Andrew Ference Signs 3-year Extension

According to Darren Dreger and now Matt Kalman, who might just be quoting Dreger, the deal carries with it a cap hit of $2.25M per year. This seems high to me and the commenters are out in full force on the Globe's blog post. He had previously only carried a cap hit of $1.4M and hasn't exactly proven to be durable. He played in 59 games in '07-'08, just 47 last year and he has already missed 22 games this year. Now, the surprising statistic here is the Bruins are just 5-12-5 in those 22 games meaning they are 28-15-7 when he is in the lineup. He first got injured in the Ottawa game shortly after the Winter Classic where the Bruins played very well. The next game was against Chicago where Savard exited on the first shift. Ference then missed the next 14 games and the Bruins went 1-9-4 in that span. He returned just in time for the 4-game winning streak prior to the Olympics. Maybe something can be said for this, but the Bruins were missing Savard and Bergeron for much of that stretch as well.

I just don't think he is worth that much for what he brings to the table (8 assists in 50 games and questionable durability). Right now, the Bruins are committed to four defenseman for next year (with cap hit in parentheses): Chara ($7.5M), Wideman ($3.875M), Ference ($2.25M), and Hunwick ($1.45M). Stuart and Boychuk are RFA's and Seidenberg is a UFA after this season. Wideman and Hunwick have been MIA this season.

It makes you wonder what Chiarelli has in store for the offseason. I still think Peter wants Tomas Kaberle (who will be in the final year of his contract and will no longer have the no-trade clause this summer). This signing has me worried that Mark Stuart might go the other way for Kaberle. Mark Stuart fits the Brian Burke mold and would give Burke the salary relief he needs on his back end.

Quick Recap of Chia's Conference Call

Peter Chiarelli held a conference call for all of us season ticket holders this afternoon. I can only imagine that renewals have been way down since prices went up and the Bruins game went into the tank this year. It also doesn't help that so many pink hats jumped on the bandwagon just to get tickets to the Winter Classic this year. Here's a synopsis of what he said:

• The team's identity is the greatest disappointment to him this season. He spoke to the team prior to the Philly game as we all know and he said this is what he primarily addressed. He said he had worked since he got here to develop the identity the team displayed last year and is doing everything he can to help them regain that identity.
• He said that addressing the character of the players was a priority in the offseason. 
• He said that there are a number of reasons why Dennis Wideman's play has fallen off and specifically said that complacency is one of them.
• He said that the losses of Axelsson, Hnidy, and Ward specifically may have hurt. He said teams need good "backroom" guys to support the leadership and those three may have filled that role last season. He added that you can't keep everybody in the salary cap system.
• One fan asked him why Bruins fans should renew their season tickets and Peter said that this season should be a blip.
• He believes this team is still capable of making a run in the playoffs.
• He cannot explain why the Bruins have been so bad on home ice this season.
• One guy asked him what he was proud of this year and it caught him off guard. He said he had only prepared to defend himself on the call. He mentioned that Bergy and Rask were the bright spots.
• When asked about the Thomas contract, he mentioned that the organization did not want to throw Tuukka to the wolves by making him the guy this early in his development. He said that historically, goaltenders don't truly come into their own until they reach the age of 25 or 26 and Tuukka is just 22.
• A season ticket holder who may or may not be a friend of mine that I play softball with asked about Mark Stuart. He may be the only guy in Boston who likes Mark Stuart more than I do. Chiarelli did nothing but praise Stuart, but of course would not divulge any information on if they planned to re-sign him or not.

Peter's 2010 Has Been Horrible

I thought calendar year 2010 was going to be a great year for the Bruins. How could it be anything but when it started at Fenway on the very first day?

Well, it has been a precipitous fall ever since we left Fenway with smiles on our faces. It started with the signing of Miroslav Satan who has been miserable, yet they insist on keeping him in the lineup. He should have been watching from the press box after the first ten games. The experiment failed Peter, so move on.  You should have been looking to add a forward in January and then we find out today that you add NOTHING.

The first game after the Winter Classic, Bergeron goes down with an injury in an uninspired loss to the Rangers. The Bruins responded with a good effort and defeated Ottawa only to lose Marc Savard in their next game while getting completely outclassed by the Chicago Blackhawks. Things started to snowball from there and the only positive until the four-game win streak before the break was a world-class performance from Tim Thomas in a shootout win against San Jose.  All told, since that win on January 1st, the Bruins are just 6-11-4 including a 0-7-3 mark at TD Garden.  That is not a typo Bruins fans, it has been 63 days since the Bruins tasted victory on TD Garden ice!

That has been enough to swallow - ten straight losses at home - but then Peter pulls what he did today.  I don't even know where to begin.  The early moves made today, as I said at the time, were just to clear cap room for the forward they were going to bring in.  Peter admitted as much in his presser so that is not speculation.  Well, when it came time to ante up and make a trade to even marginally improve the team (which is still better than not improving the team at all Peter), he balked.  All he had to do to top Buffalo's offer was give Columbus the Bruins 2nd rounder which will almost certainly be a higher pick than Buffalo's (The Bruins sent Tampa's 2nd Rounder to Florida and still hold Toronto's 2nd Rounder as well).  The other part of the deal was Nathan Paetsch.  The Bruins could easily trump that part of it too, but Peter didn't. 

Apologists would say that Raffi Torres would not lead them to a Stanley Cup.  I agree, but he would have made the team better.  I would feel much better about being a Bruins fan and paying $7.25 for a beer if Raffi were on Savard's wing instead of Daniel Paille.  They need to make the Savard line a threat and right now they don't have the tools to do so.

So let's have a look at the net result beyond this season.  I am looking beyond this season because I do not think the Bruins improved and will make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs at best (and that is extremely optimistic).  So heading into 2010 and beyond, here is what you accomplished in the last couple days Peter:

1. Gave away a 2nd rounder and 4th rounder in 2010
2. Got back a 4th Rounder in 2011
3. Acquired Bartkowski and Kampfer - two college D-men for organizational depth
4. Unloaded Bitz's contract for 2010-2011

Wow Peter!  Bartkowski or Kampfer better become Norris Trophy candidates someday to make me feel better about today.

If you see a guy in Section 311 with a paper bag over his head, chances are it's me...

OK Peter, It's Time To Do Something

I'm going to start this by saying that I have consistently been a Peter Chiarelli supporter. He hasn't signed the franchise-killing contracts that so many other GM's have and he hasn't mortgaged the future for the quick fix and realizes an organization needs to build from within. It remains to be seen if he hit on any of the draft picks during his tenure (Hamill, Colborne, Caron), but overall, I'd give him a solid B on his body of work up to now.

Unfortunately, there are now signs that this grade is in jeopardy. Has anybody been watching Miro Satan lately? The Bruins are 2-9-3 with him in the lineup (2g, 2a in those 14 games), and he is part of the problem. He is not strong on the puck, he's slow, and he typically loses possession whenever the puck finds him in the offensive zone. I said at the time of the signing that it was fine because it didn't cost the Bruins anything and could potentially help. Well, the results are in Peter, you gambled and lost on Miro. Time to scratch the guy and find a wingman for Savvy because he is being completely wasted playing with Miro and Lootch right now. You have the assets to go out and get some help. You don't have to overspend to do it (See: Ponikarovsky, Alexei or Torres, Raffi). Just get the Bruins to the playoffs and see what happens. Missing the playoffs is unacceptable and the ship is sinking right now.

Another glaring weakness that Peter could address without spending too much: Matt Hunwick. It is obvious he is not a top-4 defensemen in this league and it is also obvious he's not the same guy he was last year (join the club). Last night, Sergei Effing Kostitsyn outraced him for a puck to nullify an icing. That was his game - speed and the ability to recover quickly. He also got the patented Hal Gill Pylon Treatment in the third period, but Derek Morris thankfully bailed him out. A solid NHL defenseman to log 20 minutes a night could be had without breaking the bank. The good news is here, that post-Olympics, Ference and Stuart should be back in the lineup and Hunwick can get healthy scratched.

There are good signs right now (I have to focus on these things because between the Vikings loss and this losing streak I have considered taking up ballet and yoga and abandoning sports fandom). Krejci-Ryder-Wheeler has consistently been the Bruins best line since the West Coast trip. The numbers aren't there yet, but you can see things coming together for them especially if opposing teams have to deal with a threat from Savvy's line as well (only if Miro is removed from it). Did you see the shiftiness Krejci displayed on the 2nd Bruins goal last night? I think you could say he's close to being fully recovered from the offseason surgery. Derek Morris and Dennis Wideman have both been moving the puck extremely well lately - there is a reason they took the play to Washington on Tuesday and registered 47 shots last night.

I'm with the Mayor though - no team play, no jam, no toughness, no grit. This is what Peter was supposed to bring to the table. Raffi would inject the Bruins with some of that. And goaltending has been a problem too. Montreal's second goal last night should not have beat Tuukka. The "timely" save hasn't been there during this streak.

Sidebar on Kovalchuk. You saw what the Devils gave up for him. To match that, the Bruins would have had to include Krejci, a prospect and Toronto's 1st pick (MAYBE the Bruins 1st and Toronto's 2nd in lieu of Toronto's #1). Case closed, that was not the answer for Boston.

Peter, we're not asking you to go out and make a Kovalchuk-type deal, but it's time to do something.