Moving On: No Iginla, No Cry

Mar 22, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Boston Bruins left wing

(17) during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Bruins 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a pretty tough week for the Boston Bruins and general manger Peter Chiarelli as they lost out on two veteran forwards whose services they were very much trying to acquire.

Instead, Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow, both left their respective teams and captaincy’s behind to go chase Stanley Cup championship aspirations with the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL superstar Sidney Crosby.

The Bruins have also recently lost defensemen Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuk to the injury, so they could certainly use all the help they can get. Especially when you consider 3rd line center Chris Kelly is still recovering from a broken left tibia and will be for quite some time.

So what now for the Bruins? How do they go about picking up the pieces? It’s actually quite simple and people need to just take a step back as well as a deep breath. This thing is far from over.

There is still plenty of talent up for grabs and as is always the case with Chiarelli it’s about adding the right pieces, not necessarily the biggest name. Something he did back in 2011 when he brought in Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley. They weren’t the biggest or flashiest names available but they gelled quickly in Boston and the rest is history.

Guys like Ryan Smyth, Ales Hemsky, Ryan Whitney, Ray Whitney, Jaromir Jagr, Jay Bouwmeester, Michael Cammalleri, Dan Boyle, Ryane Clowe and many others are still available on the trade market and should cost less than what Iginla would’ve cost (except maybe Martin St. Louis if there’s any truth to that rumor).

I won’t and can’t lie, none of them are Iginla or bring to the table what he does, but any one of them would be a welcomed addition to the Bruins and could help in more ways than one.

They say the night is always darkest before the dawn and right now its pretty dark in Boston after losing out on Iginla and blowing another 3rd period lead to the Montreal Canadiens while handing the Northeast Division lead back to Montreal.

However, it doesn’t need to stay that way and with the right move or two, the Bruins could be the ones playing spoiler come playoff time and end up being the bearded guys hoisting the Stanley Cup over their heads in the summertime.

The Bruins have slain Goliath before, who says they can’t do it again?