Boston Bruins Should Sign John-Michael Liles
The Boston Bruins are still in need of a quality defenseman. That was one of things the Bruins were looking for at last year’s trade deadline. That didn’t quite pan out as they hoped. Still, that got a quality defenseman who proved up to the task last season. While he wasn’t the showstopping blueliner they were hoping for, John-Michael Liles proved himself useful to the Black and Gold.
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As a Bruins fan, I want to see Don Sweeney pull off an amazing offseason deal that brings a quality d-man to Boston. As a realist, I know Sweeney had two shots to pull this off last year and failed. If he fails to bring home a top-four before the start of training camp, he can still sign Liles to a one-year deal and not come off as a total failure.
Here are the main reasons why signing Liles isn’t a mess for Boston.
Salary Cap – The Boston Bruins are still trying to find a way to keep Loui Eriksson in the spoked ‘B’. They’ve also got to reward Torey Krug for living up to his promise in being a top-four defenseman. If the Bruins sign both of those players, they’ll be giving up around 11 million of their 19-plus remainder of their salary cap. They’ll need a few filler players cheap, and they’ll likely be able to sign John-Michael Liles to a million(or slightly more) dollar contract.
Dependability – The Bruins were looking for a big impact defenseman at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the only way they were going to get that player was to move Loui Eriksson. The Bruins chose not to go that route, and instead picked up the 35-year old Liles. Has he been stellar? No, but he did his job. He looked better in the top four than either Kevan Miller or Adam McQuaid, and the B’s need a player that can play 20 minutes a night. Liles proved he could do that.
Still Have Holes In The Blueline – The Bruins watched their captain Zdeno Chara eat up a lot of minutes last season. Partly because he was their best defenseman, and partly because they didn’t have much choice. Chara is approaching 40, and there is no practical way they’ll be able to get 25+ minutes a night out of their captain. Dennis Seidenberg didn’t look that great last season either.
The Bruins had to put Kevan Miller in a role he wasn’t designed for, and at times that hurt the club. Adam McQuaid is a dependable, but stay-at-home defenseman. The Bruins will need to find a patch if their search for a top-four blueliner doesn’t pan out. Liles is a conservative, but acceptable choice here.
Is it the perfect solution? No. But it solves a few problems without causing any new ones.