Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli announced on Friday that the club has re-signed Mark Stuart to a one-year deal. Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe is reporting that the contract is worth $1.675 million.
The normally unbreakable defenseman missed 26 games due to injury during the '09-'10 season while dealing with a broken sternum and broken finger that led to a serious infection. Since cracking the Bruins lineup full-time in the fall of '07, Stuart had not missed a regular season game. When healthy this season, Stuie showed that he has developed into a solid, physical, stay-at-home NHL defenseman.
Peter Chiarelli called the deal a "bridge contract", saying "We gave him a little bit of a bump from his QO (Qualifying Offer) and I look at it as a bridge contract to something more. He is a UFA next year, so we'll evaluate through the year and we may extend him through the year. He was OK with a one-year and to that point I made earlier about building on to something more, we have a little more flexible next year."
I think $1.675 million is a good price for blue liner of Stuart's caliber. The Bruins will have the same group of D-Men back from last season, which was a major area of strength for the team. This signing get's my seal of approval (...not that anyone really cares, but I like to get these things on record so I can go back and laugh at myself for the dumb things that I wrote in the past.)