Team toughness now in full supply

McGrattan

Over the weekend, we saw Gregory Campbell christen his Bruins career with a decent bout with Phoenix’s Vernon Fiddler, Shawn Thornton do his usual amount of protecting his teammates, Milan Lucic nearly come to blows with Ed Jovanovski and plenty of physical play from Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand.

Plus, Adam McQuaid, a guy never afraid to throw his weight around, didn’t get into the lineup.

But obviously the Bruins and general manager Peter Chiarelli decided their team still needed more toughness because today they officially announced they signed Brian McGrattan to a one-year deal. The 29-year-old McGrattan, who’s famous for some classic heavyweight bouts and triple-digit PIM totals, was in training camp with the Bruins as a pro tryout, and he went to Europe with the team.

While it was not announced, it was reported over the weekend that the deal is a two-way contract with an AHL salary low enough to avoid re-entry waivers. Having McGrattan around as an insurance policy against injury to Thornton or other Boston bone-crunchers is a low-cost, low-risk move. However, right now I wouldn’t mess with the chemistry of Boston’s starting 12 up front. Marchand, Thornton and Campbell, in particular, seemed to really click Sunday in the victory over the Coyotes.

•In a second move today, Boston waived Nolan Schaefer for the purpose of assignment to Providence (AHL). The goaltender’s arrival probably can’t come soon enough after the P-Bruins allowed 10 goals in two games over the weekend (one win, one loss).