bye bye Kessel…

Agree Dan, and if it is, so be it. Of their big 3 RFA’s, the B’s took care of them in the right order, Krejci, Hunwick and now there is Kessel. Given what we know today about their young players, it’s hard to 2nd guess what decisions Chiraelli has made.

Hags, if Kessel takes a 1 year deal for 2.5 or 2.75, does he earn arbitration rights next year? If so, and he puts up similar numbers to 08-09, couldn’t he be in a better position at this time next year? B’s will certainly have to pay him more next year or if he goes to arbitration and wins, he could stand for a pretty nice pay day. I would tend to think that the B’s would likely walk away from a 5 or 6 mil/yr payday next year and Kessel gets his unrestricted free agency. That is unless the B’s are going to use Savard’s money for him next year or he makes some strides in being stronger on the puck and all 3 zones. The only thing that I can think of is that teams may not have cap space after arbitration hearings are held and a probably shrinking cap number, but I gotta think someone will have the room to pay him. In my opinion, it’s at least worth the roll of the dice if I am Kessel.

Finally, does the Hunwick signing and less cap space make a RFA offer sheet any more likely now? Kessel has to be worth Krejci’s salary and with an offer sheet, the opposing team would be putting pressure on Chiraelli to go over the cap and then try in the next couple of months to find a salary dump partner. Not impossible for Chiraelli, but less than ideal.

Why “bye bye Kessel”? What are his options? Is he going to demand a trade? Unlikely. Is someone going to swoop in and submit a huge offer sheet? There isn’t one RFA that’s gotten one. I think such a comment is underestimating Chiarelli; it’s obvious that he (like Belichick and Epstein) knows how to play things close to the vest.

As for Hunwick, wasn’t a certain reporter claiming just a few days ago that talks between his agents and the Bruins had “dried up” and they were heading for arbitration?

You mean the Bruins are going to let their youngest, and arguably most talented played walk? No, no, not the Bruins. This is the same old story, same old Bruins. I truly feel for their fans, who are some of the best in the sport, and the most loyal in this town…you deserve better. But, until that lousy fraud Jacobs kicks-the-can this franchise will never have the necessary financial support to win the cup. Please, don’t give me this crap about “well, they’re right against the cap”, blah-blah-blah. They clearly don’t want to pay this kid the money he is worth. Felger was the only reporter who actually stood up to that cheap fraud, which is why he was literally banned from the building.

I think a big factor will be Marco Sturm. Does he burn it up in training camp? If so, Kessel essentially gets swapped for Sturm on the first line – does that make fans feel better? I think not. If Sturm’s knee doesn’t hold up, I think Chiarelli finds the money to sign Kessel even if it means trading a quality player for pennies on the dollar to free up cap space. Either way, I don’t see this getting resolved until training camp is over and that’s not a big deal since Kessel won’t be game ready until after that point anyway.

Things change in negotiations, Char, that’s why they are called negotiations. Both sides were prepared for arbitration when I wrote the piece. My sense is there was a little give on the Bruins side yesterday, and that’s what finally got the deal done. He’s getting paid more than Alex Goligoski is in the first two years of his new deal, and that was the comp contract they were working off.

Glad you’re keeping score, though.

I agree with the sentiments here that Kessel doesn’t have a lot of choices unless he can find a team willing to give him an offer sheet prior to September training camp. He may just have to suck it up on a one-year deal and go for broke next season should he put together another 30 plus goal season. (a bit of a challenge given that he looks like he’s going to miss the first month)

–Haggs

Kessel will be back because he doesn’t have any other choice. He’ll end up signing a 1yr deal for around 4 mil. This will lead the B’s to trade one of Kobasew, Sturm, Bergeron or Ward (less likely unless Boychuk or Penner are ready to step in)to get under the cap. To me the Kessel situation is much ado about nothing. No team will sign him to an unmatchable offer sheet, the B’s will not be able to get full value in a trade scenario (the player(s) they get back would have to be in the 1.5 – 2 mil cap range)and he has NO leverage in these contract talks. Bottom line is he’s staying here, at least for next season. The real connundrum is the Marc Savard situation. He will probably get 6mil+ as a free agent. A number the B’s will not be able to hit. Do they risk letting him walk or would they consider dealing him once Krejci and Kessel are healthy?

From what I’ve heard, the people who see Kessel everyday say he would prefer to play in the midwest where he grew up. This may or may not be true but it would make sense. He is from Minnesota and even though he had a brief college career for the Gophers he would like to return to that area of the country. He would prefer to play for either the Blackhawks (most likely) or the Wild from what I’ve heard, or another team in that area. The only way for the bruins to keep him in the long run is to overpay for him to stay in the Boston Area. I would love to see him stay in Boston but in the long run he may cost too much, he is a one way player with dynamic speed and goal scoring but he has no toughness or defensive presence. Granted him and Savard make a nice pair but putting him on a line with young forwards Toews and Kane in Chicago would work extrmely well I assume.

kessel needs to be signed.this is why they dont win anything.

Bruins don’t deserve to win the cup. One year you sign Ryder for 4 million and previously you sign players (bergeron 5 mil, Sturm 3or 4 or whatever) and you hesitate signing Kessel???? Ryder cannot touch Kessel in talent. Kessel doesn’t have a complete game???? I suppose players like Mike Bossy and Lafleur did when they won all those cups.
Somehow you need to find a pure goal scorer in Boston. Kessel would be a bargin at 4 mil.

Roland,
I couldn’t agree with you more. It just amazes me how many apologists there are out there, including the people that cover the team. Ownership has only one thing in mind, and thats their profits. They should take a look around town and see what it takes to win. Even in their building, the Celtics are commited to winning a championship, ultimately finding themselves in the luxury tax. What bothers me the most is the Bruins fans who have stuck with them through all of this crap. Most of the fans left a long time ago, and still haven’t returned.

I was one of the fans that left long ago and vowed never to return. I can’t wait until the Jacobs error to end. I have paid attention to this team since they dumped Sinden and O’Connell and have started to return to being a tougher team again.

I even enjoyed watching them last year and am looking forward to this season.

All of that said Kessel should not be a high priority; he is a one way, ultra soft player. Sturm may be soft but he is solid in his own zone.

Move the thrill and get a gritty, puck moving d-man or picks that you can turn into a good defenseman

Again,where are the B’s going to get their goals? People need to stop worrying about the complete game with Kessel. Let him score his goals and let others worry about digging in the corners. If he hadn’t got sick and injured Phil would have scored 45-50 goals this year. Also, why hang on to players like Sturm who are at their best 25-30 goal scorers and 30 something??

Roland,
- dropping Sturm to sign Kessel will not happen because Sturm’s contract is not large enough to clear enough cap space to sign kessel to a long term deal. The bruins have a little more than a million dollars under the cap after signing morris, they need to move probably three and a half to four million off the books to sign kessel. I think it will cost the Bruins about five million a year (on average over the contract, it may only be 4-4.5 in the first year) to sign Kessel to a long term deal because he is a young fast goal scorer who had over 30 goals last year. I think he is worth the money, but who do the bruins have to lose to sign him? Everything comes at a cost, signing Kessel will cost the bruins a good player like a Michael Ryder who had a lot of big goals last season and played tough in the corners. I would not move Patrice Bergeron to sign Kessel, I think Bergeron is the best all around player on the bruins when he is playing his game.