The Bruins and Patrick Kane? Really? Well, that may be a courtship that’s apparently occurring.
On Monday morning, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman floated the nugget that the Bruins are one in every of a number of groups concerned in making an attempt to draw the previous Chicago Blackhawk famous person who’s at the moment a free agent coming off hip resurfacing surgical procedure.
And it’s not all that stunning that the B’s can be concerned. You can say what you need about any commerce or draft decide Don Sweeney has or hasn’t made, however you can’t say the Bruins GM doesn’t do his due diligence in going after gamers he thinks would possibly assist his crew. He’s made a excessive profile play for Jimmy Vesey when he was thought of an affect contributor popping out of Harvard as a free agent. He tried to throw his chips in with John Tavares when the Maple Leafs’ captain was available on the market. Neither of them labored out, however Sweeney was very a lot within the sport.
And there’s additionally the truth that two of his divisional rivals, the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings, are additionally reportedly wooing Kane. If the B’s can’t land him, then perhaps Sweeney can no less than make it a bit tougher for his rivals to take action.
But is Kane actually what the Bruins want? The future Hall of Famer has received virtually each trophy he’s been eligible for – the Hart, Calder, Conn Smythe, Art Ross and the Ted Lindsay. But he has most undoubtedly not received the Selke Award given to the league’s greatest defensive ahead, and that’s the kind of participant the B’s really want.
Despite their 14-3-3 file and their top-five objectives in opposition to common, the B’s are on no account the place they wish to be defensively. That’s a undeniable fact that’s been highlighted by their three losses final week once they gave up 17 objectives, a quantity that had little or no to do with their stellar goaltending. Considering the variety of excessive hazard probabilities the B’s had been giving up (173 going into Monday’s sport in Columbus, good for less than fifteenth within the NHL ), it was a comeuppance that was certain to occur sooner or later.
Kane is not going to assist that quantity, nor will he present the bodily snarl that the crew might use.
But Selke candidates aren’t available in the meanwhile.
The learn right here is that the B’s brass believes that Kane may also help them outscore the defensive deficiencies on the nights that their excellent goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman can’t cowl up the problems. It might additionally give Jim Montgomery and his employees extra time to additional coach up the roster that has seen impactful turnover. It could also be arduous to recollect after the 2 unhealthy losses to Detroit and the Rangers over the weekend, however on Wednesday they performed two of their greatest defensive durations in opposition to a great Florida crew. This crew can play higher structurally than it did over the weekend, it’s only a matter of getting it to take action extra persistently.
Just what they’d be getting from the as soon as explosive winger is one other query. He had 16-29-45 totals in 54 video games with Chicago final season and he ramped up his manufacturing as he was about to get dealt. Once with the Rangers, it took him some time to get going and he was simply OK, ending with 5-7-12 totals. In the playoffs, Kane was the Rangers’ third main scoring (1-5-6) within the Blueshirts’ stunning first spherical loss to New Jersey.
Whether he’s a greater participant now than he was earlier than the surgical procedure will solely really be answered after some crew indicators him.
Another concern is the truth that a participant or two must exit the door for the B’s to be even within the ballpark, as they’re arduous up in opposition to the wage cap. Things would have been simpler for them if rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei proved himself prepared for NHL obligation. As good a prospect as Lohrei seems to be, there’s no telling if he’ll be prepared by the tip of the 12 months.
But if the B’s can someway make the cash and time period work with out damaging their present roster, then it may very well be value a strive. Few folks anticipated the B’s to be the place they’re now, however right here they’re.
Despite their flaws, the standings say that they’re a contender. They would possibly as properly act like one.
Source: www.bostonherald.com