This past Wednesday, the NHL’s annual trade deadline came and went at 3 PM. As teams like the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers all improved their rosters, the Boston Bruins stood absolutely still.
However, the Bruins did pick up a couple of scrubs or “depth” players. Neither of which are legit top four defensemen, which is what the Bruins needed going into the deadline. Apparently, that’s not according to Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli who traded for Andrej Maszaros and claimed Correy Potter off waivers from the Oilers.
As for Potter, he doesn’t deserve any of my commentary because he’s going straight to Providence. He’s not the replacement for Dennis Seidenberg.
But Meszaros is a different story. He is the replacement for Seidenberg. Yes, one of the most inconsistent Defensemen in recent memory is or is supposed to fill the hole left by Seidenberg. Yes, your GM of your team believes that a man who has been a healthy scratch 24 times this season (And once for Hal Gill) can defend the way Seidenberg did. If the man failed as a flyer, what makes you think he’d succeed as a Bruin?
There were several different and BETTER options on the blue line for the Bruins that would not have cost them a significant roster player such as:
- Jack Johnson-CBJ
- Andrew MacDonald-Traded from NYI to PHI
- Stephane Robidas-Tradedfrom DAL to ANA
- Chris Phillips-OTT
- Michael Del Zotto-NYR
The real kicker here is that all of these players fit better into the Claude Julien system than Andrej Meszaros does. I guess that Peter Chiarelli is perfectly satisfied with being muddled in the middle instead of competing for a cup. He’s perfectly fine with having a thin blue line as long as it gets him to the second round.
One last thing: The Bruins scratched Meszaros in his first game with the team against the Washington Capitals. Scared yet?