Oct 31, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins president Cam Neely (left) with Boston Red Sox president and chief executive officer Larry Lucchino and the World Series trophy during the second period against the Anaheim Ducks at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
There has been quite a bit of talk on whether or not the Boston Bruins will use one or both of their buyouts during the off season. The Bruins have had several players that qualify, and some of those players have not had their best seasons last year.
NHL organizations are not allowed to buy out injured players according to the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement. This does narrow the field of potential candidates down by a few. Chris Kelly would be immune from the buyout due to the herniated disc that caused him to miss the playoffs. Adam McQuaid‘s nagging injury that kept him off the active roster would remove him as well.
All in all, the odds are the Bruins will once again waive their option towards a buy out. Peter Chiarelli was loathe to do it last year, and from what him and Cam Neely have been saying to the media they don’t seem to want to go that route this season. The talk in Boston now has moved to what perceived failures the Bruins organization made before the trade deadline last year. The Black and Gold had a depleted roster of defensemen and they attempted to make trades only to have them fall through at the end.
Corey Potter played only three games for Boston, and Andrej Meszaros failed to pan out for the Bruins. This failure was part of the reason the President’s Trophy team had such a disappointing exit to the season. Cam Neely was on local media addressing the disappointments that occurred for them during the trade frenzy.
“I can speak to what we tried to do at the deadline,” said the Bruins President. “Not in detail, but with what was available and how we thought we wanted to add as opposed to add and subtract, we thought we had something in place but it was predicated on another team making a deal and it didn’€™t pan out. But again, we were going through that really good stretch of hockey and we thought we really just needed to add some depth and if a player with term became available, like the one we were trying to acquire, it would have been a bonus for us. But obviously I don’€™t think that is the full reason why we didn’€™t get past the second round, to be honest with you.”
He’s got that right. A certain amount of blame needs to be placed on certain players who didn’t play up to their potential. The Bruins almost seemed to coast in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and a hungry Montreal Canadiens took out the Bruins in seven games.