On Tuesday night, Peter Chiarelli said he is approaching the trade

At age 41, Teemu Selanne still has it. (AP)

deadline as though he will have Nathan Horton again this season. While that’s good news for the Bruins, it isn’t overly reassuring. Given the uncertainty of concussions and the fact that Horton had a setback last week when he tried skating, who’s to say that Horton won’t face more roadbumps as he attempts to return to the lineup? What if he gets hit again, a la Marc Savard, when he does come back?

These are questions Chiarelli, one of the best GMs in the game, must be considering. That’s why, if possible, he would be wise to add a right winger who can provide not only depth, but some serious scoring.

That player might be 41-year-old Ducks forward Teemu Selanne. He isn’t the same player he was when he scored 76 goals for the Jets in the 1992-93 season, but he is still a capable scorer, having totaled 18 goals and 33 assists for 51 points this season. Yes, he’s played two more games than the B’s, but those 51 points are four more than Patrice Bergeron, who leads the Bruins with 47.

If the Bruins were to get Selanne, they could either play him on the top line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci until Horton returned, or they could leave Peverley with Lucic and Krejci and stick Selanne on Chris Kelly’s line. Things would get interesting once Horton returned, as they could put both Peverley and Selanne on the third line, with one player having to play their off wing. That would mean bad news for Benoit Pouliot, but it would mean a significant upgrade.

Getting both Selanne and the Ducks to sign off on a deal may be tricky, as the alternate captain has a no-trade cklause that he could use to block any deal should the destination not strike his fancy. From Anaheim’s standpoint, there may be sentimental value tied to Selanne, meaning it might take a little more to get them to ship him out. A Ducks legend, Selanne was on the team that won the Cup in 2007 (Shawn Thornton played on that squad as well), and in two seperate multi-season stints with the club has put up some of the best years of his career. Recent play has also put the Ducks eight points out of a playoff spot, and if they want to take a risk and go for it, they’d want to do so with Selanne.

Those issues aside, Selanne doesn’t have much more ahead of him, and coming to Boston would give him as good a chance at winning the Cup again as he could possibly get. Last season we saw Mark Recchi stick around another year with the B’s so he could hoist the Cup once more. Could a trade to Boston do the same thing for Selanne?