Boston Bruins acquire Brett Connolly from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The month of February is finally over for the Boston Bruins. The Black and Gold weren’t able to capitalize on their January momentum last month. The B’s went 4-6-2 last month and a lot of the oomph and pizazz that got them back into playoff contention wasn’t there these last few weeks.
Once again, the Bruins felt the sting of injuries. B’s forward and top-line center David Krejci and defenseman Kevan Miller were put on long-term injured reserve. Miller will be out for the season after having surgery on his shoulder. Krecji is expected to be out for several more weeks, but could be able to get back in the game just before the start of playoffs.
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The Bruins have been looking for someone in advance of the trade deadline but it seems other teams are beating Peter Chiarelli to the punch. The rumors were heavy that the Bruins and the Phoenix Coyotes were dealing with each other as their teams battled it out at the TD Garden. Sadly (or thankfully depending on your mood), the Bruins were able to lock anybody up. The next morning the Coyotes traded Antoine Vermette to the Chicago Blackhawks and Keith Yandle to the New York Rangers.
As the Bruins shifted to look for other options, they found those doors closing. The Bruins were interested in acquiring forward Erik Cole from the Dallas Stars. The Stars ended up trading Cole to the Detroit Red Wings for prospects Mattias Backman, Mattas Janmark and a 2015 second-round pick. (For a rental, that’s not absolutely terrible and the Bruins could have easily paid that price.)
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The Bruins also waived Craig Cunningham yesterday.
All these moves indicate the Bruins are trying to put something together. It appears that finally have. The Boston Bruins have acquired forward Brett Connolly from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the Bruins’ natural second round draft pick in 2015 and the Bruins’ natural second round draft pick in 2016. Connolly was a first round (sixth overall) pick in the 2010 Entry Draft.
Connolly, a twenty-two year old right-winger has skated in one hundred and thirty-four games for Tampa. He put up thirty-two points(eighteen goals) and seventy-two penalty minutes during his time there.
The Bruins were looking for a right-wing to fill in a whole in the Bruins lines. This appears to be more of a bottom-six fill in though for Boston. Since Connolly’s cap hit is a mere $850K, they still have the money available to make another move before the deadline later today.
Perhaps this will finally give the Bruins the impetus to move Jordan Caron back to Providence or give him a chance to get a full-time job on another team’s roster.