Unbridled Optimism

There has been a lot of panic this season as to where the "disappointing" Bruins are going. There has been a lot of talk about trades, free agents, etc. Well here is my drunken rant about why people should basically chill out....

The Bruins this year have been hit with the injury bug just as hard as any team in the NHL. David 'bacon' Krejci got hit with swine flu., Looch and Savvy with month or so injuries, 3 big players out long term... this combined with the normal wear and tear of the brutal game we love called hockey, and that is a big hurdle for the B's to overcome...

There has been a lot of talk about free agents being brought in, namely Peter Forsberg. This is one of the point of the season that I have been disappointed with so far. Forsberg has shown signs of the player he used to be with Colorado, which means that he would bring immediate production to this team. He would also bring a lot of intangibles to a young Bruins squad. He has been in the league for seemingly 207 years (Lindros??? That was an even deal). That kind of experience could do incredible things for the plethera of youth that Boston has. Namely, I could see Forsberg quickly taking David 'bacon' Krejci under his wing and teaching him more in a season than he has learned in the rest of his hockey career. Forsberg would have been a great addition to this Bruins team who's verteran presence consists of Michael 'slow' Ryder, Mark 'Steve Nash of the NHL' Savard, and Zdeno 'I'm too tall to taste this chicken' Chara, a combined total of 33 years of NHL experience (aka almost chris chelios). That would make forsbergs presence on the team that much more valuable, also with stanley cup experience.

Then there has been talk of trades. Namely, Ilya Kovalchuk. I have hugely mixed feelings about this deal.... Kovalchuk is one of the premier players in the NHL, lets not lie to ourselves. He is exactly what the Bruins could use, especially the way they have played this year. He would bring excitement, tempo, and scoring to a team that has lacked all 3. This is where the mixed feelings come into this deal. I feel like this deal would be great for the team this year. It would make for a deeper playoff run, more scoring, etc. etc. Also, combine that with the experience that Kovalchuk has with Savvy. These two already have an intro to each other on the ice. Think about a Kovalchuk-Savard-Lucic line. Come on now. However, what would Kovalchuk's staying power in Boston be?? He would obviously come with a large cap hit. How would that play into the clubs future?? What would this mean for some of the younger players that havent been locked down long term yet. Also, it seems as if Atlanta would be demanding quite a premium for Kovalchuk, especially given their recent success, and possibility to make the playoffs this year. Meaning that Boston would have to give up a Zach Hammil, Boychuk, Marchand, Lehtonnen or Bitzy. In order to get Kovalchuk, we would probably have to give up at least one of these guys, if not multiple, as well as picks, and other lesser prospects. Basically, not at all worth it for a rental player that we wont sign past this year. I would love to see Ilya in a spoked B this year, but not for the price it is gonna demand. If it was a deal that just demanded Draft picks, ok, but not for the plethera of young talent Atlanta is going to demand.

Here is the bright spot to all of this... The team this year isn't that far behind where they were last year... last year on November 22, the team was 14-4-4. 32 points on November 22. This year on November 22, 10-8-4, for 24 points. Last year on November, the team went 11-1 in November, on a wicked hot streak. Looking at this year, The Bruins have had a decent November, starting off a road trip right with wins over Atlanta (a probably western conference playoff team) and Buffalo (an always dangerous team with ridiculously ugly jerseys). So for a team to only be 8 points behind where they were last year, when their team won the eastern conference, I feel like things could quite possibly work out for the best.