The Bruins are rounding out their organizational depth at the forward and defensemen spots. On Wednesday they and signed Garnet Exelby and Lane MacDermid to two-way contracts for the 2012-13 season.
The two signings also fit the mantras of toughness and being difficult to play against that the Bruins have ridden to great success during the Peter Chiarelli era in Boston.
The 31-year-old Exelby is a 6-foot-1, 210-pound lefty-shooting defenseman with extensive NHL experience, having played 408 career games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Exelby last played in the NHL for Toronto during the 2009-10 season.
The rough and tough blueliner is a strong stay-at-home defenseman capable of dropping the gloves, and isnt expected to seriously challenge for any of the top six blueline spots on the Boston roster.
Exelbys best season was his first full NHL campaign in 2003-04 with the Thrashers when he put up 10 points and 134 penalty minutes in 71 games.
Exelby posted 21 points and 177 penalty minutes for the Grand Rapids Griffins last year.
MacDermid was a restricted free agent that had been qualified by the Bruins after making his NHL debut last season. The 21-year-old MacDermid finished scoreless in five games with the Bruins while also getting into a memorable scrap with New York Rangers tough guy Mike Rupp at Madison Square Garden in his NHL debut.
Boston Bruins
MacDermid finished with 16 points and 121 penalty minutes in 69 games for the Providence Bruins in his second straight solid AHL campaign, and stands ready if the Bruins need a little more toughness and grit throughout the season. He led the P-Bruins with 155 penalty minutes last season and finished second among AHL rookies with 21 fighting majors last season.
Exelbys contract is worth 600,000 at the NHL level and 130,000 at the AHL level while MacDermids deal is worth 600,000 at the NHL level and 70,000 at the American Hockey League level.