This is part two of our Bruins Roster Trade Value series. Go check out part one, which consists of the forwards on the NHL roster.

Defense

Johnny Boychuk: Boychuk was scratched last night for some unknown reason while guys like Matt Hunwick and Andrew Ference continually get the nod. Boychuk is a young defenseman who has played very well for Boston this season. Boychuk will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the season and should find himself in Boston once again.
Ruling: Movable

Zdeno Chara: Chara has a no-trade clause and has not been asked to waive it
Ruling: NTC'd

Andrew Ference: I'm not sure what type of value Ference has. At the beginning of last season, Ference played extremely well but injuries has degraded his play to that of a 5th or 6th defenseman. No team out there will want Ference, though he will be a UFA at the end of the season. His numbers for a defenseman aren't special (47GP, 0G, 7A) but his play has been so bad no one will want him.
Ruling: Movable

Matt Hunwick: Hunwick has been a waste of space this season after a decent showing last year. He signed a contract that will pay him $1.55M next season. I don't think Hunwick is worth that and the RFA tag may entice a few teams to take a run at him. Yesterday proved to me that Hunwick isn't close to being a quality NHL defenseman and hopefully he can be moved today.
Ruling: Moveable

Derek Morris: As I write this, Morris has been traded to the Coyotes for a 4th round draft pick in 2011.
Ruling: GONE

Mark Stuart: Staurt has been a good defenseman for the Bruins this season and will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the season. The Bruins are high on Stuart who has shown consistency, aggresive play and an improvement each year he's played for the Bruins. I don't see them trading him, he's the type of young defender you want to keep around.
Ruling: Untouchable

Dennis Wideman: No one wants this guy, face it.
Ruling: Unmovable due to bad contract

Goalies

Tuukka Rask: Rask isn't going anywhere because he's the future of the Bruins. Rask will be in Boston for the next three seasons with a reasonable contract for a #1 starter.
Ruling: Untouchable

Tim Thomas: Here we go, this may be a rant. The Bruins will HAVE to entertain offers for Tim Thomas for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that Thomas hasn't played in the NHL for over a month now (last start was on 2/2/10) and doesn't look like he'll be playing any time soon. Tuukka Rask played well in net for the Bruins last night despite his team leaving him out to dry on a couple of goals. Thomas hasn't been himself this year, or maybe he wasn't himself last year and that's why he played so well.

Thomas has a no-trade clause and to my knowledge he hasn't been asked to waive it, but there are rumors that some teams want him. What is Thomas to do? I believe he would waive his NTC to go to a team like Chicago or Washington at a chance to win the Stanley Cup. If a team like Philly comes calling, he won't waive.
Ruling: NTC'd but movable (if that makes sense)

It is NHL Trade Deadline day (pause for celebration). Because it is our first trade deadline day at Something's Bruin, I want to break down the Bruins NHL roster to see who is movable and who isn't. I'll be starting with the forwards.

Forwards

Steve Begin: Begin is a 31 year old grinder who was brought to the Bruins to bring depth and energy. Begin also has done a great job on the penalty kill for Boston. His numbers aren't great by any stretch (56GP, 3G, 9P, 12A) but no one expected him to carry the offense. Begin has done a good job in Boston and with an expiring contract, I don't see him moving.
Ruling: Movable

Patrice Bergeron: Bergeron is one of the most frustrating Bruins players on this roster. Before his concussion, Bergeron scored 31 goals (2005-2006 season), but since then hasn't come close to that number. His highest goal total (12 and counting) and his highest point total (39 last year) haven't been impressive, considering the guy makes $5M this year and $5.75M next year. With that said, no hockey team is going to take this large contract for a 3rd line center.
Ruling: Unmovable due to contract

Byron Bitz: Bitzy Cat, Bitzy Cat, where are you? We can't...find...you! Sorry, I felt as though I needed to break into song to find Byron Bitz. Bitz is a 25 year old grinder type of player who has no business being on this team. Bitz' contract isn't a killer by any means, but he's certainly taking up roster space that could be used on someone else. In 45 games played this season, Bitz has scored 4 goals and has added 5 assists (9 points). The Bruins make look to add Bitz into a package deal today.
Ruling: GONE - Traded to the Florida Panthers along with Craig Weller and a 2nd round pick for Dennis Seidenberg and Matthew Bartowski

David Krejci: Krejci is a 23 year old center that blew everyone's mind last year with his masterful play. At the end of the season, he signed his name on the dotted line and subsequently vanished. With that being said, Krejci has played in 58 games while scoring 11 goals and adding 20 assists (31 points). Despite all of this, Krejci is young enough that you can still build a team around him. He's proven he is a good #2 center and with some maturity could blossom into a good top center.
Ruling: Untouchable

Milan Lucic: Lucic is the guy who is known to everyone even if people don't know about hockey. He's the guy who was continually compared to Cam Neeley (unjustified) in the offseason and he's also the guy who signed a FAT contract extension that will give him $4+M over the next three seasons starting next year. The season for Lucic has been plagued by injuries so I'm willing to write it off, but if this is his play from here on out, there's the door.
Ruling: Untouchable

Dan Paille: I love Dan Paille on the Bruins. I just wanted to make that clear. I think Paille will remain with this team for a long time given his skill set and his ability to be used in multiple situations. Paille will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and should be coming back to the Bruins. While he's shown flashes of brilliance, his consistency seems to be an issue as some nights you can't find him on the ice. Teams may be interested in him for the RFA tag and his speed/penalty kill ability, but I don't see Boston moving him.
Ruling: Movable

Mark Recchi: No one wants Mark Recchi, he's 42 years old and already stated he will retire at the end of this season. Recchi has also been the most consistent Bruin player throughout this season and Boston would be stupid to trade him admist a playoff run.
Ruling: Unmovable due to age

Michael Ryder: Holy shit, Michael Ryder is awful. Last year the Bruins signed Ryder to a three year contract that had most people (self included) scratching our heads. Ryder effectively shut our traps as he scored 27 goals and 26 assists (53 points), but this season he's been back to his old self. Ghost Ryder has been out in full effect, notching 15 goals and 10 assists so far and is being overpaid for his lack of effort and production. Ryder's contract is so big and his production is so bad ($4M a season people) that no one will want him despite being rumored on the trading block.
Ruling: Unmovable because he sucks and so does his contract

Miroslav Satan: Seriously, no one wants Satan. If they did, they would've signed him.
Ruling: Unmoveable due to age

Marc Savard: The black and gold savior just signed a long term deal that will see him in Boston until the 2014/2015 season. No way Savard gets traded.
Ruling: Untouchable (and NTC'd)

Vladimir Sobotka: Sobotka is a young player (21) who has been bounced between the NHL and AHL. While with the Bruins though, Sobotka has broughr effort and heart unseen by many in the black and gold this year. Sobotka is a nice piece for any team who is looking to make a move in the playoffs and needs a 3rd or 4th line center to get their line going, but I think the Bruins are to high on him. At the end of this season, Vlado will be a Restricted Free Agent and teams could want a young guy.
Ruling: Movable

Marco Sturm: Guy has a no-trade clause and hasn't been asked to waive it.
Ruling: NTC'd

Shawn Thornton: Thornton isn't going anywhere unless a team REALLY wants an enforcer.
Ruling: Movable

Blake Wheeler: Wheeler has been a disappointment no matter how you slice it. His speed, strength and skill is diminished by his lack of drive and effort night in and night out. Wheeler will be a Restricted Free Agent this season but Bruins brass seems so high on him, I don't see him going anywhere.
Ruling: Movable

It's been almost three weeks since the Boston Bruins last stepped out on the ice, but for the black and gold faithful it's felt like an eternity. For those who can't remember that far back (I don't judge, I can barely remember yesterday), the Bruins rode a four game winning streak into the Olympic break with wins over Montreal (3-0 in Montreal), Buffalo (3-2 in Buffalo), Tampa Bay (5-4 in Tampa) and Florida (3-2 in Florida). It figures that the Bruins hit the Olympic break riding a wave of momentum unseen since 2008, but we (as a fan base) hope the rest has helped cure the ills of our players.

Tuukka Rask will once again start for the Bruins and making his sixth straight start. I don't know why people aren't alarmed that Tim Thomas, who played half of a period in the Olympics, hasn't played an NHL game in a month. Everyone seems to be brushing his "benching" off like it is no big deal. What the hell, people? This is a VERY big deal. You don't sit a Vezina winning goaltender because he's playing well, you bench him because he has been inconsistent and outplayed by a rookie.

What really pisses me off is people who are STILL hesitant to trade Thomas. The way I look at it, if someone wants him, I'll drive his ass to the airport at 3am to catch a red eye flight (because we all know Jacobs' is a cheap prick). I don't get why fans have such a personal attachment to players. Sometimes it seems like the people in this town (in any sport) forget that our fandom should be about the logo/name on the front, not what is stitched into the name plate. Numbers don't mean anything until they're hung into the rafters. I know the Tim Thomas story is cute because he's been through so much to get to where he is at, but if trading him and taking his bloated contract off of the books helps the Bruins, I'm all for it.

Sorry for that, Rask will start in net tonight and face Carey Price, so you know there shall be a good CAAAAREY chant going.

Bruins' Three Keys To Winning

1. Don't Lose Momentum. This is a pretty stupid statement by me, but I'm going to make it anyways. The Bruins must somehow keep the momentum they had before the Olympic break and ride it throughout the rest of the season. These guys need to keep this up because the race between spots 6-13 are only separated by 9 points. A Montreal win means the Bruins fall to 8th place as the Canadiens would leapfrog them in the standings.

2. Play For Your Job. Plain and simple, some of these guys need to start playing like their job is on the line, because it could be. With the NHL trade deadline looming tomorrow at 3pm EST, the Bruins are rumored to be making a splash in the trading pool, hopefully outside of the Steven Kampfer (right?) deal. For those who don't know, Kampfer was traded from Anaheim and is still in college I believe. Honestly, I don't care.

3. Pepper Price With Quality Shots. It seems like every time the Bruins play Montreal, Carey Price puts on his Superman undies and plays like the goalie most thought he would be. In November the Bruins put 43 shots on Price and only one went through, while in December they put 38 on him. He's played well against Boston this season, time to change that.

So I hope everyone enjoys the game tonight. I'll be at the Garden to witness the Bruins (hopeful glorious) return to action. Please don't be shitheads and boo the Canadian National Anthem. Unlike those frogs in Montreal, lets show some class. Also, tune into the 4SportBoston podcast tonight as a slew of Boston bloggers will be calling in to talk about the upcoming trade deadline.

Wow, it's already March! I can't believe the playoffs are a little over a month away. I hope everyone is (getting) over their Olympic hockey hangover because we're currently in the midst of the NHL trade deadline. The deadline is coming up on us on Wednesday, March 3 and some teams are expected to start announcing trades as soon as today.

Unfortunately, watching Olympic hockey has made me realize just how faulty the NHL actually is. It pains me that I haven't felt as connected to an NHL game (exluding Game 6 of the Bruins/Canadiens game in 2008) than I did watching either the USA or Germany. Maybe I'm still reeling from the games themselves, but you can tell there is definitely something missing in Gary Bettman's NHL.

The sad thing is, you can tell Bettman doesn't even care about the product in front of him because it doesn't present any green backs. During the US/Finland game, Bettman was interviewed by NBC and basically stated (paraphrasing) "We're a little bummed that it cuts into our schedule." That's about it. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I took away from his stupid interview.

The biggest thing I hope Gary takes away from these Olympic games is the commercial-less periods. The NHL has way to many commercials, interjecting ads during game play or missing out on some spots because they're running a commercial. Is Gary, the NHL and it's television partners aware of how irritating and frustrating it is as a fan to watch that? The reason the Olympics worked so well is because there was a visible ebb and flow of the game that was not interrupted by multiple car or Subway ads.

Unlike the Olympics, if a puck is iced or heads into the stands (especially on Versus) the television station will rattle off 2-3 commercials and interrupt the viewing experience. Why can't the NHL state "This period is brought to you with limited commercials by Subway" much like they did on NBC? Hell, you want some advertising, throw the Subway logo into the score ticker.

I also enjoyed the no-touch icing, but that isn't as important as the commercial-less periods.

There are many things that the NHL could do to improve its product (commercial-less periods, eliminating four teams, removing the trapezoid, etc) but all of this will once again fall on deaf ears. The NHL's problem begins at the top and slowly trickles its poison down the tree.

Hopefully Gary was paying attention to the 17.6 overnight Neilsen rating it received on NBC, because his league hasn't come close to that number in God knows how long.

"But it's in the middle of our schedule..."

The German Men's Olympic hockey team suffered its second straight loss in Vancouver with a 5-0 defeat at the hands of team Finland. Finland, led by defenseman (and Philadelphia Flyer) Kimmo Timonen's two goals, outscored and outplayed the Germans from the drop of the puck until the final tick of the clock.

Read more here

To all of my amazing readers I want you to know that on Sunday morning I will be on a plane heading to Las Vegas to get married. Unless Brian decides to blog, Something's Bruin will be collecting some dust.

I'll come back though, unless I win it big, in which case I may/may not.

LETS GO BRUINS!!

There are numerous rumors, tons of speculation and, in some cases, panic over the thought that Tim Thomas is not playing because he is actively being shopped by the Bruins. A part of me feels that this is complete hogwash while part of me feels that this could actually be true. There are basically 3 reasons why Tim Thomas isn't playing:

• Tuukka Rask is playing very well between the pipes
• Tim Thomas has an undisclosed injury
• The Bruins are resting him for the Olympics
  Tweet
  Read more

  Add comment (4)

  Hits: 1593

Depending on your hockey knowledge, when I ask you who is on the men's German Olympic Hockey roster, you may tell me Marco Sturm or Thomas Greiss. If you were to do that, it would actually blow my mind because most people would just shrug their shoulders and tell me they don't know. Well what I plan on doing is changing that for you.

Ranked 13th in the world, Team Germany will be overlooked by many as a squad that has very little talent to compete on the international level, especially with the more known countries like USA and Canada being able to fortify their rosters with NHL superstars. Unlike those clubs, the German team is comprised mostly of players from the DEL (15) with a sprinkling of NHL talent (6) and one AHL player.

You can read the rest of the article on Bloguin's Olympic Hockey Blog

Tuukka Rask will look to gain ground on Buffalo tonight

The Boston Bruins will travel to Buffalo to play the Northeast Division leading Sabres tonight. The Bruins, who have recently snapped a 10 game losing streak, can move into a tie for 8th place with a win (with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay).

Boston is 1-6-3 in their last 10 games and coming off of a big 3-0 win over Montreal. Buffalo, however, is coming off of a 4-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road. Patrick Lalime took the loss for the Sabres, which leads me to believe that Ryan Miller will get the start tonight in net for Buffalo. Tuukka Rask will be the man between the pipes for Boston tonight, marking his fourth straight start.

For those who blocked out the Bruins last 10 games, Ryan Miller was outstanding in a 2-1 victory back on January 29, 2010. Tuukka Rask was just as good for Boston, letting in two goals, but stopping 21 shots.

Bruins' Three Keys To Winning

1. Capitalize On Chances. Ryan Miller may very well be the Vezina winning goalie at the end of this season. One year after a knee injury limited him to 59 games, Miller leads the NHL in save percentage (.931%) and is third among goalies in goals against average (2.16). Miller has been a, if not the biggest, reason why Buffalo has been able to remain at the top of the Northeast Division throughout the season. If the Bruins want to win this game and Ryan Miller is in net, they'll have to capitalize on any and all scoring chances. Apparently it is the Bruins M.O. to shoot wide, blow perfect scoring chances and fan on one-timers. For the past 11 games we've seen it, but tonight they'll have to play crisp.

2. No More Turnovers. During the 10-game streak, one of Boston's biggest issues was turning the puck over in their own zone. Countless times a Bruins defender, and it sadly didn't matter which one, would make a horrible pass coming out of their zone only to have it taken by the opposition and thrown into the back of the net. Hell, even in Montreal the Bruins gave up breakaway and 2-on-1 chances that Rask had to bail them out of.

3. Finish The Game. Sunday against Montreal was the first time in a long time the Bruins finished a hockey game and they should carry that momentum over tonight. A lot of fans (self included) have commented on how the Bruins play a good first period before their game begins to fall a part. The B's are playing the number three seed in the East, it isn't going to be a cake walk and for them to only play a period or two should both infuriate and sadden their fans. Claude has said it best: "If you need another team to fire you up, you're in trouble." Well Claude, you and the boys are playing one of the best in the East, so get fired up!