Bruins sign, trade, lose a coach and rumors galore

The Bruins are certainly keeping things interesting in late June folks. As you all know by now, Boston was involved in a trade Tuesday with Florida.

The Bruins traded fan whipping boy, Dennis Wideman, the number 15 selection in Friday's draft and a 2011 third-round pick to Florida for Nathan Horton and Greg Campbell.

Campbell will likely be Boston's fourth line center, or extra forward while Horton is expected to be the Bruins first line right wing. Horton has topped the 30 goal mark once in his NHL career, but is hoping to make it twice while playing with a top play-making center.

Now, on to today where the Boston Bruins signed a young fan favorite, Johnny Boychuk to a two-year extension. Boychuk will hold a $1.875 million annual cap hit. Boychuk asserted himself in the post-season and was rumored to be getting a possible three-year, $7 million deal from his hometown Edmonton Oilers if he waited for July 1. Boston is very happy that Boychuk decided to sign now and not test the market.

Also today, the Bruins lost assistant coach Craig Ramsey to the Atlanta Thrashers. Ramsey, 59, will be the head coach of a team that has been as active as the Bruins.

The Thrashers have added three Stanley Cup champions including Dustin Byfuglien in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks so they are trying to build a contender in the ATL.

Ramsey has almost 40 years of NHL experience and is known as a players coach. The Boston players will certainly miss Ramsey's soothing presence in the locker room.

One other side note coming out today is that Tim Thomas is willing to waive his no-trade clause given the right opportunity. Tim Thomas' agent Bill Zito has been granted permission by the Boston Bruins to seek a trade for his client according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Thoms and Zito are not actively looking for a trade, however, they are trying to gage certain teams interest.

One final note I've been passed is that Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler have a good chance of re-signing with the Bruins. Both could sign prior to July 1, with Recchi likely to be the first of the two.

Things should be interesting tomorrow as well with the NHL draft taking place in Los Angeles. NHL sources are expecting Boston to be active and do some dealing. Also, Boston will end up with one of the drafts crowned jewels in either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin.

Are you ready for the hurricane that will be Friday Boston? Oh, and did I mention that NHL free agency opens one week from today?

This week in Bruins nation

Hello Bruins fans. As you can see by looking at the page I have been slacking with the blog. I have gotten incredibly busy, but no excuses.

It has been a busy week for the Bruins despite it being June. Let us first start with the concrete news.

Shawn Thornton will be back in black and gold for the next two seasons. Thornton signed a two year deal worth slightly over $800,000 per season. This is no surprise that the Bruins would bring back Thornton as they need to keep an enforcer to protect their stars and Thornton is a good locker room guy.

The Bruins also re-signed Dennis Seidenberg to a four-year extension. It's for $13 million, giving him a $3.25 million annual cap hit. This did not come as a surprise for me either as Seidenberg was adament about signing early. If you recall, he did not sign until September last season.

Now, let the rumors start flying!

League sources are saying the Bruins prefer Taylor Hall to Tyler Seguin. The proposed trade is the #2 pick & Blake Wheeler for Edmontons #1.

Another hope is that the #Bruins can dangle their No. 15, No. 32 or No. 45 pick to someone for a goal scoring wing. The Chicago Blackhawks will be looking to deal at least one of their talented wings this off-season, look for Chicago as a possible trade partner.

Finally, multiple sources are saying that the Bruins are looking to trade for the #3 pick held by the Panthers to also acquire a young stud defenseman.

All of the speculation will continue as the NHL draft is less than three weeks away now. Keep coming back to BruinSpace for your updates on all things Bruins all season long.