If Horton stays who goes? Even if not next year what about in two? Three?
Ideally you start with Ference and Kelly and work your way from there. Wrong side of 30 with both of them, and neither has a skillset the Bruins have struggled to replace like they have with Horton's.
You can't sign everyone, but the proven goal scorer is not the place to draw the line in favor of aging bottom pairing defensemen or guys that can't carry your 3rd line. At least with Peverley, if someone in the top 6 goes down, can reasonably fill in. Kelly cannot.
I'd prefer to move Kelly over Peverley; but he was given a full NTC (as pointed out already). I was actually a little surprised they re-upped Kelly for as much and as long as they did with several center coming through the system; I thought it numbered the days of Krejci; but thank goodness I was wrong about that too!!
Ideally you start with Ference and Kelly and work your way from there. Wrong side of 30 with both of them, and neither has a skillset the Bruins have struggled to replace like they have with Horton's.
You can't sign everyone, but the proven goal scorer is not the place to draw the line in favor of aging bottom pairing defensemen or guys that can't carry your 3rd line. At least with Peverley, if someone in the top 6 goes down, can reasonably fill in. Kelly cannot.
Ya, we should all still be familiar with how that goes.
If Horton stays who goes? Even if not next year what about in two? Three?
The cap should hopefully go up annually after next year IIRC. Long term we are in pretty good shape IMO, it's really next year that seems to be the major hurdle.
The cap should hopefully go up annually after next year IIRC. Long term we are in pretty good shape IMO, it's really next year that seems to be the major hurdle.
The good thing is that it won't go down, so budgeting should be easy
I wouldn't rule out Kelly being bought out if he keeps playing like that.
Never. Dude is a PK extraodinaire and has a knack for playing his best in the play-offs.. 3 mil per is a steal for a 15 goal guy and all the other stuff he does. His FOUR year deal with a full NTC tells you all that you need to know.
Alternatively, you could keep Kelly, move Paille or Campbell, and call up MacDermid, and you'd be about 1.3m under.
In this scenario, yes, Chris Kelly is a massively overpaid 4th line center, but in reality, he's probably spelling Spooner in late game situations where you're protecting the many leads this juggernaut will have built.
Alternatively, you could keep Kelly, move Paille or Campbell, and call up MacDermid, and you'd be about 1.3m under.
In this scenario, yes, Chris Kelly is a massively overpaid 4th line center, but in reality, he's probably spelling Spooner in late game situations where you're protecting the many leads this juggernaut will have built.
You never know... The Bruins did try to trade Thomas the first year of his deal, and he had a full NTC...
Seems like most are in agreement though that if we keep Nate, one of Pevs or Kelly would have to head out.
Too early IMO, Nate`s off to a great start and isn`t showing any of that early season hesitation we saw him have coming off concussion #1 but I just don`t see the need to pull that trigger right now. I get the feeling that if Horty continues to show he is willing, and most importantly remains ABLE to stay healthy, Chia will offer him fair value, and he`d love to stay
I have no idea how things will shake out, but I say wait to re-sign Horton until we get a better sense for how he is going to play post concussion and whether he can stay healthy (eg more concussion free, if the guy get an ankle sprain that isn't likely to be career ending and leaving the Bruins on the hook for the balance of his salary).
As for upcoming free agents-I think Thornton has started to rumble about retiring and frankly while I think Ference is a good guy in the locker room, he is the defenseman I think the team can most afford to lose, although I can't remember if he expires in 2013 or 2014 or if he has a NTC in his current.
But I guess my point is there are other people to move that don't equal Peverly (and I too would keep Peverly over Kelly-I think Peverly is more versatile).
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not to mention cover his bruins tattoo
Trade or no trade, the B's brought him the cup, so that is one tattoo he always wears with pride even if he ends his career in another organization.
I don't see any reason to re up him yet. There's a bit of a gamble involved either way but I'd prefer they play it safe for now. He'll likely have to be willing to re up relatively cheaply as well so I'm not sure he'll be a Bruin next year.
Horton has been playing surprisingly well.I thought it would take him quite a long time to hit his stride but Horton is an intelligent player.He isn't an energy guy,he knows where to go on the ice and can finish when the opportunity comes up.Right now,it is far too early to consider locking him up for any kind of long term deal.I honestly didn't expect much from the Krejci line early on,I thought both Lucic and Horton would be slow out of the gate.
Horton has to stay. When he's 'on', the Bruins are FAR better with him, than without him. As for his concussion... it's true he get concussed again, but I think he is definately worth the risk. He's a Habs-killer.
I've been thinking lately, don't we basically need to re-sign him. we need his size. is the size of our forwards not starting to concern anyone else a little? i know size is useless if you don't have the skill, but Horton clearly does. i would take Horton between 4.5--5 million over Kelly or Pevs any day and i love those two. if we let Horton walk our top 9 becomes...
No thanks. if anything we need to find another big, or at the very least gritty player to add to our top 9. i don't think we can afford to subtract Horton. i know his health is a concern and I'm not saying extend him right now, but if he has a healthy productive season i pay him without thinking twice and explore trading other guys to fit him in.
I say sign Horton and bite the bullet if you have to lose Peverley or Ference in that order. One thing that has been fairly consistent in my 35 years plus as a Bruin's fan is they have never had any kind of depth of scoring. They were always a one scoring line team who was missing that other scoring wing, usually a left wing.....That's why Joyce or Kvartalnov etc was always looked upon as the missing piece...They generally had two first liners, two second liners and a good checking line but they were always missing that extra wing. That extra wing is named Nathan Horton and it is one of the few things that makes this group different from, and perhaps more dangerous, than most of the others.
Last edited by cursednumber6: 02-05-2013 at 05:35 PM.
