The Good and the Bad of the New Bruins

What a July. I struggled for awhile to wrap my head around all of the transactions and signings that have occurred in the first 30 days of the month throughout the league, including those made by the home team. The Sparknotes version? Phil Kessel is still unsigned. Boston retained breakout rookies, Matt Hunwick and Byron Bitz. Aaron Ward was traded to Carolina (of all places, and will now be locker buddies with B’s new public enemy, Scott Walker, awesome!) and Derek Morris was named his $3.3 million replacement. And finally, Mark Recchi was re-signed and could potentially finish his career a Bruin. The biggest story of the offseason? His name is Mark Recchi.

The Bruins signed five major players, three of them returning from last year’s squad. The biggest signing for the B’s thus far wasn’t the overpayment for Derek Morris, but rather the one-year, $1 million steal for veteran Mark Recchi. Recchi was clutch for Boston during the latter half of the season nabbing 10 goals and 16 points in 18 games. Match that with his previous 13 goals and 45 points in his first 62 games with Tampa Bay and you have an impressive line of 23 goals, 38 assists and 61 points. Recchi still puts up impressive numbers and the guy is going to turn 42 by the All-Star break.

Most likely, this is our third-line winger. Paired up with guys like Bergeron to set him up in the slot or a goal-scoring target like Marco Sturm and Recchi easily strides into a 20-25 goal campaign landing him somewhere in the 50-60 point range. Again, third-line winger. I haven’t been this excited for such a minor signing with a potential big impact since Amanda Bynes appeared for an autograph session at my local mall.

The very best part of the deal? Recchi will [almost definitely] finish his career in Boston. A seven-time All-Star, he’s could potentially be a future Hall-of-Famer, even more so of a lock if he wins a third Stanley Cup in Boston this year.

He’s made it clear, in interviews and through his agent, that he wanted to come back to Boston to finish what he started after being acquired on the trade deadline. He was even quoted saying how he “wants to give everything he has to Boston and then ride off into the sunset.” We could potentially see Mark Recchi run on fumes to win a Cup for Boston. He did play through kidney stones during the 2008-09 playoffs, who knows how he’ll follow that up. Essentially, the guy is a total class act and is going to be a great asset for an entire season with Boston.

The unfortunate news of the offseason? It’s not that Aaron Ward is a Carolina Hurricane (again), it’s that he’s not a Bruin anymore.

I get it, too. He had one year left on his contract, was getting older and was more injury prone. Some say he lost a step, wasn’t as tough in the corners, and wouldn’t provide enough of an offensive spark for the blue line. I’ve heard it all. Here’s what I say:

The guy was a true Bruin. He’d go to fight for any of his teammates, he wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves, and was one of the only defensemen that seemed to “show up” for all of the B’s playoff games this year. He brought the team together, developed crucial chemistry in the locker room and, in my opinion, played a very strong supporting role in assisting his blue line partner, Zdeno Chara, nab the Norris trophy for best defenseman. He was also one of the few Bruins on the roster with two (let alone, one) Stanley Cup rings. Dare I say that this is the guy I would want as Boston’s captain if Chara ever went down. Alas, back to Carolina goes Ward.

I’m not entirely sold on Derek Morris just yet and I’m not sure why, either. I’ve always liked the guy, but I’m unsure how I like him on my favorite team. I was excited at the prospect of the Bruins signing him last Friday too. After the Ward departure, Morris seemed like a solid replacement. In the past three years, Morris has played two complete 82-game seasons, with a 75 game season in 2008-09. Impressive, especially since the Bruins are looking rather bleak on defense right now. Chara and Morris as the top pairing, Dennis Wideman and Hunwick as the second, and Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart as the third. If one of these d-men get injured, who’s our number seven man, Johnny Boychuk? Uh oh.

But that doesn’t fall all on Derek Morris, and it shouldn’t either. Morris was brought in for one year at $3.3 million. Here’s my issue. If I’m Morris, I’m thinking I was brought in to win a Stanley Cup this year with a true contending team. But come the end of February at the trade deadline, if the team isn’t performing well or Morris isn’t, he’s potentially on the market. At the end of the season, Morris is a free agent on the move once again. How well does that bode for the team’s chemistry? Time will tell, but Morris has a line of Bruins fans to convince.

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