Bruins head to west coast, Stuart included

The Boston Bruins returned to practice today in Wilmington, and it looked like they brought their JV lineup.

That is unfortunately what the lineup looks like without Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard. Take a look at the junior varsity lines.

Sturm - Recchi - Satan
Wheeler - Krejci - Ryder
Lucic - Begin - Bitz
Paille - Sobotka - Thornton

One good sign for Boston was that Mark Stuart was back on the ice with the team today. Stuart, who injured his sternum on Dec. 14 is going to make the trip with the Bruins, but may not play.

Stuart's injury was to keep him out, four-to-six weeks and today marks the four week period. If Stuart does return, it will likely be in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.


Rumor Mill
The calendar has flipped to 2010 and so that means I am bringing back the rumor mill. With Boston struggling to score goals there have been many rumors about the Bruins trading for a goal scorer.

I will share those rumors, minus the Ilya Kovalchuk ones. Needless to say I think Kovalchuk has as much chance of walking through that door as Phil Kessel.

Teemu Selanne -- Selanne has said this will be his last season in the NHL. With the Ducks likely out of the playoff mix, Selanne may waive his no trade clause to move to a contender. The favorite has got to be the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I'm sure the Bruins will kick the tires on him.

Ray Whitney -- Whitney is on a struggling Hurricanes team which seems to be on its way to a #1 pick and Taylor Hall. This is the most likely pick up for Boston as Whitney will cost the least. You can expect the type of production that Mark Recchi gave last year from Whitney. An older player, but certainly a different style than Recchi.

Puck Moving Defenseman -- The Bruins want to add a puck moving defenseman desperately, but it is going to be difficult. There have been rumors of players like Sheldon Souray and Scott Niedermayer being available on struggling teams. Niedermayer is not likely, and if he were to move he would likely go to New Jersey to play with his brother. Souray is an interesting target, but don't look for him to be on his way to Boston as his $5.4 million cap hit will be a bit too steep without a major roster move.