The Boston Bruins Need Their Stars Back, but at What Cost?

The Boston Bruins have been a little anemic offensively in the last few games, with the glaring exception a 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Take that game out of the equation, and the Bruins are behind on goals, with 10 goals for the Bruins and 14 goals for the opposition.  Even if you factor in the Pittsburgh game, Boston is still behind by one goal (17-18).

The Bruins faced some injuries before the season even started, and they were able to handle the opposing teams for the most part.

With Johnny Boychuk out with a broken forearm, his practice looked good and could be back by next weekend.

David Krejci, one of the Bruins centers and one of the top setup men that can also score, is out with a concussion received on a thundering clean check from St. Louis Blues' T.J. Oshie.  Krejci doesn't remember the hit.  Currently there is not return time schedule for Krejci.

Tim Thomas suffered his first loss, but it wasn't due to his poor performance.  The veteran netminder played well, stopping 31 of 33 shots.  Coach Claude Julien told BostonBruins.com as much but couldn't really call anybody out.

"I certainly don't fault Timmy. He was good, he kept us in the game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus, but I'm not going to praise our team because we didn't play well."

The Blame Game

There really isn't any one person you can blame in the Bruins roster, as everybody seems to have slumped a bit in the past two games.  The two roster members you definitely cannot blame are the goalies, as they both played their part. However, the defense failed to help them out, and the offense failed to produce.

The offense is in obvious disrepair.  In the last two games, the opposing goalies of Carey Price and Brian Elliot have been lights out for the most part, but the Bruins have not been the net crashing team that they were in October.  When the Bruins don't crash the net, the opposition has an easier time with them.

Tuukka Rask, who has yet to get a number other than zero in the "W" column, has played well, but for some reason most of the goals have been the kinds that you will never see again for a long time. The offense has not helped him out, either.  I don't feel Rask deserves to be criticized for his play.

When you have Marco Sturm and Marc Savard out, that is bad enough, but to have a hard-hitting, scoring defenseman in Boychuk and the setup man in Krejci out as well, that does put a strain on the team's scoring capability.

The Cap Dilemma

Now the Bruins are going to face another problem.  The Cap.  With the pending return of Savard and Sturm also comes a salary cap problem.

When these two return, the Bruins organization will be approximately two million dollars over the cap.  That signals that changes are coming.  Not because they want to, but math dictates that they have to.

Who Should Go?

Two names that come to mind immediately are Michael Ryder and Daniel Paille.  The changes include trades and/or demotion to the AHL Providence Bruins.  The latter would be preferable, as they could work on their game and be a good reserve to have on hand in the event further injuries happen to key players.  If asked, will they comply?  It's not unheard of for players to simply refuse to report to their assigned camp, and if they don't, it could get ugly.

I'm not thinking Ryder because he's a bad player.  He has been playing very well as of late, but he's a streaky player and he is also a four million dollar cap hit.  There goes that math part of it.

Paille's game has been not great.  His hustle is very good, but speed alone will not win the battles, as his puck handling has been failing him.  To date, he has played just four games, has not earned a point and his plus/minus is at minus-three.  Not enough play could be a factor, but his puck-handling abilities has always been hampered.  In terms of the cap hit, he is just over a million.  Trade or send him to Providence for tuneup.

Andrew Ference is another person that comes to mind.  Two reasons are that he is injury prone and his is a 2.25 million dollar cap hit.

Who Should Stay

Brad Marchand is the player first and foremost that needs to stay.  This kid has speed, quick hands and an active stick.  He produces both defensively and offensively and is an agitator.  He was built to be on the fourth line to add to the offense's punch and to get on the opposing top line's nerves.  I have time and time again watched him create odd-man rushes or breakaways and really get in the heads of the opposition.  He even makes Shawn Thornton better, and while I like the grit of Thornton, I like him even better when he has the grit and is scoring.

Jordan Caron has proven that he belongs in the roster.  He is a big with some speed and is not afraid to get into the boards to get the puck.  His development in Providence has paid dividends.  Caron is responsible with the puck, having thus far earned a plus-three.  He is just 20 years old and will get better, and cap-wise, he's a good fit.

Tyler Seguin has also proven himself offensively, but needs work to get back defensively.  He is minus-two in his plus/minus, but he's just 18 years old.  His scouting report has held true—while he is a natural center, he can play the wing.  He has fast wheels and can get up the ice from stride to full speed in just a couple of strides.  His puck-handling ability is good, and he's one of those players that can jump from juniors to the NHL.

The Gamble

All this said, who is to say that Sturm and Savard will not get injured again?  Who will say that Savard's concussion will not impair his play for the rest of his career?  Concussions are the trickiest of injuries to diagnose and overcome.  Only time will tell, and in the past two years, the Bruins can tell you that surprises such as these will pop up at any given time.

At the End of the Day...

At this point no one knows what is happening.  Ryder's name has been bounced around, and the main reason is the cap hit.  Until Savard and Sturm returns to the lineup, Ryder is staying put, and the Bruins have to play with what they have.  It isn't a horrible list on paper, but on the other paper commonly called the stat sheet, the team needs to pick it up.

This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean"