I agree with Char. I know Boston likes body smashing as Lucic’s popularity attests, but that is how he defines himself, and how many such players do. Lucic’s scoring ability is in truth secondary and his contract does not reflect that. But Wheeler is a skill player. I still recall his shorthanded goal against the Blues in the 08-09 season. He danced around all five defenders, and then stuffed it in the net! Not in a million years would you ever see Lucic or Recchi or Begin EVER do that in a million years. That is something you can’t teach and Wheeler has it, so like other skill players, aggressive checking is secondary to him. I see him check when it is in good defensive posture, but otherwise, rarely.
I think that makes him a much smarter player than others who do check just because they have a good target. I think his intelligence on the ice helps to set him apart and will make him a good two-way player for years to come. And thank you for saying that checking does not equal heart. Skill players can play with a lot of heart by making good targets. That is why people bang bodies in the first place, so don’t call Wheeler heartless.

I don’t consider Wheeler to have a two game and someone with that size shouldn’t have to be told to throw checks. No one is suggesting he fight either that puts him in the box and off the ice but then again if he’s in the box no more offsides Blake is terrible at staying onsides.

Who suggested he fight ? I sure didn’t…

Wheeler has to be more physical plain and simple he’s too big not to be. GMs will ultimately stay away from Wheeler because he is soft. Opposing teams starting knocking Blake off the puck more and more last year it must stop or Wheeler will always hover around 20 goals his whole career.

This upcoming season is make or brake for Blake if he wants another contract beyond this year.

I took a quick look at the numbers, and for this season, there are certainly a substantial number of similarities to Macarthur as you have so noted. The goals and assists are close, the PIMs are close, even the plus minus. The big difference is the preceding season, where Wheeler was a +36 as compared to a -4 and scored 21 goals as compared to 18 this season. Given the power outage this season in terms of offense, we might have expected more from him, especially if his confidence can be kept up. I therefore think that he has more value than Macarthur because of intangibles, but you do make a very compelling argument that should not be signed for that amount given the free agent class. So I think you are right in assuming the arbitration amount, and I think that it might be worth taking the deal since Wheeler is expected to bounce back. Though I will admit that I am a science guy and not a gambler so I will watch with interest to see what happens, though I expect the Bruins will hold on to him, why shoot yourself in the foot when you really need players who can score?

I think he needs a single year contract at a $2-2.15mil payout, with a promise of raise and extension midway through the season if his numbers are up. I do believe that he had a slumping season but the team as a whole was offensively challenged to say the least. This will give him something to strive for and he can prove that he is worth a more lucrative contract.

I find it interesting there is so much dissent on this topic. Personally, I think that Wheeler is a very talented player who isn’t really a leader, and is still growing, and we saw those pains last year. He was in an extremely poor environment to grow, and I believe that led to inconsistency. The fact that he couldn’t have consistent 2nd-line quality linemates also likely led to a decrease in his production (Let’s face it, Ryder was a bench-warmer, not a 2nd liner last season). So for those reasons and likely a lack of confidence instilled in him by the lack of scoring which he had been accustomed to in his first and only NHL season, one can see how he may have a lack of confidence. I think PC knows this and that he will take that into account in his attempts to retain his services. Furthermore, there is a reason he wasn’t a healthy scratch. I will admit now I didn’t see all of last season’s games because of my job, but I will say that I cannot recall one single instance where wheeler had one of Wideman’s “adventures” and in fact I recall several times yelling “Thank God!” when Wheeler came in and broke up a play, so I disagree that he is a poor defensive player. with all that in mind, I think at least he will be a good 3rd line energy player if he can start using his size, and I expect to see him as a regular on the 2nd line in his bounce back season.

I would also like to know where you heard that Ferrence or Hunwick would be traded SanDogBrewin

I would walk. I am not paying this kid over 2 mil for the lackluster effort you get most of the time. See ya.

The Bruins will start the year with 3.5Mil of Sturm’s LTIR cushion so Chiarelli is not screwed. $900,000.00 is the base and max for rookies the bonus doesn’t count against the cap until 2011-2012 year end total just like Wheeler’s this year.

If Blake is awarded 2.5Mil plus the 900,000.00 for Seguin it will be tight but the Bruins will still be under. PC has already said if he needs to make a move he will look for it to be Hunwick or Ference so please RELAX!

This good news / bad news, it might mean that Wheeler is more expensive than you would like but also make Ryder’s contract more attractive in a trade. The Bruins management should decide which is the more valuable (Wheeler I suspect) and act accordingly.

I have an interesting thought on the Wheeler contract talks- What if the Bruins go to arbitration and don’t agree with the figure that the arbiter comes up with, but still want to negotiate with Wheeler?

They could simply “walk away” from the arbitration reward, thus making Wheeler a UFA. Then they can continue negotiating a deal with him. Granted, Wheeler will have that arbitration award to work with as a target dollar ammount, and the move probably wouldn’t work in a “normal” free agent market.

However, I think that this summer does NOT constitute a “normal” market. There are many skilled players that have not found much of a market for their talents because of the gulf between cap basement and cap ceiling teams (and the lack of cap space for many “cap ceiling” teams), see Stempniak, Lee and Ponikarovsky, Alex (and for that matter, Evegeni Nabokov, who fled to to the KHL).

My point is that in this kind of market, what team is going to want to pay more than the $2-2.5 million the Bruins will offer Wheeler? Wheeler has shown himself to be a soft, inconsistent, bad decision-making player who has a lot of offensive upside and shows that skill in flashes, but never consistently to this point in his career. If no one in the market will show interest in him, why not get him at the lowest number possible?

Circumstances should dictate Wheeler’s deal in this instance, and this isn’t without precedence, even on the Bruins current roster. Look at Dennis Seidenberg, a good 2-way defenseman that signed for $3.25 million at 4 years this summer. However, last year the market for his talents just wasn’t there, and he had to wait all the way through August to sign a low $2.25 million deal for just one year with Florida.

When it comes to a player like Wheeler, I think the Bruins should look at not only his value in a bubble, but also in the context of the UFA market as presently constituted.

So Wheeler’s agent must see that he will get in the ballpark of 2.5 if he goes to arbitration. Are you saying that if they go 2 years at 2.15 it may get done?

I just cant believe that someone that was as frustrating as Wheeler was last year is going to get a raise.

And we still haven’t signed Seguin. We’re screwed in respect to the cap