Five Minute Major – 10/21

The happiest people at the TD Garden tonight will be the guys selling programs. After a five-game homestand to start the season that allowed Bruins fans to learn the names and numbers of the 20 guys expected to wear the Black and Gold all season, sales had to be dwindling. Three call-ups, two trades and a trip to the IR later, visitors to Causeway St. tonight will need new rosters to figure out who some of these guys are.

With the Bruins off to a lackluster 3-4-0 start and languishing behind eight other teams in the Eastern Conference, a move by management was not shocking. Before the season, if you asked me to draw up a list of the three Bruins most likely to be traded during the season, I would have offered you Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ferrence. When the hammer came down after the Patriots’ 23^rd touchdown Sunday night, it was Kobasew who was moved. He was shipped to Minnesota for a 2011 2^nd Round draft pick, prospect Alex Fallstrom and depth player Craig Weller. The same day, Milan Lucic was placed on the Long-Term Injury Reserve list, shelving him for a mandatory 10 games with a broken finger. The digit needed surgery to fix and he is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. The Bruins followed that with a call to Providence. Brad Marchand, Vladimir Sobotka and Guillame Lefebvre were all brought up to the big club to fill forward spots. The final move of the wheeling and dealing was the trade of two draft picks to Buffalo for former first round pick Daniel Paille. How do all these moves shake out? Does anyone have any idea how the lineup will look tonight when the Bruins play Nashville? Those questions and more are tackled in today’s “Five Minute Major.”

1. Again, not a shock that Kobasew was dealt. He had just one assist over seven games, and with a salary of $2.3 million for this year and next, his paycheck was not equal to his production. Add in his spot as a third-liner, it probably never would. I am sure when Peter Chiarelli was offered a high draft choice, an intriguing prospect and a player who can skate a few games if needed for an overpaid, often injured player, he took that deal very quickly. With the addition of the Wild’s 2^nd round pick in 2011, the Bruins now have four first rounders and three second rounders over the next two drafts. Those are very big chips to play when looking to make a trade in today’s NHL. For a frame of reference, this past summer the Flyers traded two first round picks, a third round pick, a top prospect and a solid NHLer for Chris Pronger. If the Bruins hope to add a top-flight player (Ilya Kovalchuk for example) they will need these high choices to dangle. Or, the B’s can keep these picks and steal a young player for themselves. For the current installment of the Black and Gold, moving Kobasew’s salary this year – and especially next – was the most important factor.
2. The trade for Paille yesterday was an interesting move. The team had just rid themselves of $2,333,333 in salary for the year and then picked up a player for a similar role with a salary of $1,125,000. It was widely assumed that moving Kobasew would open doors for young, homegrown talent to claim a spot – at a cheap price – until a bigger move was made down the road. Instead, the Bruins bring in an underperforming grinder in Paille. He has 35 goals in almost 200 NHL games. While he does play a physical game, taking the body and forcing the issue for defensemen, that seems right up Sobotka and Marchand’s alley. Paille is only 25 and could benefit from a change of scenery. He wasn’t getting much ice time in Buffalo, having fallen out of Lindsay Ruff’s favor. Still, there is usually a reason a former first round choice finds himself on the bench or in the press box. One area Paille may help immediately is the penalty kill, which has been atrocious this year.
3. If you are Sobotka or Marchand, you have to be wondering what just happened. You were brought up to Boston after the Kobasew trade and early indications had Sobotka taking Lucic’s spot with Krejci and Wheeler and Marchand sliding in with Bergeron and Recchi. Now, Paille is in the mix and one of those players is likely to be relegated to spectator status. Lefebvre was always slated to be the extra body and he will most likely head back to the Baby B’s today. Sobotka is NHL-ready and deserves a long look with the big club. Sobotka has been a key contributor in the AHL, showing signs of an offensive game. When brought up to Boston, he has been assigned fourth-line duties, effectively stifling his scoring side. It is time to give him some run with skilled players and see if his crash and bang game adds to that mix on a top line. Marchand and Bergeron clicked a bit in the preseason, with Marchand’s aggravating style of play opening some room for Bergeron to move around. Marchand also had a knack for being in the right place to collect a Bergeron pass in front of the net. My first inclination would have been to give these two guys a shot before adding someone from outside the organization.
4. One added wrinkle in this whole thing is that Shawn Thornton has missed a few days of practice with what Claude Julien termed “maintenance issues.” All he needed was a hoodie and a cougar at his side to be more Belichikian. While a banged up fourth-liner isn’t the biggest thing in the world, it would explain the extra movement on Paille. His game, as underwhelming as it has been, projects at either a third-line defensive level or as a fourth-line banger. I don’t see Thornton being out long, if at all, but the bases are now covered if that does happen.
5. The overriding theme of these moves is that Chiarelli, Julien and the rest of management team are looking to spark the team. The string of alternating good and bad performances has to come to an end. Kobasew even admitted after the deal that when a team is underperforming, and players aren’t doing their jobs, changes need to/will be made. The message is clear to the players still in the Bruins’ locker room. Do you job, do it well, do it quick. Expectations were high for this team at the start of the year and they haven’t been met. However, despite the slow start, there is plenty of time left to right the ship and play better hockey. The magic number for the B’s right now is 75. That is how many games are left in the season. People expected the Bruins to score goals like it was the 1970s again and that isn’t this team’s style. They are at their best when they force the other team into mistakes and capitalize. Instead of looking for the perfect play, Julien wants players who will steamroll the opposition and score by any means necessary. Sobotka and Marchand have that ability as well as the desire to prove they are beyond the AHL bus trips and civic centers. Expect them to push their teammates to change their “compete level” and up the tempo of the game.

At the end of the day, the Bruins accomplished a few things with these moves. At the moment, about $1.2 million in cap space is open if other moves need to be made. They added a few fresh faces to a complacent and uninspired group. The proverbial shot has been fired by management. Just be lucky that Mike O’Connell isn’t still the GM. If that were the case, he would have traded Marc Savard for a few players to be named later and a coupon to Dunkin Donuts just to “shake things up.”

The true result of these moves will be known after Thursday’s game in Philadelphia. The B’s will have played two games in two nights and had a chance to see their new incarnation on the ice. Tonight, the Black and Gold play a Nashville team that is also off to a bad start. This is a good chance for the B’s to attack on home ice, liven up the team and the crowd and turn things around. The Predators have scored just 10 goals in seven games and are ripe for the picking. A convincing win tonight is a great springboard into the second big conference clash of the year for the Bruins in Philly tomorrow. That game will be a battle between two teams expected to be at the top of the East but at the moment closer to the bottom. Each side will be looking to send a message and the Bruins have to bring their best game to the City of Brotherly Love. My eyes will be on the captain, Zdeno Chara, the next two nights. He is the leader of this team and it needs him to step up. A return to his menacing play on defense will go a long way to bringing things around for the B’s. Whether it is a big goal on the power play, a punishing hit in the corner or a dominating win in a fight, Big Z needs to show his team the way.

This is a very important stretch for the Bruins. With five games over the next 10 days, the first month of the season can still be salvaged. Games against Philly, Ottawa and New Jersey thrust the B’s right back into conference play, where they need to gain ground already. It sounds silly, but a winning record heading into November should be the team’s goal right now.

UPDATE (10:30 a.m. on 10/21): Adding insult to, well…injury, the Bruins just announced that leading scorer and first-line center Marc Savard has been placed on the Long Term Injured Reserve list with a broken left foot. Like Lucic, he is out a minimum 10 games and is in the 4-6 week range. This is a huge blow to the Bruins as they lose one of their few dependable scorers so far this year. No word on how he broke the foot, but he was at practice yesterday so a shot off the skate would make some sense. The Bruins called up Trent Whitfield to take his place on the roster. A 32-year old veteran of the NHL, he in no way will replace Savvy’s skill and presence on offense. At best he is a fill-in while the Bruins figure out what to do. Consider this a call for Zach Hamill to come up. He is a future top-line center in this league and might as well get his start over the next month.
 
No question, the Bruins are in disarray. This is the worst possible start for the team. They are under .500 and two members of the projected top line to start the year are on LTIR and out until December. They have had trouble scoring as it is and now will be even more desperate for goals with not much firepower available. The true character of this group will come to light over the next handful of games. Can they stay afloat and keep even with the teams around them? Will these injuries spark a pushback from players who will be doubted? Or will the Bruins revert to the days of old and wave the white flag? It will be interesting to find out.

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