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Boston Bruins Need To Use Zac Rinaldo Carefully

By Brandon Share-Cohen

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Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins traded their 3rd round pick in 2017 to the Philadelphia Flyers for Zac Rinaldo.  In 58 games with the Flyers in 2014, Rinaldo logged a team leading 102 penalty minutes. Over the last four seasons, Rinaldo has put up 8 goals and 572 penalty minutes in 223 games. Rinaldo does come with some playoff experience, having played in 14 playoff contests with the Flyers.

The trade came as a shock to many, not only because of the high price of a third for a fourth liner, but the fact that it was Rinaldo in general. Zac Rinaldo plays a very rough game, and is known for often going overboard when games get too heated. The Bruins certainly needed some grit if they intend on deploying the same rough-and-tough style of play that they have had for many years, especially with the loss of Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton in recent years. Zac Rinaldo, however, is not going to fill the shoes of either of those players.

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    • Milan Lucic brought a legitimate power-forward game to the Bruins, scoring in timely situations in his tenure (even hitting the 30-goal plateau once). At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Lucic is one of the most physically imposing players in the entire National Hockey League. Rinaldo, on the other hand, stands at 5-foot-11, and weighs 185 pounds; the comparison can’t even be made for Rinaldo in terms of replacing Lucic’s size. Lucic is also known to be a fighter who wins the majority of his scraps, and in five fights last season, Rinaldo was declared the winner in only two. (stat found on hockeyfights.com) With Rinaldo projecting to be a 4th line player, the first line role Milan Lucic left will not be filled with Zac Rinaldo, although that much was obvious anyway.

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    Shawn Thornton played the right wing, fourth line role in Boston for nearly a decade and was as effective as a fourth line fighter could be. Thornton brought leadership, grit, and heart to the Bruins, and he won the hearts of the fan-base for his entire tenure. Zac Rinaldo could slot into the fourth line role on Boston’s left side, but one of the positive features of the now-extinct Merlot line with Thornton was the significant possession numbers.

    Claude Julien could rely on his fourth line to start in the defensive zone against relatively difficult competition, and end their shift in the offensive zone. Zac Rinaldo was statistically one of Philadelphia’s worst possession players last season, not exactly an easy thing to claim when playing against relatively easier competition either.

    Zac Rinaldo comes to the Bruins with two years remaining on his contract worth $850,000 annually according to GeneralFanager.com. Rinaldo will need to be played carefully if the Bruins don’t want to take costly penalties in deciding parts of games. While Rinaldo can be very effective in bringing energy to a team, he often takes very costly penalties and even suspensions, which really cancel out any good he does in the long-run.

    One of the incidents Rinaldo was suspended for was his hit on Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. The suspension was for 8 games, which should be enough to clarify that Rinaldo is a repeat offender, and can be very costly when playing in heated games. The hit can be seen in the video below, as well as his reaction  during a post-game interview in the subsequent video.

    Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) of sbnation tweeted the following on January 27th of 2015.

    "Zac Rinaldo has played 1,675 minutes in the NHL. The league has disciplined him for a total of 1,449 minutes"

    The tweet really says it all, as the penalized time in the league is insanely high. Zac Rinaldo can be effective, if he is kept under control by the Bruins coaching staff, as well as his line-mates and teammates.

    Follow me on Twitter at @FansidedBrandon and for all updates on the Boston Bruins, follow @Causeway_Crowd

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