Informal captain’s practices have been going on at Ristuccia Arena for the last few days. It’s a good sign of things to come for the Boston Bruins. As players head back on the ice, you see players from other teams (most notably Shawn Thornton from the Florida Panthers) joining Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron for these informal sessions.
Puck Prose
There has been an unusual jersey on the ice the last few days. A plain black NHLPA jersey currently being worn by former Bruins forward and Merlot Man Daniel Paille. Paille, a former first round draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres (20th overall in 2002)has yet to find a contract. Paille entered a very rough free agency market this season, and is still hoping a NHL squad will offer him some sort of deal.
Things did not go well for the 31-year old forward last season. As the Bruins fought for their playoff lives, coach Claude Julien chose to scratch Paille for the last nine games of the regular season. With the Bruins failing to make the playoffs, it gives the impression that the fourth-liner was a big part of the Bruins failure to make the playoffs. While Paille’s poor production last season was a factor (thirteen points/six goals), there were a heap of problems and injuries that led to the Bruins failure.
Now Paille has to show other hockey organizations that he’s capable of being productive on another team. Being the player that was a continual scratch the final weeks of the season isn’t helping his case though. It’s a rough final chapter to a player who spent the last six seasons in the Black and Gold. He was part of the 2011 Stanley Cup team for Boston.
Paille, like his brother Merlot Men wasn’t afraid to bleed for his team.
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Paille is still positive about his chances. Paille is hoping to get a contract rather than have to test his luck with a PTO. Paille has played overseas before, and he may have to test the waters again in Europe in order to get a job. His last contract was a three-year deal, with a $1.3 million dollar cap hit. He may have no choice to take a significant discount to sign with another team.
“I’m looking for that opportunity to really come out firing,” Paille told CSN New England. “I feel like I’m a different person after coming through this summer. I felt like I did everything that I could last year, and there were certain things that were out of my control. But now it’s over with, I’ve moved on and I’m looking forward to a new opportunity.”
“But at that time they made their decision, and decided what kind of direction they were going in and I could see it. Regardless of that I would have liked an opportunity, but they wanted to go younger. I could see that’s the way they were going.
“You could get frustrated by the way it ended, but for me I just look at my whole experience as great in Boston. I’m not going to let my last part of my time here affect the wonderful years that I had. I’m grateful that I got to spend six years in Boston, and couldn’t have been happier to be a part of organization when I was here.”
It’s unlikely he’ll play again with the Bruins (barring a repeat of last year’s collection of injuries). But Paille is a still an extremely fast veteran player who could make a difference on another team. He has 570 NHL games under his belt, and could find himself on another NHL fourth line.