If the Boston Bruins are looking for another puck-moving defenceman to help Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug, maybe they should take a run at Dan Boyle. His game struggled for long stretches after his concussion this past season, but he bounced back in the playoffs. The Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa has an intriguing theory: Winger Brad Marchand to the Phoenix Coyotes for defenceman Keith Yandle. The Coyotes have a surplus of D-men, with two good young blue-liners in Connor Murphy and Brandon Gormley. “Zdeno Chara looked absolutely bagged the last two Bruins’ losses to the (Montreal) Canadiens. He also belongs back on the point on the power play with one of the two hardest shots in the league (Shea Weber is the other one), not standing in front of the net to screen goalies,” wrote Shinzawa.
You’d have to think if Ray Shero winds up as Washington Capitals general manager, he would look to Barry Trotz as his coach since they worked together for years in Nashville, where Shero was David Poile’s right-hand man. Shero’s best move in Pittsburgh was getting James Neal from the Dallas Stars, but even if he’d stayed with the Penguins, he’d likely be trading Neal this summer or at the draft to ease major salary-cap problems. It should be an easy trade with Neal’s salary of $5 million palatable in other places.
I can see the San Jose Sharks making a strong run at Pitsburgh’s unrestricted free agent (UFA) Matt Niskanen with Boyle gone. The Sharks are moving Brent Burns back there, but they need a power-play pointman with Boyle gone. Boyle would look good in Detroit, as well as Boston.
Penguins’ Jussi Jokinen, who is also an UFA, scored seven playoff goals, but his right wrist was sore enough that he went through the handshake line after the series with the New York Rangers using his left hand.
Maybe the St. Louis Blues should zero in on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa, even if he turns 33 this summer. He’d be a great No. 3 defender. Centre Patrik Berglund is certainly in play around the league, if not for a blue-liner, then for Ottawa Senators’ Jason Spezza.
The Chicago Blackhawks have Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at a very reasonable $6.3-million salary-cap hit for another season, but you know they’ll be up in the $8.5-million range in new deals. If so, throw in Patrick Sharp ($5.9 million), Corey Crawford ($6M), Brent Seabrook ($5.8M), Duncan Keith ($5.5M) and Marian Hossa ($5.3M) and that’s $45.5 million for seven players out of a 23-man roster. Sounds like the Blackhawks will be dumping players again as they did after their 2010 Stanley Cup win.
I wonder if the Bruins will be shopping third-liner Chris Kelly, 33, this summer because Carl Soderberg was anchoring that line through the playoffs. Kelly hurt his back a month ago and didn’t make it back for the post-season. He makes $3 million each of the next two seasons. Tough-nosed Kevan Miller may have taken Adam McQuaid’s spot on the back end, too. McQuaid (one year left at $1.8M salary-cap hit) had ankle surgery two weeks ago. The biggest hole Boston had was no Dennis Seidenberg (knee surgery), who might have played in the Eastern Conference final.
