The Bruins should sign Brian McGrattan

The common consensus is that the last thing the Bruins need is another 4th line grinder. However, I don't think this is true at all. My thoughts on signing Brian McGrattan are that this is a team that is lacking in players who are able to drop the gloves with the heavy hitters in the league. Shawn Thornton, we get it, he is willing to drop with whoever whenever. However, Thornton, in my opinion, is a second tier fighter. Yeah, he can throw them, but he is not on the same level as the true goons of the league. The Bruins can use a guy who will have no problem going toe to toe with the Derek Boogards of the league. It also seems like they are trying to get Milan Lucic to shy away from the fistic abilities to a certain extent. So other than those two, who is truly known as a fighter (Blake Wheeler excluded). Now McGrattan knows exactly what his role would be. He also knows that the Bruins have gone out on a limb bringing him into camp. If you read the article he writes on NESN's front page, he really takes a tone of disappointment, he felt like he was going to get a deal, and was slighted that he sat there with no contract. This means two things. First, he is going to come in with a chip on his shoulder....   He is going to feel like he has a lot of people to prove wrong. Also, he is going to come with a short leash. If the Bruins sign him, he is going to know that he is going to be very expendable, and that without any production, he can spend a large amount of time in the press box. So basically, McGrattan is exactly what the team needs, for a bargain of a price, with a low risk contract....  Sounds like the same conversation we had about Miro the hero last season, and how did that one turn out in the end? Now, if we were to sign McGrattan for around 800k, we would be under the cap, regardless of what happens with Savard to start the year. Now assuming that Savard might spend some time to start the year on the shelf, opening night could look like this...

Lucic – Krejci – Horton
Recchi – Bergeron – Ryder
Caron – Seguin – Wheeler
Thornton – Campbell – Paille

Chara – Seidenberg
Boychuk – Stuart
Ference – Hunwick

Rask
Thomas

Scratch – McGrattan
IR – Savard, Sturm

Salary – $54.982 Million
Salary Cap – $59.4 Million

Assuming Jordan Caron has a good camp, a case could easily be made for him being a third line winger. This puts Blake Wheeler in the position of needing to prove himself. Wheeler would spend time on the third line as a scorer, but also as a big body to keep an eye on the other guys. Blake has needed to prove that he has the ability to play physical hockey for a couple of years now, and if he can't do so, maybe he spends some time in the press box, and McGrattan shifts up to the third line for awhile. Noone is going to take a run at Seguin or Caron if they know that McGrattan is right there ready to rearrange their grill. On the other hand, if the third line finds a flow, there can be a 3 man rotation for the wings on the fourth line. Campbell will be the center, and they can have a rotation of McGrattan, Thornton and Paille, depending on if they need muscle or tempo from the fourth line. The signing of Brian McGrattan will give this team much needed muscle, as well as more depth in the case of injuries, and more flexibility to play the style of hockey that benefits the team the most.