Confirmed with Link: Bruins and Kevan Miller agree to four-year, $10 million deal, per agent Peter Fish.

[Fenway]

For those that missed it - Felger is ready to jump of the Tobin Bridge

http://www.csnne.com/boston-bruins/...tinue-to-overpay-bottom-of-the-roster-players

Peter Chiarelli may be long gone from Causeway Street, but his spirit lives on.

If someone can explain to me the Bruins' fascination with bottom-of-the-roster veterans with average talent, then I'd love to hear it. I used to think it was the problem of Chiarelli, the B's former general manager. But now I have to wonder if it's just in the water down there. And current GM Don Sweeney is chugging it.

I have no other explanation for the team's decision to sign defenseman Kevan Miller to a four-year (four!) extension worth $10 million yesterday. Miller is a nice role piece. But how that translates to four guaranteed years when he will turn 29 early next season and the Bruins have massive holes throughout their roster is beyond me.

What's more, the B's already have nearly the identical player in Adam McQuaid, who is roughly the same age, same size, same shot (right), same injury history (poor) and plays the same role (bottom pairing, right side). McQuaid is a little less skilled than Miller, so of course, using Bruins logic, he makes a little more ($2.75 million). But McQuaid also got four years when he re-signed prior to last season.

Certainly, contracts worth $2-3 million annually aren't going to ruin your cap in a vacuum. But start adding them up you see how the Bruins got into trouble in the first place. Combine McQuaid and Miller's hits and you have $5.25 million of valuable space chewed up against the cap. Basically, that's the price of a solid, top-4 defenseman, which the Bruins need ten times more than a depth piece.

Scary. The Bruins currently don't have a No. 1 or a No. 2 defensemen. (Sorry, Bruins writers, Zdeno Chara belongs on a second pairing right now.) Yet they have decided to lock themselves up with a pair of No. 6 guys who basically duplicate each other. Again, why do the B's continue to overpay the bottom of the depth chart when the top is so lousy?

 

[DKH]

I'm not convinced Miller will be an NHL defenseman 4 years from now. The term is very bad. Am I missing something, what was his upside exactly?

I like him or McQuaid on bottom pair - if you play either up its bad

I like Claude but we all know Claude likes Miller over Morrow and Trotman

i will let play out - seems incomplete situation

 

[Mpasta]

This is a non-story. Bruins signed their 5th/6th defenseman for 5th/6th defenseman money. The real story is where and how are they going to get a #1/#2 defenseman.

All of these non-stories add up and then you're stuck with a guy for 4 years who might not deserve to be in the lineup.

 

[DKH]

So you're saying I'm not invited?

You will always be invited.

I'm a bit confused over the moves but that's why they have package stores

 

[member 96824]

You will always be invited.

I'm a bit confused over the moves but that's why they have package stores

And Drizly!

(Shameless plug, I don't care..sue me! Actually don't plz and thx)

 

[HiyaGeorgii]

It's not even the move I have an issue with at this point. It's the ****ing bipolar posters who did exactly what you said. Blamed the crap d for last year, yet they're now saying what a solid move bringing them all back is. **** like this makes me crazy. There's literally zero logic involved.

Just the management can do no wrong crowd I guess. It's bizarre. Bruins stink. Work in Colin Miller, Morrow...see what you have. Sadly the goal is to compete for the 8th seed and hope to make some noise. IF they can trade Seidenberg, one would assume an equally horrible player with horrible contract would come back.

 

[sarge88]

Just the management can do no wrong crowd I guess. It's bizarre. Bruins stink. Work in Colin Miller, Morrow...see what you have. Sadly the goal is to compete for the 8th seed and hope to make some noise. IF they can trade Seidenberg, one would assume an equally horrible player with horrible contract would come back.

Sadly, the bolded is what I and a lot of others wanted for last year, as we were pretty sure they weren't making the playoffs, or were not going far if they did.

I'd be much more comfortable with signing KM right now if CM and Morrow had played in 70+ games last year and we were sure they weren't better options.

Instead, we're still just as unsure as we were a year ago about what CM or Morrow are and they're seemingly convinced that KM is something more than what I think he is.........a 6/7.

 

[LSCII]

Just the management can do no wrong crowd I guess. It's bizarre. Bruins stink. Work in Colin Miller, Morrow...see what you have. Sadly the goal is to compete for the 8th seed and hope to make some noise. IF they can trade Seidenberg, one would assume an equally horrible player with horrible contract would come back.

This is exactly right. Even if they find someone to take Seids, the guy was cooked, so they'll either eat a ton of money just to get rid of him, take back an equally bad deal on a player who is also bad, or have to include a real asset for a team to take him off their hands. It's a lose lose and certainly not nearly as easy as the "we can just trade Seids" crowd thinks it will be.

 

[Mathews28]

Gotta be more activity coming down the pike, so I think we've got to reserve some judgement right now.

What I did NOT see in the announcement is any mentioned of a NTC/NMC.

That's a good thing.

 

[Estlin]

I had a very bad feeling all along that the next Lucic deal was going to really hurt due to his cult status here, playing style, etc., and thus I was praying they'd trade him before his deal expired. Thankfully they did.

Have to admit, I get a somewhat similar sense with Krug. I really think the "small guy with big heart makes good" thing is going to bite us here. I really don't think he's a very good defender, and while I want him here and think he'd be fine on the 2nd pair IF they got a stud 3, they don't have a stud 3. I fear they are going to overpay and slot him higher than he warrants. Hope I'm wrong.

I feel the same way about Krug. I like him, but I don't believe that he should be more than a third-pairing defenseman. Down the road, when Carlo is ready, he and Krug would be a nice pairing. Given what Sweeney signed Miller for—indeed, the fact that he re-signed him at all—I fear that Krug will receive an over-payment.

I really hope that Miller's signing means the end of both McQuaid and Seidenberg in Boston.

 

[Stone Clode]

This is exactly right. Even if they find someone to take Seids, the guy was cooked, so they'll either eat a ton of money just to get rid of him, take back an equally bad deal on a player who is also bad, or have to include a real asset for a team to take him off their hands. It's a lose lose and certainly not nearly as easy as the "we can just trade Seids" crowd thinks it will be.

Give me a break, those kinds of trades happen all the damn time. Bruins traded Thomas's contract with multiple years left while he was hiding in a damn bunker. EDIT: Nevermind, the Thomas deal was just for that season. My bad.



Any team trying to hit the cap floor or who don't plan on competing for the next two years will probably take him on IF the Bruins want to deal him (which, given their recent transaction history, keeping him wouldn't freakin surprise me ). If they give up an 'asset', it certainly won't be anything too great. I just wouldn't expect the Bruins return to be anything significant. Seidenberg's contract is by no means an albatross to any team, minus the big cup contenders, who wouldn't trade for him for that exact reason.

 

[BruinDust]

Gotta be more activity coming down the pike, so I think we've got to reserve some judgement right now.

What I did NOT see in the announcement is any mentioned of a NTC/NMC.

That's a good thing.

Can you imagine.

Pretty sure the servers of HF Boards would of had a meltdown.

 

[shackattack]

Don Sweeney is a hot mess.He just forced Krugs salary higher He has no top pairing d men and no top right winger and continues to waste cap space .Miller getting a 1.7 million raise over 4 years is not smart .Should have let another team over pay him.What he is paying Miller and McQuaid could easily have fetched a top 4 d man.Get ready to watch Loui walk too.This team is being run by bafoons.

 

[shackattack]

Shattenkirk looks good in St.Louis because the Blues have Pietrangelo,Bouwmeester,Papaya( ok..i know thats not his name)

The Bruins need 2 more top 3 Dman. that is why the Miller signing is a troubling. Same as Krug.

Bruins may go into next season with the same dcore....except it will be a more expensive d-core.....and they know this d-core sucks.

That is what really bothers me.

I watched every Blues game in playoffs pretty well and Shattenkirk has outplayed entire roster on Blues. He has been a horse for them..Take a closer look when they play .

 

[BruinsBtn]

The only way this could be salvaged is if McQuaid is traded

 

[Emerz]

What an odd signing to wake up to after a day/night of drinking, are we sure this is genuine?

2.5M/year for Miller? whats the direction exactly? In my head I think its possible that Miller might even be an NHL D-man in 3-4 years lol, he's like... so average to bad.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

I like him or McQuaid on bottom pair - if you play either up its bad

I like Claude but we all know Claude likes Miller over Morrow and Trotman

i will let play out - seems incomplete situation

Incomplete situation that started last season when we went into the off-season needing 1 top 4 defenseman. We moved Hamilton, and then needed 2. We NEVER resolved that issue. Krug managed to take on some top 4 minutes, but he still isn't defensively responsible enough to log any serious PK minutes, but could easily thrive with a legit top 4 partner. If Sweeney doesn't resolve that situation this off-season, I don't see the season panning out much differently.

Everything in the article is accurate about Miller/McQuaid. Kevan Miller @ under a million was a better option than McQuaid; yet we kept both. Now we gave Miller a raise, and McQuaid is still here.

Logic says more moves will be made. But after last off-season and seasons moves, I can't say expectations fall in line with logic.

5.25 for 2 similar defensemen, that realistically only 1 should be dressed at a time, is bad player management. Especially when there are holes elsewhere.

 

[Greek_physique]

My question is pretty simple: Can Krug play with Miller?

It seems like Julien loves McQuaid with Krug; however if the above works them McQuaid has to go.

As upsetting as it would be, it's the only logical move now.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

My question is pretty simple: Can Krug play with Miller?

It seems like Julien loves McQuaid with Krug; however if the above works them McQuaid has to go.

As upsetting as it would be, it's the only logical move now.

If McQuaid+ somehow returns us something we need, I'm all for it...

McQuaid on his own isn't getting much, so I guess that + is the main piece.

 

[LouJersey]

I'm pretty sure they envision a Krug-Kevan second pairing. Not too bad for a mediocre team like we are. I would expect a deal for Gudbranson/Trouba/Shattenkirk to pair with Chara and if they can't get rid of Seids a Seids/McQ third pair (which would prolly be God awful).

I still think they do a Seids and Hayes deal for a similar cap number forward.

 

[LSCII]

Give me a break, those kinds of trades happen all the damn time. Bruins traded Thomas's contract with multiple years left while he was hiding in a damn bunker. EDIT: Nevermind, the Thomas deal was just for that season. My bad.



Any team trying to hit the cap floor or who don't plan on competing for the next two years will probably take him on IF the Bruins want to deal him (which, given their recent transaction history, keeping him wouldn't freakin surprise me ). If they give up an 'asset', it certainly won't be anything too great. I just wouldn't expect the Bruins return to be anything significant. Seidenberg's contract is by no means an albatross to any team, minus the big cup contenders, who wouldn't trade for him for that exact reason.

How many times have you seen that though? Once with Thomas? Any other examples? They don't exactly spring to mind easily, right?

 

[Stone Clode]

How many times have you seen that though? Once with Thomas? Any other examples? They don't exactly spring to mind easily, right?

Two things:

An obvious one that I missed from just this year: the Vinny Lecavalier/Luke Schenn deal. It can certainly happen.

My thing though is that very few times are teams willing to bite the bullet and accept virtually nothing in return. I think that more often is the reason they don't do these deals. There are always teams ready to take these guys, but teams would rather take a shot and hope for some reason the guy returns to form, than to essentially just throw the player away. And in my opinion, that is oftentimes a fault, although understandable for wanting to maximize the value of every asset.

 

[bossfan]

The only way this could be salvaged is if McQuaid is traded

McQuaid contract signed last year makes him untradeable, doesn't it?

I can't figure out what this team's plan is.

 

[BruinDust]

McQuaid contract signed last year makes him untradeable, doesn't it?

I can't figure out what this team's plan is.

McQuaid is easily tradeable.

He's not bringing back much on his own, but he can be traded without question.

The return is very debatable.

 

[GloveSave1]

Give me a break, those kinds of trades happen all the damn time. Bruins traded Thomas's contract with multiple years left while he was hiding in a damn bunker. EDIT: Nevermind, the Thomas deal was just for that season. My bad.

Any team trying to hit the cap floor or who don't plan on competing for the next two years will probably take him on IF the Bruins want to deal him (which, given their recent transaction history, keeping him wouldn't freakin surprise me ). If they give up an 'asset', it certainly won't be anything too great. I just wouldn't expect the Bruins return to be anything significant. Seidenberg's contract is by no means an albatross to any team, minus the big cup contenders, who wouldn't trade for him for that exact reason.

As with most things, reality is somewhere in the middle. Is trading Seidenberg easy? No. There are many complications. But if DS made up his mind to put in the work, he could find a taker...and I feel confident for the full contract, or very close to it. Maybe a late pick or the ol' "future cinsiderations" coming back ala Marco Sturm.

Seidenberg is not as cooked as is accepted around here. I'd bet on a limited bounce back year, a decent year, next season...and some team looking for a vet defender will too. Someone will be up to take a chance.

As we know all too well...guys that have a clue in their own end are increasingly rare these days, it seems.