The Boston Bruins were attached via rumors to several sexy deals this passed trade deadline but none seemed to pan out. Marian Gaborik went from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the L.A. Kings. Bruin-killer Thomas Vanek (62 points in 53 games lifetime vs. the B’s) is now a member of the dreaded Montreal Canadiens. He was acquired from the N.Y. Islanders for a bag of magic beans, I mean a prospect and a conditional draft pick. Defenseman Nick Schultz went from the Edmonton Oilers to the Blue Jackets and other defensemen that were on the Bruins radar disappeared to other teams as well or didn’t move at all.
The Bruins trade deadline wasn’t totally inactive though. They acquired Philadelphia Flyer Andrej Meszaros and Corey Potter off waivers from Edmonton. The Bruins gave a third round pick to Philly for Mesz. 30-year-old Potter is described as a mobile, puck moving defenseman who has a little bit of trouble playing a mistake free game. He has trouble staying consistent in his decision making and is prone to taking bad penalties. Potter is most likely a depth grab just in case the injury plague continues to move through the Bruins back end.
Meszaros, a 28-year-old, left handed, 6’2”, defenseman, played for the Senators and Lightning between 2005 and 2010 when he ended up with Philadelphia. Not a big scorer but usually on the right side of the plus/minus column. He’s an offensive defenseman that will rush the puck but it unfortunately leads to being out of position occasionally. Luckily the Bruins have Patrice Bergeron to make up for such things. He’s got good size and is willing to play the body and on top of all that he’s been a teammate to Zdeno Chara before. They were together briefly with the Ottawa Senators and with Team Slovakia during international play, most recently in this past Olympics.
The biggest concern to me would be that Meszaros has missed big chunks of the NHL season the last two years with injuries. He missed 20 games plus the post-season with back surgery in 2012 and last year’s lockout shortened season was really short for him as he only played in 11 games due to multiple shoulder injuries. That is something the Bruins cannot afford right now. They need an experienced player that can help these younger defensemen down the stretch and take some of the load off of the team’s only veteran defensemen, Chara and Johnny Boychuk.
To me the mark was missed, literally. Mark Stuart was in the rumblings as far as defensemen that might be Boston bound at the deadline. The 29-year=old Stuart played in the Bruins system between Providence and Boston from 2005 to 2011. From 2008 to 2011 he played full-time in the NHL for Boston before being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, now the Winnipeg Jets.
With plenty of young offensive talent on the Bruins blue line with fast puck moving players like Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton, and Matt Bartkowski, I feel like Meszaros is a little more of the same, maybe with a bit more size. To me Stuart was the kind of guy they were looking for. With Dennis Seidenberg out for the season and Adam McQuaid suffering another setback on a leg injury he’s been fighting for months they needed another gritty, defensive defenseman. Stuart is just that. Never amassing more than five goals or 17 points in a season he is usually on the upside of the plus/minus column and loves making opposing forwards pay for trying to skate by him.
Getting a stay-at-home defenseman, and a good leader who wears an “A” in Winnipeg would leave no doubt he could help take some of the load off Chara and Boychuk in helping to lead this team. Stuart would have been an unrestricted free agent in July but the Jets ended up signing him to a four-year $10.5 million contract extension just after the deadline. I think with a little persistence the B’s could’ve ended up with the style of player they are currently short on and usually required to make a good run in the post-season.
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