Mar 24, 2013; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames right wing Jarome Iginla (12) skates with the puck against St. Louis Blues during the first period at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

The last few weeks one name has been circulating around the trade rumor market when it came to the Boston Bruins. Jarome Iginla.  Late last night, it was reported that the long serving captain of the Calgary Flames will now be putting on the spoked “B”. In exchange for acquiring a very powerful veteran winger, Calgary is marked receive center Alex Khokhlachev, (currently on the Providence roster), defenseman Matt Bartkowski,(another P-Bruin who has seen some time in Boston), and a conditional 1st round pick.(Subject to whether or not #12 agrees to re-sign with Boston.)

That was the deal, and it looked set in stone. The next morning, we all woke up and discovered that sometime during the night, Iginla chose to go to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Iginla was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (eleventh overall) of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded a few months later to the Calgary Flames as part of a package deal for Joe Nieuwendyk. He proceeded to play over the next seventeen seasons (and one lockout) a total of 1,219 games. In the course of his career he has racked up five hundred and twenty five goals and nearly eleven hundred points (1,095). He has set several records for the Flames, and the blow to Calgary will be intense and emotional.

Now Chiarelli has to focus again, and get back to work right away to fix our biggest problem. The Bruins have been very inconsistent in the scoring department. We all know they are a quality team, but we’ve only gotten our money’s worth in production from two lines. Our main line has been by and large lethargic, and the third line has been a merry-go-round of players who either spend a lot of time as healthy scratches, or get shipped back to Providence (or traded).

Mar 22, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Jordan Caron (38) before a face off against the San Jose Sharks during the second period at HP Pavilion. San Jose defeated Boston 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

At least for now anyway, the Chris Bourque experiment appears to be over for the Boston Bruins. At noon on Friday, Bourque cleared waivers after being placed on them on Thursday. He then had a brief meeting with Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli before heading to Providence and he will dress for the Providence Bruins tonight.

Shortly after Bourque cleared waivers, the Bruins called up forward Jordan Caron. While it wasn’t the trade some of us were hoping for, at least the team “swapped” a pair of forwards.

In 45 games for the baby Bruins this season, Caron is a -6 with just 10 goals and 5 assists. Not exactly ripping it up but he has size with some skill and has shown in past performances with the big club that he can contribute at the NHL level. He has a pretty decent shot and is solid along the boards, he definitely brings a different skill-set than Bourque.

However, not everyone is entirely convinced that Caron’s stay will be very long with the Bruins and that they may even just be advertising him for a possible trade down the road. According to ESPN Boston’s Jimmy Murphy, Caron’s call-up might in fact just be a showcase and that the “dominoes to a Bruins trade could be starting to fall”.

Murphy went on to speculate that if Swedish sensation Carl Soderberg does come over to join the Bruins once his team is eliminated from the Swedish Elite League playoffs like many are reporting he will, that the Bruins would then have quite the logjam at center and that caron or any prospect combined with a roster player and a pick could net them a pretty nice return.

He also stated that if he was the Bruins he would “go all out to get Corey Perry if he hints that he will sign an extension with them”. Now, this could all just be healthy speculation but the more I read, the more I feel that a move could indeed be coming in the not too distant future.

Outside of Perry, there has also been plenty of rumors swirling about the Bruins possibly adding grizzled San Jose Sharks forward, Ryane Clowe and a few other names have been tossed around as well.

From Too Many Men on the Site: “Starting with the Boston Bruins, we posted earlier today that the Bruins are said to be scouting Ryan Clowe of the San Jose Sharks. Now, Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com feels the club needs to address their third line weaknesses, namely the lack of size and grit. While Clowe would be a terrific fit for the Bruins needs, Haggerty also drops names like Jarome Iginla of the Flames,Ryan Smyth of the Oilers and Brenden Morrow of the Stars.”

For now however, these are all nothing but some people talking and all that’s happened today is Chris Bourque will now be playing in Providence, while Jordan Caron gets another chance to show the Bruins (or a potential trade partner) what exactly he can bring to the table at the NHL level.

Swedish Elite League forward Carl Soderberg may be joining the Boston Bruins.

It’s a name you haven’t heard much about in Boston in recent years, but 27-year old Swedish forward Carl Soderberg might finally be joining the Bruins after years of being nothing but a tease to fans of the Black and Gold.

You’ll remember he was acquired by Boston from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for goalie Hannu Toivonen in 2007 and not much has been said of the 6’3″ power forward since. Sometimes before an NHL season would start their would be rumors that general manger Peter Chiarelli might be convincing the talented center (who can also play wing) to make the jump overseas to North America. In the end it was all just talk, but now it seems as though Soderberg could finally be interested in becoming a Bruin and the timing is absolutely perfect.

Its well known the Bruins 3rd line could use some help. Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley are having serious down-years and Chris Bourque hasn’t been that bad, but he also just hasn’t been very good. Soderberg on the other hand is having an impressive season for his Swedish Elite League team, Linkoping and finished this past regular season with a stat-line of 31 goals, 29 assists for a total of 60 points in just 54 games. The goals were good for most in the league and he ended up 2nd overall in scoring.

Linkoping has made the playoffs though, which start next week and according to TSN’s Darren Dreger the Bruins have agreed they will not interfere with the team’s playoff run. The waiting game continues apparently and Dreger went on to state that one top NHL team said Soderberg could be a “solid 2nd line centre and that the Bruins like his versatility on the wing.”

Also, CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty reported that he “can confirm there have been some healthy discussions between the Bruins and Carl Soderberg’s camp about him coming to Boston after SEL playoffs”.

So, it’s being reported by a few different people and it appears as though it could definitely be a possibility, at least more of a possibility than it has been in the past.

It would be a great move for Boston as Soderberg wouldn’t cost the team any players, prospects or picks to acquire his services and it would even allow them to trade someone if he is indeed as good as advertised. Even better is the fact the he is on the Bruins reserve list and wouldn’t have to clear waivers to join the squad. Just kind of feels like the stars are aligning for both Soderberg and the B’s.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see just a little longer if Soderberg is indeed finally going to leave Sweden and come to the NHL to help a team that could certainly use his size and skill. Until then all Bruins fans can do is hope for an early playoff exit by Linkoping.