The Boston Bruins have acquired Chris Kelly from the Ottawa Senators for a 2nd round draft pick in this upcoming years draft.
I will say: I do not like this deal.
The Bruins just gave up a second round pick, which can be a very good prospect. Patrice Bergeron was a 2nd round pick, if it was a 4th round pick I would have no problem with it. Kelly has never had more than 38 points in a season, and he is no more than a third line/fourth line grinder type player. Oh did I mention his cap hit is 2.2 million? A bit steep for a player who probably wont surpass 32 points this season.
He is not what the Bruins need, because right now they need help transitioning the puck on the band end and scoring help up front. If they were going to get a center is should have been for someone like Stephen Weiss. Weiss is young and can put up 60+ points a season. The Bruins already have several similar players to him in Dan Paille, Gregory Campbell, and Blake Wheeler. If there was a need for Kelly it would be one thing, but there is not.
Now the Bruins have a few extra bodies on the roster, and you can only wonder what happens with rookie sensationTyler Seguin? Will the Bruins send him back to Juniors, scratch him, shift him to wing? Sending Tyler Seguin to juniors would not bother me, had the Bruins acquired someone like Weiss but not some fourth line grinder. Seguin has been just about as productive as Kelly and has way much more upside. Give the kid a chance will ya? He has not been given much of one this year.
The Bruins were in pursuit of Kaberle, and hopefully still are because they need help moving the puck if they want to compete for the Stanley Cup. With Nathan Horton being such a disappointment this season they really need a top notch point producer to help generate some offense in the forward spot, guess they wont be getting that since they have added Kelly. Hope they add more on offense, but don’t think they have the cap space since they still need a puck moving defensemen.
pic from:
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/Mlc1Skub75X/Tampa+Bay+Lightning+v+Ottawa+Senators/8IgAH-b-cl3/Cory+Murphy
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