Boston Bruins: Can The Bruins Keep Adam McQuaid?
Adam McQuaid will never be a flashy scorer for the Boston Bruins. It’s just not the kind of player he is. Last season, he saw more ice time than he’s ever seen in a Bruins uniform(an average of 18:26). He’s also the Bruin who seems most willing to drop the gloves and let the other team know he’s there.
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The Boston Bruins are still trying to figure out a way to bring McQuaid back for his seventh season. Yesterday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said that he’s had talks with teams that may allow the Bruins to re-sign one of their unrestricted free agents.
“Peter told Greg Campbell and Daniel Paille they weren’t coming back and I have not changed that,” said Sweeney. “I have spoken to the representatives for both Carl [Soderberg] and Matt [Bartkowski] as to what our intentions are [with them], and with Adam McQuaid’s representatives as well. It’s obviously coming down to the wire with their abilities to interview elsewhere.
“I have had several talks with teams [about trades] that may or may not present the opportunity to bring one of those players back. But I can guarantee you at this point in time that all three of them [collectively] won’t be back.”
With Soderberg now out of the mix, it seems that Sweeney has his eyes set on keeping either McQuaid or Matt Bartkowski. Bartkowski made too many mistakes, forced to many errors, and for all his skating ability, just couldn’t seem to make it work in Boston. So, let’s take it as a given that Sweeney wants McQuaid.
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Why should they sign him?
With the loss of so many identity players in the last few seasons, McQuaid has become part of the old guard of B’s fan favorites. He has earned the affection of the Boston Bruins #1 fan, Liam Fitzgerald. He’s a dependable player who is finally starting to see solid minutes on the ice. He can do the job, and he certainly met the team’s expectations last year.
He’s also willing to scrap. Anywhere, anytime, and even against another member of the Bruins organization. In his five full seasons of play in Boston, he averages eighty-two minutes in penalties.
Why should the Bruins let him go?
He’s certainly injury prone. Last time I saw him fight at the TD Garden, you could hear Bruins fans wince as he fought. He’s not known for any great offense(He averages only one-and-a-half goals a season.), and the B’s are critically low on offensive-minded players as is.
McQuaid also has to compete against several of the AHL Bruins who got playing time last season. Some of them could muscle McQuaid out of his job, and all of them would cost the B’s only half of what McQuaid is making now. Kevan Miller is the best example of this. He fits in great with the Bruins system, he’s a better offensive blueliner, he’s just as feisty as ‘Darth Quaider’, and he’s only $800,000 against the cap.
It’s clear that McQuaid wants to stay in Boston. It’s pretty clear that Sweeney wants McQuaid to stay in Boston. But it’s a league controlled by the salary cap, and the B’s just might not have the money to cover a contract for the twenty-eight year old native from Prince Edward Island.
“It’s the organization that…they’ve given me so many opportunities, and worked with me.” said McQuaid to the media on the Bruins’ break-up day back in April. “I’ve said before that they’ve stuck with me through some tough times, and there were times that I felt like – there were things I couldn’t control, obviously, with injuries and stuff – but I felt like I wished I could have done more and been available, and I wasn’t. There were times I felt like I hadn’t held up my end of the bargain as far as that stuff is concerned. It wasn’t anything I could necessarily control, so it was hard that way.”