Bruins Re-Sign Andrew Ference: Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, Chiarelli

The Boston Bruins announced yesterday that they have re-signed veteran defensemen Andrew Ference to a new three-year deal. Ference will make an annual salary of $2.25 million per year. For all the good deals Peter Chiarelli has made since joining the Bruins, this is one of his worst ones yet.

Ference, who is in his fourth year playing for the Bruins, has yet to play a full year for the Bruins since joining the team. Since joining the team in 2006 the most games he has played in a single season has been 59 which he did in 2007-08.

He certainly has yet to prove that he is deserving of over $2 million dollars a year. Since joining Boston his highest point total was 16 points which he put up in 2008-09. Ference wasn't brought in to put up many points but the fact that his highest total is just 16 points makes it look like he shouldn't be making so much money.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Bruins are already so close to the cap as it is. Ference was in the last year of his contract this year in which he was making just $1.4 million a year. Watching Ference play these last couple of years, it is clear he was not deserving of an $ 800,000 dollar raise.

The biggest problem with this deal is what is going to happen when other players have to be re-signed. Mark Stuart is in the final year of his deal and he is making just $1.3 million. He is clearly the better defensemen between the two and will be expecting to make more than Ference when he is negotiating a new deal.

Andrew Ference is far from a terrible defensemen but one can only wonder what he was thinking when negotiating this deal. Does he really think money grows on trees?