Boychuk contract and the Trade Deadline

by Fantastic Frank on Feb 17, 2012 11:08 AM EST

First off, I wrote this as a comment on yesterdays post, but I figured not many people would see it. So here it is in a fanpost. I'd love to hear some feedback and to see what everyone's thoughts are on the deadline and the Boychuk contract.

When I first heard that Boychuk got re-signed, I didn’t expect them to pay him 3.3 mil a year. Not a massive overpayment, but an overpayment none the less. As long as they keep the Boychuk/Chara pairing until the playoffs, I have confidence in Boychuk. But when he’s running a D pair, he doesn’t have Chara there to clean up his mistakes which usually turns into bad news for the Bs. Not as much lately, but come playoff time and the Chara/Seids pairing comes back, I hope Boychuk gets better and won’t make too many bad decisions in his own end. And God forbid if Boychuk starts thinking he’s Bobby Orr again, and tries to dump and chase the puck and gets himself caught in those predicaments. But overall I like Boychuk as a player and I thought it was a decent signing, as long as he’s not leaving his D partner out to dry, which seemed like a regular thing earlier in the season and also sometimes last season. He’s worth 2/2.5 mill a year max, but I’m not a GM so I’m sure Chia sees someting that I don’t.

Now one of the most anticipated parts of the season has arrived, the trade deadline. As much as I’d like to have a player like Parise/Nash or even Suter for that matter, there’s no way the B’s acquire any of the big name guys because they’ll have to move a big name prospect (ala Dougie Hamilton) or one of their core players. My personal opinion, I’d love them go out and pick up Teemu Selanne, but with the way the Ducks are surging, it looks like he’ll retire in Anaheim. I was looking through the UFAs for next season, and I feel the Bruins will go the more cost-effective route. I see the Bruins trading Corvo, Hamill and a 1st/2nd round pick to Winnipeg for a Jim Slater/Chris Thorburn and I’d love to see Johnny Oduya in a spoked B sweater. They get their second/third line center/winger, and a solid D man with offensive potential in one trade. Well that’s just my opinion, let me know what you guys think.

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Selanne!

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by Dave Carignan on Feb 17, 2012 11:32 AM EST reply actions

with the way the Ducks are surging

While I don’t think we would really get Teemu, the Ducks still have pretty far to go. As much as I don’t think anyone should give up, I do think that if I were in their position, I’d be a seller.

I’d love to see Johnny Oduya in a spoked B sweater.

absolutely.

Kick his ass, Seabass!

by phonymahoney on Feb 17, 2012 4:52 PM EST reply actions

Oh do ya?

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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Feb 21, 2012 8:45 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Relatedly, I thought Oduya’s game had fallen off a bit.

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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Feb 21, 2012 8:46 AM EST up reply actions

With you on Oduya, for depth anyway. he doesn’t really improve on anyone we have significantly but I would be quite comfortable with him coming in should injuries befall the blue line.

Not sure I see the Slater or Thorburn appeal. What’s your reasoning behind them? Thorburn’s offensively useless and has dreadful Corsi #s. Slater’s a mixed bag but is probably an improvement on Caron.

I stand with Tuukka Rask in his fight for the starting job

by TomServo42 on Feb 17, 2012 5:13 PM EST reply actions

Sorry the reply is so late, busy weekend

Well after watching that game Friday, I still like Oduya, but my perception changed a little when he was run over by Paille in the first. And he isn’t as good in his own end as I thought, but I still think the B’s might need to make a trade to shake up this team and get them to start producing as much as they were a few months ago.

And my reason for picking Slater and/or Thorburn were more or less because they come at such a low cost, so there is little risk. The big fish in the trade would be Oduya and one of them would kinda be a throw-in. And with Pevs and Horty out for extended periods of time, I’d figure we pick up a rental grinder that can cycle the puck down low and play the PK. Maybe give Bergy some rest on the PK, and have him play strictly PP time. Have him take some key faceoffs in the defensive zone, that’s about it.

I’d much rather the B’s pick up a top 6 forward, but I feel like Chiarelli will go out and pick up one or two “bargain” forwards that are good in their own end. Kinda like he did last year with Kelly and Pevs, and we all know how that turned out.

by Fantastic Frank on Feb 21, 2012 9:09 AM EST up reply actions