Boston Bruins: Lee Stempniak, John-Michael Liles Fit In Quickly
The Boston Bruins made safe but respectable trades at the deadline. They attempted to fill in the holes that needed filling, and for the moment it looks like the trade was a success. We got a reliable top-six forward that has only made the Bruins most powerful duo (Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) more dangerous. We found a puck-moving defenseman who is willing to be a play-maker and be the extra man on the attack for the Black and Gold. The Bruins have gone from a statistical irrelevancy at the beginning of the season to an Atlantic Division leader.
Sort of like the Montreal Canadiens, but in reverse.
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Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles have made a good team better. They’ve helped fixed problems without creating any new ones. Sure, the trades weren’t flashy. No big names got moved, and no blockbuster event happened. That being said, Don Sweeney and the Bruins front office made smart choices with the options they had available, and things are looking up in Boston. They’ve gone 4-0-1 since the trades, and have taken on the best teams in the league and have proven they can beat them (sidetracks from team zebra not withstanding).
“I think it’s made a huge difference, bringing Stempniak in and Liles,” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. “Stabilizes areas where we thought we needed to kind of stabilize and slot players in other areas there that they’re able to be even better for us. It’s just kind of, I guess, the puzzle is falling together here and coming along well in the areas that we want it to and I think right now we have to be happy with what we’re doing. I think the players are feeling it as well.”
John-Michael Liles ended up hitting Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov in the head during Tuesday night’s B’s-Bolts game. While there was no penalty called, it’s not out of character for the DoPS to hand out a suspension after a no-call hit. Liles doesn’t have a reputation for dirty play, and was clearly not trying to hit Kucherov in head.
“I didn’t think I came up high with it. I thought I just tried to step into him,” said Liles postgame. “I didn’t know if he was falling, or if he ducked. Obviously he was down for a while. I didn’t see a replay on it, so I’m not really sure. I’m not trying to hit him up high. Most guys, I can’t even reach their heads. Just trying to do my job at the blue line, to step up and just get a piece of him. I didn’t even think my elbow came up high at all.”
Since the DoPS has yet to schedule a hearing, it appears the blueliner is out of the woods for the time being.
The new Bruins have already begun producing for Boston. Stempniak already has six points in a Boston uniform, including the overtime goal against the Florida Panthers. Liles has two assists, and has already made the Bruins blueline (its Achilles’ heel this season) more organized. While I rated the Bruins trade a ‘B-‘ at the deadline, the final score may be higher. It’ll be great to see just how much more the B’s latest acquisitions will improve the team.