I like the signing of Ryder. He is a good player who had a tough year in a system that didn't work for him in Montreal.
There was some courtship going on from Cam Neely and Claude Julien to get Ryder. The comfort he has playing for Coach Julien was a big plus for him.
The money they spent on him and the money they will probably dish out for Wideman (around the $3 Million mark) puts the Bruins over the Cap. This means that they need to shed some money. This can get this done by trades and such. They just need to settle up with the cap before the '08-'09 season begins.
I can't see Chiarelli doing anything else with the free agent market. His focus will need to be in trades or moving money.
The Bruins just got better. They have a weapon in Ryder. It will be nice to see him in Black and Gold. He was the Canadians scoring leader two years in a row in '05-'06 and in 06-07. This is a really nice pick up by the B's.
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3 months ago
You are seriously deluded if you think Michael Ryder is good enough to play on the second line - even the third line is a stretch. Don't blame Montreal's system for Ryder's failure to perform. He's actually been a pretty consistent even strength scoring winger over his 4 years in the NHL - 15, 12, 13 and 13 even strength goals over 4 seasons. Ryder scored a total of 14 goals last season. Yes, in the 2 previous seasons he scored 30 goals but more than half of those were on the power play. And most of those power play goals were thanks to garbage rebounds off a Sheldon Souray blast from the point. I kind of think Lucic might be penciled in for that spot with the Bs for the next few years.
At best, Ryder is an even strength 15 goal scorer. And even with all those pp points he was -25 in his last 30 goal season so you get an idea of his play in his own end. Habs sat him out as a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs this year and had serious doubts about his ability to even play in the league - period. $4M / 15 goals = $267,000 a goal. Seems a bit rich even in today's market. The Habs must be laughing - a marginal NHLer signed for $4 MILLION A YEAR for 3 YEARS by their arch rivals. Mind-boggling!
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