediocre in a spoked B only to show their true stuff in another jersey.
Hockey–it’s a team sport.
Posted by number4bobbyorr July 19th, 2007 at 11:13 am
“…who wants to pay $1M per for a guy who’s going to play 30 games behind an established #1?”
The 2006-2007 Stanley Cup winners, for one. But they clearly don’t know what they are doing.
Posted by Doobie July 19th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I really don’t think there’s any serious interest around the league for Thomas as a starter. Sure, there always a possibility that there’s some interest, but if there was a strong enough possibility that it was going to go through, there more than likely would have been rumors spread by someone. NHL execs can be a yappy bunch.
Truth be told, I still don’t think the league is sold on Tim Thomas. And there’s a good chance they may *never* be sold. Let’s face it, he’s a 33 year old goalie who was a 9th round pick and kicked around the minors and international leagues most of his early career until he finally got a cup of coffee with the Bruins in ‘02-’03. That’s usually a case of a team finding a gold nugget amongst a pile of rocks in their organization. And, as I’ve mentioned in the past, you have to wonder if the Bruins themselves are sold on him as the answer. They’ve invested in two prospects in Toivonen and Rask and now have traded for Manny Fernandez. What’s that tell you about their confidence level?
And I’m sure this has gone noticed by other teams. If Thomas is so good, why do they keep trying to replace him? Not only that, but the Bruins have a history of having goaltenders performing well for them for a short period of time and then disappearing. Blaine Lacher, anyone? Byron Dafoe?
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