Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is a smart man.
Fans of the team may tell you otherwise after he traded away Tyler Seguin in 2013 and fan-favorite Johnny Boychuk days prior to the start of this season for a trio of draft picks. The former Ottawa Senators GM has also demonstrated a habit of overpaying his “core” players and handing out no-trade clauses like they are going out of style.
Thursday night’s game between the Bruins and New York Rangers gave Chiarelli the platform he needed to temporarily redeem himself with Boston’s fanbase.
It was well publicized that the front office needed to make a decision regarding rookie winger David Pastrnak on whether to send him back to Providence or commence the first year of his entry-level contract by keeping him on Boston’s roster for his 10th game. Chiarelli called a press conference during the first intermission of Thursday’s Original Six matchup to announce “the decision” on Pastrnak’s future. It was determined that the number 88 would stay with Boston beyond game number 10 to the relief and excitement of Bruins fans.
“We’re going to commit to him to play up here,” Chiarelli told the media. “We’re happy to make that decision.”
The formal announcement from Chiarelli confirmed the decision many fans had expected. The 18 year-old Pastrnak made his impression with back-to-back two-goal performances in Philadelphia and at the Garden against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The chemistry between him, Brad Marchand, and David Krejci was instant and the results were immediate. It was pretty clear that Pastrnak’s speed and finishing abilities were too good for the front office to ignore.
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The question at hand however, is not so much the decision to keep Pastrnak with the Bruins. The focus should be on the timing and motive for Chiarelli to announce it in the manner that he did. He was under immense scrutiny from fans to make changes after three successive losses to Toronto, Ottawa, and Carolina two weeks ago. CEO Charlie Jacobs stated two days later there was a “fluid evaluation process” in the entire Bruins organization, including Chiarelli. The team has reeled off five straight wins since then and while the players have stepped up their game, Boston’s general manager has received very little, if any, credit.
With this in mind, is there a possibility the Pastrnak decision served as Chiarelli’s personal platform to improve his image amongst the same fanbase that were calling for his dismissal earlier this month? It is an intriguing question that deserves an inquest. The media was informed during the first period that Chiarelli would meet with them between periods to announce the Pastrnak decision. The NESN broadcast made sure to publicize this information to the viewing audience towards the latter stages of the opening period. The matchup featured two Original Six rivals who were in good form, meeting for the first time this season. Boston was on a four-game winning streak entering Tuesday night’s tilt. It was a chain of events that aligned well for Chiarelli and he took advantage of them by holding a media session in-between periods to announce Pastrnak would be staying up.
Oil On Whyte
The announcement by Chiarelli somewhat resembled that of one LeBron James when he took his talents to South Beach in 2010. He will never admit it publically, but the Bruins GM had to feel that keeping Pastrnak up would paint himself in a positive light with fans. The reality is Chiarelli put himself above the team on Thursday night by stealing the spotlight away from his players, making a no-brainer decision that many fans had already made for him. He had nothing to gain by keeping his first-round pick with the big club, but had everything to lose if he chose to send Pastrnak back to Providence for the rest of the season. It would have been another questionable decision in a long line of recent, questionable decisions including the contracts of current players and the trades of Seguin and Boychuk. The in-game announcement reeks of an attempt to play the game of public relations in which Chiarelli wanted to placate the same fans that wanted him fired a few weeks ago.
Even though he made the right decision by keeping the man they call “Pasta” around, he still has a long way to go to repair his image. The Bruins still have holes that need to be addressed and it is Chiarelli’s responsibility to fill them adequately. If he wants to portray an “all-in” mentality with this season’s team in their quest for a Stanley Cup, there is work that needs to be done. The decision to keep Pastrnak in Boston is only the beginning.
Peter Chiarelli took advantage of the situation in an attempt to regain the trust of Bruins fans on Thursday night. It is going to take more than just Pastrnak for fans on Causeway Street to restore their faith in the architect of Boston’s hockey club.