Is Jarome Iginla a Necessary Part of the Bruins Next Year?
May 10, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Jarome Iginla (12) skates with the puck during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens in game five of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Jarome Iginla’s New Contract Works
Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli will be faced with several offseason decisions in regards to keeping players, and obviously, the status of Jarome Iginla is one that B’s fan need to contemplate.
Iginla became a free agent last summer after making a late-season entrance to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He chose Boston as his final destination for 2013-14 and had a great year playing with linemates David Krejci and Milan Lucic. In the regular season, the former Calgary Flames’ legend notched 30 goals, tied with Patrice Bergeron for No. 1 on the team, and summed 61 points overall, slotting him at 3rd place on the Bruins.
The beginning of the Bruins’ campaign indicated that Iggy was still getting acclimated to a new group of players. The final months of the regular season, though, showed a evolved newcomer, namely in the month of March when Jarome Iginla scored an impressive 13-goal total.
“I thought he (Iginla) started out a little slow . . . [but] he came on late and he came on strong,” said president Cam Neely earlier today, according to CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty.
“Obviously he’s a leader, he [was] the captain of another team [in Calgary] for a long time, and he came in and added an element to our group, especially the forward group. He ended up scoring 30 goals, which is not easy in this league anymore. We would like to try and see if we can figure something out moving forward with him. We will see where that goes, but I thought he fit in really well with our team.”
Maybe the 36-year-old wouldn’t mind staying another 82+ games in Beantown, too.
“It’s been amazing . . . it’s been an amazing run,” Jarome Iginla said. “It’s a wonderful group of guys. We won the President’s Trophy, and it was the best regular season I’ve been a part of. You know, the group was already tight, but bringing us new guys in like myself, Loui Eriksson, [Reilly Smith], a lot of guys that they made feel part of it. It was a great regular season. Playoffs . . . we look at it, we know we can be better in certain areas.”
The only slight negative of Iginla’s return would be his seniority (he’s turning 37 in July). For the veteran, though, it seems that age is just a number, and one year shouldn’t massively affect his performance, rendering him useless to the Bruins, following last season’s hugely prosperous bout.
Even a looking at a Iginla’s condition from business viewpoint, the Bruins could duplicate the tactics they used to bring him in roughly a year ago: count part of his salary against the ensuing year’s cap. So, the B’s paid Iginla around $6 million, $4.2 of which will be counted in 2014-15, via CapGeek. Look for a similar move on the condition that they re-sign him.
If Neely and Chiarelli want another legitimate shot at the Cup, Iginla is capable of being a important piece to that puzzle, an immediate contributor based on his recent showings. There isn’t much that objects to his sustained visit in New England.