Former Bruin Rich Peverley has his heart fixed in Dallas.

November 26, 2011; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Rich Peverley (49) skates in the offensive zone during the third period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Today, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill announced that Stars’ forward (and recently departed Bruin) Rich Peverley had a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.  The thirty-one year old Peverley is expected to be out of action for at least the next three weeks. According to Nill, Peverley will be able to skate, but will be prohibited from sustaining any form of contact.

“It turns out he had an`a-fib’ condition,” Nill said. “He’ll be out three weeks and should be available close to the start of the season. He might miss one or two games.”

My first thought when I heard this was “Yikes, I really hope Pevs is OK.” Yeah, Peverley wasn’t a big scorer for us those last few seasons. In spite of that, he was a consistent player with a good work ethic.  His low +/- was due to being stuck on the merry-go-round that was the Bruins’ third line last season. He worked his butt off to do right by the Bruins, and he is still missed by yours truly.

My second thought was “Wow, Chiarelli is an evil genius.” We lost Nathan Horton to the Blue Jackets, but Horton will be out for six months after having his shoulder operated on. We lost Seguin and Peverley to Dallas. We gave up Seguin because his head wasn’t in the game, and it turns out Peverley’s heart literally wasn’t in the game. I don’t know how much knowledge the Bruins home office had about this. Peter Chiarelli was able to pull off another magic bean trade that got us Seguin in the first place.

Jim Nill thinks very highly of Rich Peverley. Although Pevs has only been with the club for a few months and only skating with the other Stars for a couple of weeks, he’s made an impression on his teammates, and Dallas management.

“I think he’s a big part of our team. He’s very versatile.” said Nill of Peverley.  “You can play him up with good players, you can play him in a second, third line role. He’s very good on faceoff, you can play him on the wing. He’s won Stanley Cups, been in playoffs, he’s been to finals, and that’s the kind of experience you can’t have enough of.”

Here’s hoping Rich Peverley gets back on the ice as soon as possible.