Trade deadline a bust for B’s

Here is a complete look at how the Bruins come away from the past two days leading up to today’s trade deadline:

♦ Incoming:

• D Matthew Bartkowski
• D Steve Kampfer
• D Dennis Seidenberg
• D Cody Wild
• 2011 conditional fourth-round draft pick

♦ Outgoing:

• F Byron Bitz
• F Matt Marquardt
• D Derek Morris
• F Craig Weller
• 2010 second-round draft pick
• Conditional (2010 or 2011) fourth-round draft pick

After months of hype, the energy swirling around this season’s trade deadline seemed to evaporate with Ilya Kovalchuk going to New Jersey.  Still, as always, rumors swirled.  Names such as Teemu Selanne, Peter Mueller, Tomas Kaberle, Dan Hamhuis, and my personal favorite, Bobby Ryan, were all tossed around in connection with the Bruins.  At the end of the day though, the Bruins enter the stretch run in the same shape…at best.

Peter Chiarelli has been adamant over the last couple of seasons about not making a deal just to do it.  I come away from this deadline though feeling like he went against his own rule.  After a couple of minor deals, the Bruins traded Derek Morris in what looked like a precursor to a bigger deal, seeing as how they freed up $1 M.  It was certainly a precursor, but I’m not sure if the subsequent deal for 29-year-old defenseman Dennis Seidenberg can be put in the “big” category.

This season, Seidenberg has 23 point in 62 games and represented Germany at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  He leads the NHL in blocked shots (179) and is what Claude Julien called, “one of those guys that plays hard.”  Still, I don’t really see much value in the trades, especially if Seidenberg (who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season) doesn’t resign with the Bruins.  This team lacks offensive fire power and nothing was done to address that need.  Additionally, the swap of Morris for Seidenberg may be a slight-upgrade (at best), but it cost the Bruins Byron Bitz, a prospect, and a second-round draft pick to get done.  Today just didn’t make a lot of sense to me and seems to contradict Chiarelli’s previous philosophy.

Now, unlike some, I was not hell-bent on making a trade at the deadline.  Unless the B’s were to net a big-time player in return (like a Kovalchuk), I felt like the Bruins’ first-round picks should be off limits.  Fortunately, they were.  Still, the Bruins gave up much more than necessary to essentially swap Morris for Seidenberg.  Personally, I liked Morris and the way he moves the puck.  Only time will tell what Seidenberg’s impact on this team will be.  For now though, along with many Bruins fans, I’m left scratching my head after an uneventful, parallel-moving, contradictory trade deadline by the Bruins front office.