Jones: Do You Trust Peter Chiarelli To Fix Bruins?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins sit one point ahead of the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference following their 3-2 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.
The B's have weathered the storm without Zdeno Chara and David Krejci, who have both returned from lengthy injury-related absences, but the team still needs a spark given their 16-13-3 record. Several trade rumors have popped up over the last week, with some reports saying the Bruins are very active looking for a deal.
General manager Peter Chiarelli has plenty of assets to work with, whether it be his collection of young talent in the minors (Malcolm Subban, Ryan Spooner, David Pastrnak), young talented players at the NHL level who are relatively cheap (Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg and Torey Krug) and even some talented, proven veterans who are signed to lengthy deals (Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand). He also has a nice bundle of draft picks, including the pair of second rounders he received from the New York Islanders in the Johnny Boychuk trade before the season started.
Do you have confidence that Chiarelli will be able to pull off a significant trade? 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones doesn't.
"There are a ton of assets, the standings are dictating that you have to make a move, so it's up to the GM to make a move, to get it done. I don't have a high degree of confidence that Chiarelli is going to do something significant," Jones said on Wednesday night's The Adam Jones Show. "Maybe there are talented players out there if you're willing to close and willing to give something up for those guys. But I don't know if Chiarelli is going to do it. His track record, his recent track record, tells you he probably is not.
"That's frustrating," continued Jones. "If Chiarelli gets something done, significant, and he makes a hard decision with some of the assets he has . . . if he bites down hard and makes one of those deals, all the credit in the world. But his recent track record suggests he is not going to close. That's unfortunate for the Bruins because they have a need, the standings are getting away from them, and they have that multitude of assets. I think a lot of GMs would know what to do, let's see if Chiarelli goes and does it."
Rich Keefe said the Bruins staying put would be even more frustrating given the fact they moved Boychuk in a salary dump move before the season.
"When you traded Boychuk for two second-round picks, that's telling everyone that you're freeing up money, so we'll have the ability to maneuver and get some stuff done. It wasn't fair to judge that trade without knowing what winger you get back from somewhere else. If it doesn't come, or it does come and it's another Loui Eriksson or Reilly Smith, then it'll be even more frustrating," said Keefe.
"I get that you can't be all-in every year, but there is no reason to ever think of this team as in a rebuild," added Keefe. "They have a good young core, but they also have a guy like [Zdeno] Chara who is going to be tough to replace. You do need to maximize the time that he is still on the team, so these should be the years you're really going after the Cup."
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