Aftermath

The afterglow of winning the Stanley Cup lasted about a week…

While Bruins’ fans were celebrating the Game 7 win, certain miscreants caused a lot of trouble, personal injuries and property damage in Vancouver. There was a lot of finger pointing going on, but the mayor and public safety figures bear the lion’s share of blame. When the Canucks last lost a Game 7 final in ‘94, punks took to the streets and caused all sorts of mayhem. Why the city officials opted this year to have a crowd of 100,000 fans congregate outdoors to watch the games on large-screen tv’s with the knowledge that the same sort of riot could occur again borders on criminal negligence. Certainly, the mischievous thugs should be held responsible and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But it was the decision of the mayor and public safety officials to open the streets to the criminal element that led to the riots. When such risks exist, those in position of responsibility have an obligation to act prudently. Thank God no one was killed.

Meanwhile, back in Boston, over 1,000,000 well-wishers enthusiastically lined the parade routes in the city for a “rolling rally” duck boat parade on Saturday. On Sunday, the B’s made their way to Fenway for a celebration before the ballgame. The duck boats circled the field before the players made their way to the field for a group ceremonial first pitch.
The highlight occurred when Chara carried the Cup and placed it smack on top of the pitcher’s mound. It was a glorious moment.

On Tuesday, the NHL held their annual awards ceremony and, to no one’s surprise, Tim Thomas was awarded the Vezina for top goaltender. Chara also won an award for team leadership. Otherwise, the Canucks’ players picked up a lot of hardware.

Life slowly returned to normal and that brief moment of “elusive paradise” faded. For the team it was time to start planning for next season. The chase began for the new year with the annual draft. This year, the B’s held the ninth overall pick which was the final piece of the Phil Kessel trade to Toronto two years ago. The B’s previously moved their pick at #30 to the Leafs in the Tomas Kaberle trade.

The only thing for certain is change, as the 29 other teams will be trying to improve their rosters and the B’s can’t afford to remain content after winning the Cup. Philly has already made a couple of moves trading Richards to LA and Carter to Columbus for younger players and picks and then acquired Bryzgalov from Phoenix.

It’s always a lot of fun studying the various draft websites and TSN to get the lowdown on the top prospects and where they’ll possibly fall. Part of the excitement of draft night is the surprises, reaches and trades. As with any draft in any sport it generally takes a few years to assess whether a player is a stud or a dud. It’s anyone’s guess what the B’s will do at #9, a lot of it depends on which players have already been drafted and which players fall. With the ninth selection the B’s chose defenseman Dougie Hamilton from the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL. He’s 6-4 and 193 lbs. and was ranked at #6 by TSN.

2010-11 Stats: 67 GP, 12 G, 58 PTS

From TSN Scout Grant McCagg:
“Hamilton made steady progress on the Niagara blueline, and averaged more than a point per game in 14 playoff games while leading the Ice Dogs to the third round. Parents were Olympic athletes and older brother Freddie was an NHL draft pick last season. Strengths - Excellent mobility and reach make him difficult to beat one-on-one. Uses his strong, smooth stride to skate his way out of trouble in own zone. deft playmaking abilities on power play. Weaknesses - not overly physical despite imposing size. Prone to mental errors when fatigued, still raw, needs to get stronger. NHL Upside - Size, mobility and offensive could translate into top pairing duties at the NHL level as he fills out.”

Here’s how the first round went:

1. Edmonton Oilers: C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. (TSN Ranking #1)
2. Colorado Avalanche: W Gabriel Landeskog (4)
3. Florida Panthers: C Jonathan Huberdeau (3)
4. New Jersey Devils: D Adam Larsson (2)
5. N.Y. Islanders: C Ryan Strome (7)
6. Ottawa Senators: C Mika Zibanejad (9)
7. Winnipeg Jets: C Mark Scheiffle (12)
8. Philadelphia Flyers (from Columbus Blue Jackets): C Sean Couturier (5)
9. Boston Bruins (from Toronto Maple Leafs): D Dougie Hamilton (6)
10. Minnesota Wild: D Jonas Brodin (10)
11. Colorado (from St. Louis Blues): D Duncan Siemens (13)
12. Carolina Hurricanes: D Ryan Murphy (8)
13. Calgary Flames: W Sven Baertschi (16)
14. Dallas Stars: D Jamieson Oleksiak (17)
15. N.Y. Rangers: C J.T. Miller (18)
16. Buffalo Sabres: W Joel Armia (14)
17. Montreal Canadiens: D Nathan Beaulieu (11)
18. Chicago Blackhawks: C Mark McNeill (19)
19. Edmonton (from Los Angeles Kings): D Oscar Klefbom (21)
20. Phoenix Coyotes: D Connor Murphy (30)
21. Ottawa (from Nashville Predators): W Stefan Noeson (33)
22. Toronto Maple Leafs (from Anaheim Ducks): W Tyler Biggs (15)
23. Pittsburgh Penguins: D Joe Morrow (20)
24. Ottawa Senators (from Detroit Red Wings): W Matt Puempel (27)
25. Toronto Maple Leafs (from Philadelphia Flyers): D Stuart Percy (34)
26. Chicago Blackhawks (from Washington Capitals): W Philip Danault (39)
27. Tampa Bay Lightning: C Vladislav Namestnikov (31)
28. Minnesota Wild (from San Jose Sharks): C Zack Phillips (28)
29. Vancouver Canucks: W Nicklas Jensen (24)
30. Anaheim Ducks (from Toronto via Boston): W Rickard Rakell (32)

There were a couple of notable trades at the Draft as the Sharks acquired defenseman Brent Burns from the Wild in exchange for Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle and this year’s first round pick (Zack Phillips). The Panthers also received defenseman Brian Campbell from the Blackhawks for center Rostislav Olesz. The Hawks remain hard against the cap and were choking on Campbell’s cap hit (5 years remaining at $7.1/year). This definitely frees some cash for the ‘Hawks to go shopping on July 1st.

The remaining members of the Bruins’ draft class of 2011 are:

2. ALEXANDER KHOKHLACHEV LW WINDSOR OHL
3. ANTHONY CAMARA RW SAGINAW OHL
4. BRIAN FERLIN RW INDIANA USHL
5. ROB O'GARA D MILTON ACADEMY
6. LARS VOLDEN G BLUES JR. FINLAND

The reviews are already in and it appears as if this draft class may be a real winner. We’ll know in a few years whether any of these kids pan out in the NHL, so best wishes for their continued development.

With the draft complete, the NHL turns to its annual free agent frenzy starting on July 1st. The cap is going up to $64MM this year, so look for a number of big time deals. Chiarelli has previously indicated that the B’s will not be big shoppers at the market this year, as they’ve yet to decide what to do with their own UFA’s this year (Ryder and Kaberle) as well as their lone RFA (Marchand).

In between the draft and free agency came the news from Montreal that the police have not concluded their investigation of “L’Affaire Chara”. The police will interview Chara in the near future to determine whether to file criminal charges against the B’s captain. As if the police in a major city have nothing else to spend their time on…

Free Agency Frenzy:

July 1st is Canada Day, and not just because it’s the opening of free agency in the NHL. As is the case every year, some teams blow the doors off of common sense when certain deals are made that defy wisdom. There were a ton of moves at the opening of free agency, but these are the ones that really stand out:

Erik Cole to Montreal: 4yr/18MM
Tomas Fleischmann to Florida: 4yr/18MM
Ville Leino to Buffalo: 6yr/27MM
Ed Jovanoski to Florida: 4yr/16.5MM
Scottie Upshall to Florida: 4yr/14MM
James Wisniewski to Columbus: 6yr/33MM

Cole is in his mid-30’s. Fleischmann is coming off of blood clot problems. Jovanoski is older than dirt. And 33 million for Wisniewski? That’s one step short of lunacy. These guys are good-to-very-good players, sure, but none of them are game-changers (but they’re getting paid that way). It was a good move by Chiarelli not to get sucked into buying “B” players for “A” prices.

The B’s lost Michael Ryder to Dallas on a two-year deal (3.5MM/yr) and they signed the perennially disappointing Benoit Pouliot from the Canadiens on a one year “make good” deal. Ryder had a good playoff run for the B’s but in the past two years he was not much more than a floater during the regular season and his performance did not justify the dollars he was getting from Boston. On the second day of free agency, Brad Richards hit the jackpot, leaving Dallas for Manhattan where he signed a eight-year $60MM mega-deal with the Rangers. Every year it seems as if the Rangers make a big splash in free agency and the players who come in rarely seem to make a big difference. The Kings followed up by signing Simon Gagne to a two-year deal.

On the 5th, Tomas Kaberle signed a three-year, $12.75MM deal with Carolina, so the B’s acquired defenseman Joe Corvo from Carolina for a fourth-round pick next year. Corvo is a dependable rear guard but does have a checkered past…The B’s had high hopes for Kaberle and paid a steep price to acquire him (#1 in ’11, Joe Colbourne and a #2 in ’12) but he really never performed as advertised.

With the additions of Pouliot and Corvo, the B’s wound up their summer shopping and moved on to their annual development camp for their prospects. Once that was finished, the B’s took a well deserved break for the summer.