Chiarelli

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Earlier this week, Toronto general manager Brian Burke said that his phone has recently been ringing more as far as trade talk after a lull.

General manager Peter Chiarelli says that hasn’t been the case with his phone.

“It’s been pretty consistent,” said the GM in a brief chat with TheBruinsBlog.net prior to his team’s practice at Ristuccia Arena.

The Bruins’ impending salary-cap crunch once Marco Sturm and Marc Savard return to active duty is a continent-wide-known fact. Some teams might even try to exploit the Bruins’ position. But Chiarelli said he’s not receiving any low-ball offers or ones that would make him scratch his head. And he’s prepared to take other steps to clear cap space if a trade doesn’t pan.

“We have to do some moves with regard to our cap,” he said. “No one’s going to take advantage of us. If we have to put someone in the minors, we’ll put someone in the minors.”

The way the Bruins are going, picking a player to demote could be difficult. But by the same token, many players are boosting their trade value.