Turco is on my free agent All-Star team
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli repeated several times during his Thursday conference call with the media that there aren’t “a ton” of free agents still available since things have slowed down.
Presumably, the leftovers cannot reach a ton because Keith Tkachuk is retired and not on the market. Oh, rim shot.
All kidding aside, there aren’t a lot of quality players available, but the quality of those remaining on the open range is pretty high.
Here’s a look at my non-Ilya Kovalchuk (I cannot pay him enough) All-Star team of remaining free agents:
Starters
LW — Paul Kariya, C — Mike Modano, RW — Lee Stempniak
D — Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Mottau
G — Marty Turco
I could have Jose Theodore as my backup goaltender. And with an offensive first pair on defense, I could put together a shutdown duo of Andy Sutton and Aaron Ward and then have Andrea Lilja on my third pair with Marc-Andre Bergeron dressed as the sixth D and a power-play specialist.
Despite the age of two of my top forwards, I’d still have to take Bill Guerin on a second line along with Teemu Selanne. I’ve always liked Robert Lang, so he could center a second or third line with John Madden also in the mix to win some draws.
I cannot take on enigmas like Alexander Frolov and Maxim Afinogenov, but Dominic Moore and Glen Metropolit can be a pair of versatile bottom-six forwards for me. Then there’s Arron Asham. With no fighters left on the market, I’d have to ask him to pick up the slack in that department while still contributing in other areas the way he has for years.
I’m trying to stay under the salary cap, so I’d round out the forwards with Richard Park and Adam Mair. My team won’t lead the league in scoring, but it’s a versatile bunch with tons of grit and leadership qualities.
Could some of the above-mentioned players have helped the Bruins if there was enough cap space? Definitely. But Boston has opted to go in other directions with the re-signing of Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell to fill out the bottom lines and the return of six of last year’s season-ending seven defensemen. Now that they’re up against the cap, it would take a move of salary to even add one of the above-mentioned players at a bargain rate.
Imagine if Kariya or Guerin wind up playing for something around $1 million. Well, it won’t be on Causeway Street. If Chiarelli does in fact stand pat after getting Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin’s deals done, we’re going to see mostly the same team back this fall. And then we’ll see how that plays out.
What would your All-Star team of available free agents look like?
Kariya would have been a nice pick up for the B’s at the right (low) price. He’s had alot of injury issues lately. I do ? how durable he is but I certainly don’t ? his skill, that is top notch. Shawn Thornton should/could have been upgraded, I just don’t find him to be all that great at his most important job, fighting! Hunwick should have been moved to forward position with Mcquaid and/or Alexandrov taking his spot on defence.
With 3 new players in the lineup out of 20, I consider that “mostly the same team.”
“we’re going to see mostly the same team back this fall. And then we’ll see how that plays out.”
Umm nope Wideman out 25 year old in that has scored 20 goals 5 of his first 6 seasons for bad teams. Begin out 26 year old Campbell in. A full season from Seidenberg, Paille and Boychuk. With Seguin younger, faster and much better that is not the same as last year.
Selanne or Kariya would be much better but what Boston really needs is a veteran Defenseman. Mara or Morrison would be better than Ference and Hunwick.
I’d love to have Bill Guerin for 1 – 1.5 million. He could have a role similar to Mark Recchi. 20 goals 50 points and a good veteran presence.
The Bruins have all they need. Chara plus Rask equals Division. Not Conference tho hard to touch Washington.
I would love to have Paul Kariya in a Bruins uniforme. this is a guy that can always make a diference and most of all can put numbers on the board. I would ship Ryder or Sturm or Wheeler or all of them together to get Paul.
Lucic – Savard – Horton
Kariya – Bergie- Recchi
Seguin – Krecji – Wheeler (?)
i wouldn’t have signed Thorton arron asham is a better all around player and sutton on defence over mcquaid plus they both can fight the bruins have to get tougher
Satan!!
Satan? Man, that guy’s gonna phone it in for the first 75 games of the season and only start playing for real once playoff time rolls around. Better to just pick him up in March if he’s still around, and he just might be.
forget Wheeler (package him with — and consider losing him the cost of ditching — Ryder)! get Satan! MIRO SATAN. MIROSLAV SATAN. that guy. get him. Miro Satan.
Paul Kariya would be dynomite for this team. He still puts numbers on the board and the B’s are thin at Left wing. He would be on the left side of Krejci!