People have been wondering what has been going on today at the TD Garden. Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has been playing a shell game with his fourth line forwards. He put Max Talbot on waivers yesterday, and then he followed it up be putting Zac Rinaldo on the waiver wire (Neither player has been claimed).
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The Bruins don’t really generate that much more cap space with their current moves. Max Talbot’s cap hit is $743,279. Zac Rinaldo’s is $850,000. However, the $1.6 million total does give the B’s a total of $6,844,546 cap space for the trade deadline. So, the Bruins may have enough for Eriksson if he has a great game tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, or another option if the B’s choose to try something else.
Before the game, Don Sweeney talked to the media about the Bruins recent moves they made.
“There’s certain times a year when you have an opportunity before deadlines to create flexibility,” offered the Bruins GM. “Both those represent that. I’ve had talks with both players. Zac is playing tonight. There are plenty of players that have gone on waivers and nothing has happened. In both counts that might be the case. But we have certain deadlines we have to adhere to. In order to create flexibility with some of the discussions we’ve had that was something we had to do. As difficult as those conversations are to have, you have to have them and do what’s best for the hockey club.”
“I still believe that Zac is a player that we needed, the type of player that we needed,” said Sweeney. (That’s a bold defense of a player that has put up only three points(one goal) this season.) “Did I know that Tyler Randell would be able to come in and fill a gap? Did I think Landon Ferraro necessarily would come in and fill another gap? No, those are things you don’t necessarily have a feel for before the season started.”
“I felt that our team lacked energy at times last year and I think Zac has done a good job in that regard. Has he produced to the level maybe he’s capable when you watch him in practice every day? No, he’d probably be the first to tell you that. But I think his game has certainly come a long way where he’s put himself in questionable situations … even penalties he takes now most of them are borderline calls in a lot of occasions. I think he infuses a lot of energy. He’s been used on the penalty kill a little bit, again something he can probably grow at because of the way he skates, the courage that he has. I think it’s infectious for our club. He’s fit in well. We’ll see whether somebody else thinks that, we might lose that asset and we’ll go from there. But it allowed us this time, deadline, for flexibility’s sake.”
Rinaldo now leads the team in penalties, thanks to a hit that led to a power play opportunity for the Lightning. Tampa scored quickly to get the game tied at one halfway through the first period. While Rinaldo has improved as a player, he’s still not the kind of the player the Bruins need if they want to make a serious playoff run.