Chiarelli: Kessel Will Be Back

In news that is a bit surprising, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told NESN's Kathryn Tappen that sniper Phil Kessel will be back with the team next year. The interview occurred on NESN's SportsDesk, and, according to the clip that was released on NESN.com, Kessel will return. Below is a transcript of the video clip:

CHIARELLI: “Yes, yes he will [be back]. I don’t like to talk about negotiations, but he’s a player of impact. [He has] the speed, and he’s still a young player. I can’t dismiss me talking about players to trade because that’s my job. It’s unfortunate that [trade rumors] leak out but Phil’s a good person — a very good person and a very good player — and we fully intend to keep him.”

I suppose the one "caveat" here is that Chiarelli says, "we fully intend to keep him", which to me means, "we really want to have him back". However, "wanting" is different than "doing", so it remains to be seem what actually happens.

Should the rumors of Kessel being traded to Toronto, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, FC Barcelona or the Israeli National Basketball team be put to rest? Well, not exactly. If one takes a look back at one of Chiarelli's other promises of safety and returns, that one didn't exact turn out as he had stated. Remember Dave Lewis?

Lewis was told he was "safe" on March 31, 2007. He was fired on June 15 of the same year.

Also, while stating that Kessel will be back quiets rumors of his departure, the idea of Kessel returning means someone else must go. Who? Probably one of either Matt Hunwick, Marco Sturm, Chuck Kobasew, Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard or Michael Ryder. With the exception of Hunwick, all of those players have contracts in the multi-million dollar level, salary that will have to be cleared if Kessel, expected to net $3-4.5 million a year in a new deal, is to don the Black and Gold again next season.

Kessel is "safe" and his rumors end, but start up a whole other round of rumors involving other B's fan favorites, particularly Patrice Bergeron. So where will it all end? Unknown for now, but it's safe to say that Chiarelli isn't done making moves yet.

Photo credit: BostonHerald.com

(In case you missed the above link, the Chiarelli clip and NESN article can be found here.)

Team Canada: Lucic In, Savard Out; Kessel and Thomas for USA

Team Canada announced the invitees for its 2010 Olympic Team camp today, and one Bruin made the grade: 21-year old Vancouver, B.C. native Milan Lucic.

The bruising forward was a somewhat surprising invitee, considering that he is only in his second year in the league and was chosen over some notably more talented players, not the least of which being teammate Marc Savard, who was not invited.

Lucic, however, brings another element to the Canadians' game, one that includes physical play and a bit of an edge. Whether or not Lucic makes the final roster remains to be seen, but something tells me the kid taking the ice with the Canadian flag on his sweater in his hometown of Vancouver next year might be one of the biggest thrills imaginable.

Savard being left out is a bit of a surprise, but is almost understandable considering Canada's logjam at center. Here are just a few of the centers the Canadians have to choose from, other than Savard: Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier, Eric Staal and Joe Sakic. Savard is good, but not good enough to bump one of those guys out of a spot.

For the Yanks, the Bruins chosen were Tim Thomas and Phil Kessel, neither of which was really a surprise. Thomas has become a bona-fide netminder, and will likely compete with Ryan Miller for a starting job, and is almost certain, in my opinion, to at least be the back-up, depending on how the oft-injured Rick DiPietro performs over the coming months.

Kessel will add some good scoring punch to the American squad, one that already features names like Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Zach Parise and Patrick Kane.

Other American Bruins, like Blake Wheeler, Mark Stuart and Matt Hunwick, may have a better shot at donning the stars and stripes come 2014.

Recchi Returns

In what looked like it may be a long-shot at season's end, veteran winger Mark Recchi has signed a one-year deal to return to the B's next year. Because of the tight salary cap situation, it seemed like Recchi wouldn't be donning the Black and Gold in 2009-2010, despite his wishes to do so. However, he is a veteran asset to this somewhat young team, and is a huge boon to the power play.

The deal, according to TSN, includes some bonus clauses. I'm assuming, and this is just pure speculation, that the clauses include bonuses for things like games played, goals and total points.

Anyways, it never hurts to have a guy like Recchi on this team, especially one who has a Cup win under his belt, and who exhibited some unreal toughness last postseason.

A good move by Chiarelli for sure, but I'm still waiting for news on Hunwick and Kessel, whose presence/absence will have a far greater impact on this team.

Bitz Back, Begin Joins Fold

According to the Boston Globe, Byron Bitz, a restricted free agent, has been re-signed by the B's to a multi-year deal. The money has yet to be disclosed, but this is a great move by the team, as Bitz proved he could really get his nose dirty and be an asset for the team. All hail, Lord Byron returns.

On another note, one that I'm not as happy about, the B's apparently have signed former Canadien Steve Begin to a one-year deal. I never liked Begin when he was with Montreal (he was the one who broke Marc Savard's back with a cross-check before the 2008 playoffs), but perhaps the front office sees something valuable in him.

Still no word on Kessel or Hunwick.

"Hab" Gill

Sources are reporting that the Canadiens have signed former Bruin and, most recently, former Penguin defenseman Hal Gill to a two-year contract.

There is a large contingent of Bruins fans with a large amount of distaste for the big defenseman, mainly because he never used his size to his advantage whilst wearing the spoked-B. Now that he's a Hab? The booing will be louder than ever.

This does, however, mark the second defenseman of the day signed by Montreal, as they also snatched up former Sabre Jaroslav Spacek.

Needless to say, Hal Gill will probably never be welcome in Boston again.

Free Agent Frenzy Begins

Today is July 1st, AKA shopping day for every NHL club with cash to spare. There have already been a number of signings and trades, but I'm only going to comment on the biggest or the Bruins-related ones.

• Marian Hossa signs with Chicago: The Slovakian winger signed a 12-year, $62.8 million contract with the 'Hawks. The contract is front-loaded, meaning the cap hit will be lower because it is calculated using the average salary. Great signing by the 'Hawks, as it gives them another scoring threat to go along with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but they're probably going to have to move some money around now to stay under the salary cap. This is, however, an interesting choice by Hossa. First, he leaves Pittsburgh to sign with Detroit, alienating Pens fans. Now, he leaves Detroit to sign with Chicago, one of the Wings' division rivals. Needless to say, there probably won't be much love for the Hoss when he takes the ice at Joe Louis Arena with the indian head on his sweater later this year. Another interesting note is that apparently Hossa's agent was talking to the Bruins earlier in the day, but nothing ever materialized.
• Scott Gomez is traded to the Canadiens: Not sure why the Habs would do this, as it seemed to be a salary dump by the Rangers. Gomez had underachieved horribly in big-market New York City, so what makes the Habs think he'll do any better in the Bell Centre pressure cooker? Also, Montreal had to give up Chris Higgins, one of their better forwards, to get the Alaskan Gomez. Questionable trade by Bob Gainey, but could prove to be a good one if Gomez regains his New Jersey-era form.
• Steve Montador signs with Buffalo: Not much interesting about this, other than the fact that Montador was with the Bruins this past year. Some were underwhelmed with his performance with the B's, and it didn't seem like re-signing him was in the cards.
• Henrik and Daniel Sedin re-sign with Vancouver: The Swedish twins decided that Vancouver would remain their home, as they signed identical five-year, $30.5 million contracts. This affects the Bruins because Montreal was said to be heavily involved in the pursuit of the forwards, so anything keeping the talented brothers out of the B's division can be viewed as a positive.

There have been plenty of other signings as well, including Dwayne Roloson to the Islanders, Nikolai Khabibulin to the Oilers and Mike Knuble to the Capitals, but the ones above are, in my opinion, the biggest or most Bruins-related.

There is some other Bruins news as well, some of it relatively unimportant, some of it reassuring, and some of it potentially damaging.

• The "Meh": The B's bought out oft-maligned winger Peter Schaefer today, freeing him to go play elsewhere. I was originally a Schaefer supporter, but after he seemingly shut it down in Providence when he could have shown the Bruins brass he still had something left in the tank, it was time for him to go. He may catch on somewhere with a team looking for a cheap veteran forward, but his time in Boston is certainly up.
• The Good: Apparently the Kessel-for-Kaberle deal between the Bruins and Maple Leafs is dead and talks haven't resumed, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. I still feel the Bruins would be remiss to deal Kessel, who seems to be on the verge of becoming a bona-fide scoring machine. The B's management team is apparently less enamored of the youngster, but I think they could get more for him than Kaberle. That's no knock on the talented defenseman, but I think Kaberle and the number-seven pick would have been more fair than Kaberle for Kessel straight up. Regardless, it doesn't seem like there has been much movement on re-signing Kessel. The hope here is that something materializes within the next couple of days.
• The Bad: WEEI.com's Joe Haggerty reported on his blog that multiple teams have contacted Matt Hunwick's agent about the possibility of signing the mobile defenseman to an offer sheet. Hunwick became a restricted free agent as of July 1, and any team can tender him an offer. The Bruins will have the right to match an offer, but if they choose not to, they will receive draft picks as compensation. Many thought that Hunwick, had he not been injured in the Montreal series, could have been what the Bruins needed to push them past Carolina. The youngster is a mobile defenseman who has no reservations about jumping up into the offensive rush, something that the Bruins need and something that is a rarity in the league these days. Losing Hunwick would be a big blow, and letting another team sign him to an offer sheet could drastically increase what the B's were prepared to offer him. More money for Hunwick would mean less money for fellow RFA's Byron Bitz and Kessel, and even less money for another UFA, should the B's choose to pursue one. Chiarelli seems to be fine with just waiting and seeing what happens, but it's a risky strategy.

I'll post more if there's any breaking news, but those are the big stories of the day so far. Stay tuned.

Double Dose of Winter Wonderland?

ESPN.com and TSN.ca are both reporting that the NHL may hold a second Winter Classic on New Year's Day 2010. The Bruins, rumored yet not officially announced as hosts of the Classic, are supposedly slated to play either the Washington Capitals or the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park on New Year's day.

One of the interesting things about the Classic was the newness of it, and some lustre may be lost if the league holds more than one outdoor game. However, put me in the camp of people who think, "the more the merrier." No, I'm not advocating that every team play an outdoor game each year (though Kings vs. Ducks at Dodger Stadium would be a smash hit!), but why not include another two markets in what has become a huge success for the NHL?

The rumors have it that the Calgary Flames would host the second half of a New Year's Day doubleheader, playing at McMahon Stadium, home of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, and would play against another Canadian team. A game between two franchises from the Great White North may not be a ratings boon in the United States, but would be huge among Canadian viewers. Besides, NBC is likely to put all of its viewer eggs in the American basket anyways, as Boston is large TV market (as is Philadelphia), and any game featuring Washington's Alexander Ovechkin will draw in other hockey fans, casual viewers and closet hockey fans.

So put me amongst the few who don't think a second classic in 2010 would "take away" from the Bruins' hosting one. A full day of hockey to kick off the New Year sounds good to me. Plus, if nothing else, it will be fascinating to see what the weather is like in Calgary, where January is the coldest month. The average high is 26.96 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, that's the HIGH. The low, you ask? 4.82 degrees F. Good luck, Jarome Iginla.

Photo Credit: Boston Herald Graphic

Go B's.