BOSTON – The Bruins gambled on their young D-men by passing over other veteran free agent defenseman such as Cody Franson and Marek Zidlicky, but that stance might be changing very quickly.
With the news that 34-year-old Dennis Seidenberg will be shelved for the next two months due to back surgery, the Bruins find themselves pretty light in terms of heavy duty experience on the back end.
Clearly, Zdeno Chara, at 39, brings that by the boatload and Adam McQuaid should be considered a grizzled veteran at this point. Still, Torey Krug and Kevan Miller are only entering their third NHL seasons. Joe Morrow, Colin Miller and Zach Trotman are all fresh-faced rookies for all intents and purposes.
It’s a good thing Don Sweeney signed lefty shooting Matt Irwin as a veteran insurance policy this summer. Sweeney said he’ll continue the ongoing chatter with other teams about D-men available on the trade market.
“It’s a void that internally we’re trying to assess. As I’ve always said, I’ll continue to talk to other teams, and people that may, or may not, be available to see if we need to fill that void,” said Sweeney. “[The frequency of trade talks could be raised] under the right circumstances, if it’s going to be the right fit for us relative to the guys that we have, and that we’ve been assessing overall.
“We’ve felt that we had very good depth, albeit some of it [more] inexperienced. But now they’re getting an opportunity, and hopefully they can take advantage of it.”
The Bruins still have plenty of brawny, strong D-zone presence with Kevan Miller, Adam McQuaid and Zdeno Chara healthy. There’s a wealth of possible trade options given that Seidenberg could play both on the left and right side. Or they could simply choose to ride things out the first two months and hope to still be sniffing the East’s top-8 once Thanksgiving rolls around.
Boston Bruins
But don’t be surprised if the Dustin Byfuglien rumors to Boston start kicking up again as the Bruins were already seeking a dynamic puck-moving defenseman prior to the Seidenberg injury. Now, they have even more need to bring on at least one more proven NHL D-man with the Bruins down both Dougie Hamilton and Seidenberg from last season and unsure of what they have beyond proven commodities in Chara, Krug, Miller and McQuaid.