I agree the cap hit is a bit high, but this is due to his frequent trips to the IR. Were he able to stay healthy I think he would warrent his salary. Still, I agree it was a bit unnecessary for Chiarelli to have given him what he had based on his injury history.

While I think the bruins are overpaying him based on his previous body of work in the city, he is easily better than McQuaid or Stuart, though both of those players are worth more based on their cap hit in my opinion. I think that’s why he gets bashed all the time; relative to his cap hit, he is than a player like Mcquaid, though by ability, he far exceeds him.

And he hugs trees.

Incredible talk — Ference is the worst D-man by far. His +18 stat aside, look at the teams overall record when he’s in the line up vs. when he’s not. I dont have the numbers but recall them to be quite telling. He’s a good defenseman and when healthy he has been such for his entire tenure as far as Im concerned.

I say actually because over his tenure with the Bruins he has been average at best, up until this season. He is always injured and frankly was no more than a #5 or #6 coming into this season, based on his last few years of play. He is being paid, however, as if he is a #3 defenseman. I expected Ference to play the way he is playing this season over his entire time here. It has taken him quite some time to get to this level of play and I expected it well before this. He is obviously talented, however his play up until this season has been beyond underwhelming.

He appears to be playing up to his alleged ability.

@ MCK – “He was actually playing pretty well.”
Why the “actually”? were you surprised? why is everyone always bashing this guy? At the best, Ference only receives back-handed compliments from some fans. The guy is a good player. I hope this isn’t a serious injury, but if it is, then there will not be a log-jam of D-men when STU returns.

He was actually playing pretty well. Damnit