A source close to Rich Peverley has confirmed to CSNNE.com that the Bruins forward has signed on to play hockey in Finland during the NHL lockout. The shifty, hard-nosed Peverley has signed on to play with JYP in the SM-liiga Finnish hockey league, and will arrive later this week according to the teams website.
The 30-year-old Peverley finished with 11 goals and 42 points last season in an injury-plagued season for the Bruins, and also serves as the alternate NHLPA player representative for the Bruins alongside forward Daniel Paille. Peverley came alive during the playoffs, and was one of Bostons best forwards in their first-round postseason loss to the Washington Capitals last April.
Peverley was skating with the rest of the Bruins at Harvard last week, and is expected to be among a sizeable exodus of Bs skaters this week.
Tyler Seguin and Anton Khudobin have already left for Europe, and David Krejci, Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference are expected to leave for their European destinations this week if theyre not already there. Like his Bs teammates that have already agreed to European contracts during the lockout, Peverley has an out clause that allows him to return to Boston when the NHL resumes playing games.
More Bruins players are expected to formalize plans to head to Europe to remain sharp this week as it appears at least a few months of the NHL regular season are in danger due to the lockout. Former UMass star and Brockton native Cory Quirk is among the players listed on the most recent JYP roster in Finland that Peverley will be joining this week.