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| Bruins’ trade deadline choice partly to blame for playoff demise | 05.17.09 at 12:51 pm ET |
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli made the wrong choice with Steve Montador at the trade deadline
The Bruins season is kaput after a seven-game struggle against the Carolina Hurricanes that revealed a serious flaw or two on a Black and Gold team that cruised through the 82-game campaign.
The Big Bad B’s were the best team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, and pumped up expectations ever so higher when they dispatched the hated Montreal Canadiens with four quick, short and sweet strokes of their collective hockey sticks.
It was a magical hockey ride that spiked fan expectations and had many firmly bracing for a full Stanley Cup run in Boston’s first year back on the hockey map. But the series against the Hurricanes revealed weaknesses on the B’s roster that must be addressed going forward in the brave new world of a potentially shrinking salary cap.
This isn’t just solely about player mistakes or flaws on the ice, however.
There were also miscues made by the front office during the season that affected Boston’s playoff run, and none was bigger than Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli’s mis-step at the NHL trade deadline.
There were six full-time defensemen dealt at the trade deadline on or around March 4, and Chiarelli ended up landing the worst of the available blueliners in Steve Montador — a sixth defenseman capable of playing physical hockey and 13-16 minutes a night.
But Montador wasn’t the type of D-Man that should have been playing nearly 30 minutes in a Game 7 scenario or running the point on one of the power play units. That’s exactly where Montador found himself in the decisive Thursday night tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes, and it’s a clear illustration of how shallow the depth was along the Boston blueline.
The statistical numbers actually show a player in Montador that finished with a goal and 2 assists and a +5 in 11 playoff games with the Bruins this spring, but — as B’s bench boss Claude Julien is fond of saying — it’s not always about the statistics. The 29-year-old Montador clearly wilted under the pressure of the heavy Carolina forecheck during the semifinal series, and wasn’t a good fit as a top -four defenseman.
It’s obviously unfair to paint the Will Ferrell look-a-like as the poster boy for all that went wrong with the Bruins during the postseason. There’s enough blame to be meted around to all four corners of the B’s dressing room for the eventual defeat at the hands of the Carolina Tropical Storms. Injuries to Ference and Hunwick conspired to put Montador into a position where he wasn’t going to be 100 percent successful, but it’s fair to ask what might could have been different had Chiarelli chosen the prize behind a different door.
It was plainly clear to Chiarelli and Co. that shoring up their defensemen depth was of high import given Andrew Ference’s history of sustaining injuries throughout his career — a trait that made it a distinct possibility he wouldn’t be available for portions of the playoffs. Combine that with Matt Hunwick’s status as a rookie dealing with the Stanley Cup playoff pressure cooker for the first time, and the B’s had to make a move.
A handful of useful blueline names were dealt at the NHL trade deadline, above and beyond that of Montador , and Chiarelli made a mistake in not acquiring one of those better defenseman back in March. The Bruins GM said several times during the year that the ”window” can sometimes be a narrow one for an NHL team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. The “window” way of thinking is a byproduct of the NHL salary cap. A team can change drastically from year-to-year given the financial situation of any particular team.
It’s also the best reason why Boston’s braintrust should have gone for broke this year.
None of the defenseman traded at the NHL trade deadline were No. 1 Chris Pronger-types, but each one was arguably better than Montador ended up being with the Bruins over the last three months of the hockey season. One more important note: none of the defenseman traded would have cost anything close to Phil Kessel or any of the outstanding young talent dotted along the Bruins roster.
Here’s a list of the D-Men that ended up moving at the deadline, along with their relative trade costs and production after the deadline. The intent hockey observer can’t help but wonder what might have been had the Bruins done a better job of fortifying their blueline position when they had the opportunity.
Give Chiarelli credit for making the move to get the perfect fit piece in Mark Recchi for their left-handed shot needs, but the B’s GM could have also landed himself a better defenseman:
James Wisniewski (traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Anaheim Ducks for Sami Pahlsson): The 25-year-old defenseman was a revelation for the Ducks following the deal that sent him to Anaheim for old friend Sami Pahlsson. Wisniewski had a goal and 10 assists in 17 games following the deal with Anaheim, was a +3 and averaged 20:57 of ice time following the trade. He was also a reliable option for the Ducks in the Ducks’ top six D-men, and had a goal and two assists along with a +4 in the playoffs before suffering a lung contusion in the Wings series. Wisniewski counted only $900,000 toward the cap and is a restricted free agent following the season. This is the defenseman I’m looking at most when I say the Bruins could have done better at the deadline.
Mathieu Schneider (traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the Montreal Canadiens with a conditional draft pick for a second and third round pick): Schneider had 5 goals and 12 assists in 23 games for the Habs following a late February deal that sent him back to Montreal, but he played only two goals in the playoffs after sustaining a shoulder injury late in the season. Could he have stayed healthy in Boston? It’s a legitimate question, but he certainly would have helped the B’s in the puck-moving and power play department — and his only cost was draft picks over the next two years.
Niclas Havelid (traded with Myles Stoelz for Anssi Salmela): The 36-year-old Swede had four assists in 15 games for the Devils after getting traded over from the Atlanta Thrashers, and averaged 17-18 minutes per game in the playoffs. He didn’t have a huge impact for the Devils after getting sent over, but he also wasn’t asked to do too much for Jersey and was clearly a more offense-oriented defenseman than Montador. Havelid has since signed with his hometown team in Sweden and won’t be back in the NHL next season.
Jordan Leopold (traded for defenseman Lawrence Nycholet, Ryan Wilson and a second round pick): The 28-year-old defenseman had a goal and three assists while averaging 20:58 in 15 games with the Calgary Flames following the deadline. Leopold had an assist and was a +2 in the six-game series against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round while averaging well over 20 minutes a game along the blueline. Leopold was another member of that former Flames crew along with Ference, Yelle and Montador, and would have fit in well with the Bruins blueline corps.
Derek Morris (traded to the New York Rangers for Nigel Dawes, Dmitri Kalinin and Petr Prucha): The 30-year-old — like almost every other name on this list — was mentioned in trade rumors with the Bruins and had eight assists along with a +3 rating while averaging 19:41 of ice time in 18 games with the Rangers following the deadline. Morris had two assists and averaged upwards of 16 minutes for the Blueshirts in their seven-game loss to the Washington Capitals in the first round.
30 Comments for “Bruins’ trade deadline choice partly to blame for playoff demise”
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May 17th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
It’s not just the acquisition of Montador that was a bust, but what about the loss of Chris Versteeg who is blossoming in Chicago?
And I’m not going to get into the Thomas deal here, but I am suspicious of Chiarelli’s ability to manage the team and the cap.
Go P-Bruins!
May 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I cant disagree with a thing you said.I could not understand why the hell he was on the ice so much in so many key situations.He has the discipline of a pond hockey player.Time to move on from Ference too the guy simply cant be counted on to play for more than a few weeks at a time..They need some size up front too in my opinion..I do think they are a few moves away from being right back in the mix again..
May 17th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Outstanding point! I thought I was the only one who thought Montador looked over-matched….The only positive out of this is that the young D will have gained experience in future game sevens….
May 17th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Sorry guys,but your off on this. Montador was having a career season as a duck and they picked him up while hot. As for him looking like Will ferrell, did you mean Montador? If so, I don’t see it. Montador is loved by teams, because he stands up for his teammates and can change a game’s momentum. Hockey needs more Montadors on and off the ice
May 17th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Don’t think I’m off on Montador. He was playing well with the Ducks, but that didn’t carry over into Boston where he was asked to do too much once injuries hit. He would have been fine if he was a No. 6 defenseman, but a guy like that shouldn’t be playing 29:30 of ice time in a Game 7 for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations. He’s nowhere near a No. 4 defenseman on a good hockey team, and that’s the role he was playing during series against the Canes.
And he does look just like Wil Ferrell from Night at the Roxbury…not sure how you’re missing that.
–Haggs
May 18th, 2009 at 7:24 am
I agree with your argument that Montador was woefully inadequate, I Don’t agree with your premise that the 5 D you mention could have been had at the price the B’s paid for him. It should also be mentioned that all of the 5 you mentioned are on the golf course. I also thought that the B’s management was almost criminally neglegent in playing Ference at the expense of Hunwick during the regular season.
I just don’t see what is so special about Ference
May 18th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I agree that Montador was AWFUL, not just in the playoffs, but in every game he was here in Boston. And Bostoner, yeah its great he stands up for his teammates and is a physical presence, but he is a defensive liability. Glad he is gone. Shining black eye for Montador? Him trying to full blast the puck on the PK next to his net while Staal swipes it and scores. Or needlessly pinching up the half-wall that led to Samsonov’s 2-on-1 goal to take the lead in Game 7.
Let’s face it, they lost the series gainst the Canes because they could not adjust to the Carolina forecheck, and they could not FINISH. The inability of the D men (including Chara and Wideman) to move the puck quickly and accurately led to countless turnovers in the defensive zone. How many pipes did they hit? How many “juicy rebounds” had no Bruin in front of the net?
May 18th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Never said it would have been the same price for any of the other 5 D…my premise was that if the Bruins felt like they had a legit shot at a championship — which in my estimation they did — then they should have been willing to give up more to shore up their defense. So it wasn’t a weakness, as it turned out to be in the playoffs. They could have, and should have, done better.
–Haggs
May 18th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Hindsight being 20-20, I have to agree that we needed an upgrade on defense for the playoffs, and management needed to do a better job understanding that. Overall Chiarelli has done a good job, especially with changing the culture of this team, but if the so called window is so small, giving up some of the future for the here and now was called for.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Joe you are absolutely right and as Joe Haggs stated, the salary cap may be shrinking, and with the cast of characters between the RFA’s and UFA’s they HAD to know that if there was ever a year, this was it. We have to face the facts that a few faces that won’t be returning to the Black and Gold. I hate to say we should have traded Kessel, but some team is going to offer him something the Bruins will have a tough time matching. With Thomas re-signed and I have to imagine Raask is the backup, and I’d like to see guys like Lucic, Hunwick, Krejci locked up. Bergy is likely to be the odd man out, as a 3rd line center at 4.75 mil is definitely overpaying. Love to see them re-sign Yelle. He was probably the best value move they made all year.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:34 am
i think chiarelli was a definate deer in the head lights when he failed to land a puck moving defensmen at the trade deadline in which he should have done in the first place we probally wouldn’t have been eliminated in 7 games by the carolina hurricanes and the league should have suspended scott walker for two games let alone get away wit the cheap shot chiarelli for the acquisition of montador cheap bastard
May 18th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I have to point out. as always the Bruins look for a D man. When If they would go out and get a legit goal scorer the series would have been over before overtime. If Phil ( casper ) the friendly goast is the best goal scorer then no wonder we lost. Don’t get me wrong he is a decent player but as we have seen he wilts when it get tough. Keep him as a second line scorer and get a real top of the line guy and they are off and running. Mabee Licuic will be the guy some day.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:16 am
It seems like they dominated when they played a physical, angry game, but for some reason they mostly didn’t bother. Too often they waved their sticks as the ‘Canes skated by them along the boards. They had Ward suckered and Chara hacked and never did a damn thing about it. Playoff hockey is different, it’s about wanting it more. Outside of Lucic, Chara and Thomas, the Bruins dodn’t seem to care that much. Hopefully they have learned their lesson.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Yep this whole thing is to be blamed on Montador…how about Claude Julien? Montador was a depth guy to begin with, soak up some minutes so those PP guys like Chara and Wideman would be as fresh as possible for key moments. You don’t look at a screw and think “clearly this here butter knife should do the trick!” Instead you think “Hey this screwdriver should do it!” Julien knew Montador wasn’t your Gonchar-esque PP D-man so why use him as such? Put Chara or Wideman or a good puck moving forward back there to QB the PP. Your failed playoff run wasn’t decided with the moves at the deadline since y’all went 11-6-1 since the deadline and were the number one seed. I blame pretty much all of it on the Bs piss-poor unemotional play in half the Canes series and Julien’s lack of adaptability when he saw that Montador, and other players, were getting overmatched
May 18th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Hey Hags,
I agree with you on Montador. He was having a tough time dealing with the forecheck. We really missed Hunwick’s speed. Regarding Montador, I think that he has more value as a 4th line forward. I thought he looked pretty good the few times he skated on the wing. I’m not sure what kind of money he was making, or will want, but any chance the B’s consider resigning him to play forward?
May 18th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I will probably get blasted for this but I still think the Tim Thomas deal was a mistake as well. As good as he looks at times, he is not proven in the playoffs. Did they really need to give him the big deal before the season ended? He didn’t show up for game 7 last year against the Canadiens (look at the first goal of that game) and gave up a bad rebound on the OT winner against the Canes. Bottom line, you have to handle that shot. Just tossing it out for conversation.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:16 am
The Montador trade was done for one reason.Depth at the blueline.However, two d-men went down and forced Julien to put him a situation where he was over his head.He’s a good team guy and great pick up if he’s your sixth or seventh d-man…Bank on these 6 players that won’t be on your Bruins roster next year..Fernandez,Axelsson, Recchi,Yelle,Montador ,and Bergeron…yes I know he played well down the stretch, however he will be dealt on draft day for a second or 3rd round pick
May 19th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I was scared every time Montador had the puck in our zone, and I was feeling that way before they lost. I hope he’s not back next year. I don’t blame Chiarelli for picking him up, he did make a good move in picking up Recchi, and if he hadn’t picked up Montador who would have been out there in game 7? Enjoyed watching the team this year, I’m hoping they sign Krecji before Kessel, and they find a way to keep both of them without having to deal Bergeron, he’s finally playing the way he did before his concussions.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:20 am
The point is that Peter Chiarelli could have done better than Montador at the trade deadline. Then he would have had a better option when Ference and Hunwick went down. There were better D than Montador traded at the deadline, and Chiarelli didn’t secure any of them.
–Haggs
May 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I don’t know what you guys want. Did you happen to see all the injuries they were playing with? Listen, a great puck moving defenseman would have been nice, but at what price? Yes we have free agents but they are restricted and we have last say. As for Yelle, he is a spre part. Forget all that gump about experience. He was awful in the playoffs, too slow. We just couldn’t handle the 2 man forecheck. The minute the puck got low in our zone the canes wreaked havoc and their D were pinching like crazy. Big “Z” and Wideman played on their heals from the start and are a big reason the B’s are playing golf right now. Kessel and Ference are soft and over-rated. Trade them now and get what you can. Bergeron is a keeper. best player (besides lucic) In playoffs.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I thought Montador looked pretty good in the playoffs. I wasn’t his fault that the other two D were injured. I think you’re doing a little “arm-chair” quarterbacking here, and after the fact at that. Just my two cents. Go B’s.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
PS - the Bruins lost, not because of their defense, but rather because their offense went back to sleep in Game Seven. They had no jump from the start, and no-one went to the net all night, until Lucic in the 3rd period - and guess what — he scored.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
How could Chiarelli have done better at the deadline??By overpaying for Derek Morris??None of those players mentioned above are playing right now..Havelid and Leopold are way overrated..Need a puck moving defenseman?? Get in line, they are to the NHL what left handed stud pitchers are to MLB??A hot commodity that is very hard to find, and even more expensive to trade for.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
The “none of these guys are playing right now” argument means nothing to me.
Look at James Wisniewksi’s numbers after he was traded to the Ducks, look what he was traded for at the deadline, and then look at how many games Andrew Ference has missed over the last five years with injuries. IMHO, Chiarelli should have seen this coming rather than relying on an oft-injured defenseman (Ference) and a rookie blueliner (Hunwick) to be “difference-makers” in the playoffs. Of course there were more problems than just this in the postseason for the Bruins, but their D getting swallowed up whole by the Carolina forecheck was a huge problem in the series.
The windows to a Stanley Cup are small in the NHL these days, and I think Chiarelli should have gone for broke with this team.
The easy-to-hem-in defense corps was why they were outshot almost 2-1 in those two games in Carolina. Anybody should be able to see that.
–Haggs
May 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Hey Haggs - the big-ticket items like Chara were expected to be the “difference makers” in the play-offs. And guess who was… ? Another Jeremey Jacobs cast-off , Sergei Samsonov. Your argument is weak.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Honestly who cares the bruins suck
they got what they deserved
it happened last year to the habs
top of the league and out in the second round
as a magician i knew they wouldn’t go far
i predicted it with my taro cards and a bottle of scotch
May 19th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Haggs, agree with your last post. The Bruins front office has to assume some of the blame for this early exit. You hit the nail on the head that they should have gone for broke. I think the problem/dilemma was that the Bruins would have had to move a roster player to get that 2nd impact/shut down defenseman and they were worried about chemistry. A Chris Pronger or to a lesser extent, Rob Blake (if either were available) would have helped this team down the stretch. These are players who not only would have brought skill, but helped reinforce the effort and dedication that is required to win. They have clout as they have won cups before and would seem to make sense to the front office as they provide the experience the front office craves.
Like the players will learn from this experience, I think the front office has to as well. Hindsight being what it is, Chirelli may need to pull the trigger on a deal like that even if it means surrendering a prospect like Coburn/Hamill, Kessel and a pick to get that done for Pronger. Yes, Kessel can put the biscuit in the net, but this team wasn’t about 1 forward line scoring this year. Got to think that someone else like a Bitz or maybe even Wheeler could have helped picked up the slack there.
The next 2 years are it. The B’s have Savard and Chara up, Bergeron (assuming he’s not dealt), Wideman…they are not going to be able to keep them all and free agency will be expensive. They have to have a little bit of the Celtics in them and go for it now and address the holes later which may be a rebuilding year or two. Not every team can be a Detroit and legitimately compete for the Cup every year. As every hockey fan should know, a team can go from worst to 1st in 2 seasons (Boston) and from 1st to out in the same frame (Buffalo). While a team can lose it quick, they can get it back quickly too.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Danny, you make a good point about the Bruins not going to the net. They got away from the things that made them successful all season long. They went east-west far too often and not enough north-south, didn’t go to the net, didn’t win one on one battles, etc. Part of that was probably due to Carolina’s defensive scheme in the neutral and defensive zone and their quick, aggressive forechecking forwards. The B’s were also too slow to adjust (Julien?) and didn’t seem to have any urgency until game 5. That ended up being too little to late.
Samsonov scoring was like a dagger to the heart and salt in the wound. Found myself asking where was that Sammy when he played for Boston (although I suspect Chicago and Montreal were probably wondering the same thing).
I think the Jacobs argument has to go away now though. The entire league is in a salary cap environment. Every team is bound by the same constraints. The fact that JJ allows Chirelli to spend to the max every season tells me that he is doing his job as an owner. Now prior to the cap…that’s a different story. A lot of finger pointing between Jacobs and Sinden as to who was responsible. The truth probably lies with both of them and it is still tough to let go that that they could have perhaps won a cup in 88 or 90 if they had 1 or 2 more players. But I digress…anyway, in the here and now, as long as the Bruins are close/tight to the cap, I don’t have a problem with Jacobs. Any performance problems with the team has to lie with the players, coaches and front office…not the owner.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
The “going for broke” thing is complicated. The thing that got everything so complicated is that the injuries that we didn’t know about really took their toll on the offense. Who knew we would stop scoring or even getting many quality chances? The two things that were so prevalent in the regular season failed us in the playoffs. They were scoring depth and a quick puck moving defense corps. I still say that Chara and Wideman were huge disappointments and even looked scared in games 2-3-4, always on their heals. Who knew that was going to be the case? We really thought we were solid in those areas. Adding a puck moving Dman would have been nice, but the need wasn’t pressing. We would have had to given up a great young player to get anyone of quality. Problem is that now with the cap going down, we have to trade someone anyway. It is just a tough call. The fact remains though, the regular season showed that we had the horses to get to the finals. It is just that for some reason those horses didn’t get out of the gate in the Carolina series.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Brian, if you’re still checking this thread, thanks. And you’re right, I should let the Jacobs thing go, but I’m still sour for a couple of reasons that I’d like to vent here, since I’m mostly in the company of Bruins fans. As someone who grew up watching Bobby Orr - THE greatest hockey player who ever lived - I bled Black and Gold for my entire life. The comments about 88 and 90 seasons are correct, but nothing prepared me for the frustrating years following, when they seemed to be constantly rebuilding. Ray Bourque had to carry the team each year while also seeming to have to run some kind of Defenseman Development clinic, then embarrassingly had to leave town to win a cup. Each year the Bruins would trade proven vets for promising young, inexpensive talent (Jason Allison, Anson Carter), and then get rid of them as soon as it came time to pay them their true value. Those losing years led to draft picks like Joe Thornton and Samsonov, who would also be eventually dumped (the Thornton trade being about the worst I’ve ever seen). But the beginning of the end for me, in my opinion, was when the Bruins failed to give Bill Guerin the long-term deal he sought to stay in Boston. Guerin didn’t want to break the bank, he just wanted security. In Guerin, the Bruins had a local talent, who played with grit - like a real Bruin - who was “good in the room” and was best suited to be the team Captain for the next five years. This would have given Joe Thornton the time and freedom to develop, and eventually be able to step into the captain’s role, which he was never ready to handle when it was thrust upon him. That he was traded didn’t bother me — this is a franchise that traded Phil Esposito after all! But when that happened, we got Brad Park and Jean Ratelle in return. The Thornton exile angered and frustrated me so much that I finally had to stop watching my beloved Bruins - something I once thought unthinkable. I’m tip-toeing back into the fold, which I know makes me a bit of a fair-weather fan, but I thank you Brian for reminding me that it’s time to put the past behind me. That being said, I hope the current management is wise enough to keep the core of this team together - (and in my opinion, Krejci is more important than any of them). Either way, I will be watching next year. (While quietly rooting for Guerin to win in Pittsburgh - He’s still out there, Jacobs! Still contributing! Still a winner!) Okay, that’s the last one. It’s off my chest, and I’m over it. Thanks guys. Go Bruins!