Kessel won't have offer until September?

Peter Chiarelli spoke with the media on Tuesday, mainly about the signing of Derek Morris, However, Chiarelli also talked about the fact that he planned on enjoying the next month before hockey stokes back up.

"I am going to take a couple of weeks off and we'll get back at it at the end of August and early September," he said.

So, with that being said, does that mean he is taking a break from all hockey activity? With Phil Kessel sitting out there as a restricted free agent one has to wonder whether Kessel will have to wait at least another month for an offer.

It also begs the question of, why has another team not come in with an average offer and sweep Kessel away? If Kessel were given an offer sheet, the Bruins would have a week to match it.

Boston would have to dump a forward in order to do so and it would be tough to find a fit with a deadline in place. With Kessel likely out at least a quarter of the season that may restrict bidders. Anyone who were to sign Kessel would have to give Boston a future first, second and third round draft pick.

So if you're tired of the Kessel situation, sorry, but it doesn't look like he and the Bruins organization are even close to signing a deal.

Axelsson's Bruin career has officially come to a close

First reported by WEEI.com this morning, PJ Axelsson has signed a four-year deal with his hometown Frolunda team in the Swedish Elite League.

Axelsson played in Boston for 11 years and has 797 games of NHL experience as a Bruin.

"His heart was (in Boston). He loved it here and he loved the Boston fans," said Neil Abbott, Axelsson's agent. "There wasn’t anything he enjoyed more than playing (in Boston), but once that wasn’t an option it became a choice of playing here, playing there or taking a very nice offer to stay home. We respected and accepted the decision by the Bruins. Once he found out that returning to (Boston) wasn’t an option, going back home to Europe became a much easier decision to make.”

A tip of the cap is required to Axelsson, as playing 11 years for one franchise these days is rare. Finding a night where Axelsson took a night off was almost impossible. Axelsson still has some solid hockey left in him and will be a bubble player for the Sweedish Olympic squad in 2010.

Axelsson had been approached by numerous teams including the Detroit Red Wings, but none of the teams were able to clear the kind of cap space needed to sign Ax.

Axelsson's agent said it wasn't out of the question that P.J. may make an NHL return to a contender and a run at the Stanley Cup in future years.

Is Kessel going to be told to hit the road Phil?

It seems the Phil Kessel negotiations have caused quite a stir here in Boston. Most fans are hooting and hollering to re-sign Kessel, while there still are a few mild mannered Bruin fans who are choosing the, 'In Chiarelli We Trust' stance.

The Kessel story is big news, although many Bruins fans are getting tired of all the talk and no action. Don't believe me? Well, check out some of the biggest NHL outlets and you soon will.

Kessel's name has been thrown around in many different scenarios, but none of which have come true as of today. Kessel is a 21 year-old talent who can fly and score with some of the best in the league. So, why the lack of interest in signing the young sniper?

Well, of course Kessel is a resticted free agent so any offer sheet he is signed to, Boston can match it. Many GM's are fearful that if they offer a sheet to Kessel and Boston matches it, they may upset Bruin brass and they may never be able to mend the relationship. This of course can effect a possible future deal.

Now, we understand things from that end, but what about Boston's end? Boston was quick to sign players, David Krejci and Byron Bitz, granted Bitz wasn't in the position to hold out for a lot of dollars. Then there is Krejci who is an impact player in his own right, and future number one center on the Bruins, so you can understand the quick signing there.

However, Kessel is an impact player too, that currently, despite his young age is one of the best goal scorers in the game. Krejci, 23, is blooming into one of the best center's in the league with fantastic vision.

Now, I don't know about you, but I would like to see a young duo like that come up through the system and be a potent one-two punch for years to come. Anyone recall, Oates, to Neely, to net?

Kessel currently plays with Marc Savard but I have been the first to speculate that Savard's days in black and gold could be numbered. Savard has been quoted as saying he would like to eventually end up in Canada, closer to Ottawa and his family.

Next Summer, Savard will be a free agent, along with, Blake Wheeler, Milan Lucic, Mark Recchi, Steve Begin, Shawn Thornton, Tuukka Rask, Derek Morris, Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart, (Wheeler, Lucic, Stuart and Rask are RFA's).

You better believe Lucic, Wheeler and Rask will get a lot of attention from the Bruins and Boston loves retaining their defensemen.

With half of their defensemen being free agents, and young guns Lucic, Wheeler and Rask being RFA's, Savard may be unaffordable. Savard is a big money talent, as he is a consistent top 10 point man. Savard will look for at least $5 million a year, and with raises coming to Rask, Lucic, and Wheeler Savard may be the odd man out.

Now, it seems as though it would make sense to sign Kessel and get he and Krejci together to form a connection that could last for years to come. How about a line of Wheeler, Krejci and Kessel who have the ages of, 22, 23, and 21 respectively?

OK, so back to reality. The Bruins have approximately, $1.3 million left on their salary cap and Kessel left to sign. Kessel could be signed to an offer sheet, but then whoever signs Kessel will have to give Boston a first, second and third round draft pick.

Now, with few teams able to make a serious offer to Kessel due to their cap situations, if Boston were to clear another $2.5 million they would have a clear path to sign Kessel.

A player that may be on the hot seat for trading, just due to cap numbers alone may be Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew's number, plus Boston's already available cap space would give the Bruins $3,637,500 to try and accommodate Kessel.

Now, if you remember Kobasew's name was mentioned as trade bait to accommodate Kessel previously along with Aaron Ward. Now, Ward was traded to Carolina to create space for Derek Morris. But, will Kobasew go to accommodate Kessel?

All questions that have us scratching our heads, and not envying the decisions that Peter Chiarelli will have to make.

Last Tuesday, Chiarelli was quoted as saying, "I like where we are because we have for the most part our team in place," "Cap-wise we are getting up there, but certainly Phil is a player that if there comes a point where we have to make a move to get him in the mix I will certainly do that."

Now, a move was made on Friday, in trading Ward and then Saturday in signing Morris. But, not a Kessel move.

Chiarelli also said, "Summer is not done yet," last Tuesday. However, with the trade for Morris, is it over now?

Bruins by the cap; Kessel a goner?

Patrick Eaves was not claimed on waivers by today's noon deadline. The Bruins are now free to complete their buyout of Eaves, which will have an annual cap hit of $258,333.

Here is how Boston stands (courtesy Boston.com) under the salary cap after the trade of Aaron Ward, the buyout of Eaves and the signing of Derek Morris.

Forwards
Marc Savard, $5 million

Patrice Bergeron, $4.75 million

Michael Ryder, $4 million

David Krejci, $3.75 million

Marco Sturm, $3.5 million

Chuck Kobasew, $2,333,333 million

Glen Murray, $1,383,333 million (buyout)

Mark Recchi, $1 million

Blake Wheeler, $875,000

Milan Lucic, $850,000

Steve Begin, $850,000

Byron Bitz, $687,500

Peter Schaefer, $566,667 (buyout)

Shawn Thornton, $516,667

Patrick Eaves, $258,333 (buyout)

* Phil Kessel is a restricted free agent.

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara, $7.5 million

Dennis Wideman, $3.875 million

Derek Morris, $3.3 million

Matt Hunwick, $1.45 million

Andrew Ference, $1.4 million

Mark Stuart, $1.3 million

Johnny Boychuk, $500,000

Goalies
Tim Thomas, $5 million

Tuukka Rask, $850,000

Current cap hit: $55,495,833.

The Bruins have $1,304,167 million remaining in cap space. This clearly is not enough to sign Phil Kessel. So what are the options now?

A) Trade Kessel for and other defenseman for a top of the line defenseman.

B) Trade Kessel for future draft picks.

C) Trade a forward already under contract to create room to sign Kessel. The name that would make the most sense here would be Marco Sturm, just because of the contract size. Sturm's $3.5 million, plus the $1.3 million from the available cap would give Boston $4.8 million to try and ink Kessel.

D) Another team can sweep in and sign Kessel to an offer-sheet and the Bruins can decide not to match the offer.

There are no indications that Boston is making a serious effort to get Kessel inked. It's surprising that no other teams have made an offer for Kessel.

Peter Chiarelli said he thinks he is done trading players, so that may mean he would be content in letting Kessel walk. I don't see how you can let Kessel go for nothing, but as crazy as it sounds it could happen.

So, with all of the deals going on with the Bruins, and the future of Kessel up in the air I have decided to start the, 'Save Kessel' drive.

Kessel is a talent that is being grossly ignored by Boston and it may come back to hurt them. In the post lockout NHL, speed kills and Kessel has it. He also is a potential year in and year out 40 goal scorer.

We will have to see how this situation ends up, but it is certainly intriguing.
SIGN KESSEL!

Bruins sign Morris to one-year deal

The Boston Bruins wasted little time restocking their blue line as today they signed defenceman Derek Morris to a one-year deal worth $3.3 million.

Of course this follows Boston's move yesterday when the Bruins traded Aaron Ward to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Patrick Eaves and a 2010 4th round pick. Eaves was later waived.

This will be Morris' fifth NHL team in his 10-year career. Morris had played for the Rangers, Coyotes, Avalanche and Flames.

In 75 games last season split between New York and Phoenix, the 30-year old Morris had five goals and 15 assists.

I think it is safe to say that Boston overpaid to get Morris. Morris was looking for a deal around $3.5 million a year according to some sources. However, nobody was willing to go that high for Morris. It seems as though Boston was by far the most aggressive suitor for Morris who jumped at the opportunity to play for Boston.

Boston hopes Morris will help them on the power play and in heading the puck to forwards. Morris, a player with a lot of talent when drafted has never been a truly elite defenseman in the NHL. The Ranger fans I have talked to have said that Morris really didn't bring the blue shirts much after the trade deadline last season. This signing may be a bit of a head scratch er right now, but at the same time could pay dividends if he can help the Bruins power play.

If the Bruins stick Morris with Zdeno Chara this could possibly elevate his game. It doesn't hurt having a Vezina winning goalie playing behind you either.

Boston is now, right back up on the cap and it is still unknown how they would sign RFA, Phil Kessel. Another trade will come, one way or the other. Either including Kessel, or another Bruin forward.

Bruins trade Ward to 'Canes for Eaves and pick

The Boston Bruins made a salary cap-inspired move on Friday morning as they dealt Aaron Ward to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Patrick Eaves and a 4th round pick in the 2010 draft.

Ward of course won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes and still lives with Carolina. As for Eaves, he was placed on waivers for the purpose of buying out his contract.

Eaves comes with a cap hit of $1.4 million over the next season. If Eaves clears waivers and it bought out, the Bruins will have three players on the 2009-2010 roster as buy-outs (Glen Murray, Peter Schaefer, Eaves).

By my rough calculations, the Bruins will have over $5 million left under the cap. Now does this mean the Phil Kessel negotiations are heating up? We don't know but it is a start. You could also see Boston deal Kessel for an impact defenseman as with the loss of Ward there is a hole on the back side.

Could we see the Kessel for Kaberle talks again? Or will the Bruins sign a veteran for cheaper dollars and try to sign Kessel for around $4 million a year?

Let me be the first to stoke up the rumor mill.

Writer Note: Aaron Ward was one of the most popular Bruins and will be missed both on and off the ice. Ward was a class act and I wish Wardo the best.

Check out the twitter page for more at http://twitter.com/BruinSpace. Anyone think Ward and Scott Walker should live together?

Bruins make Hunwick official

Matt Hunwick held a conference call today with Peter Chiarelli discussing his new contract. The contract has been confirmed as a two-year deal with an annual cap hit of $1.45 million.

The biggest question with Hunwick was his health as he had reportedly lost 20 pounds following the removal of his spleen. Hunwick hopes to be be up to 200 lbs. by opening night, up from a low of 177 lbs. Hunwick talked about getting home after the removal of his spleen and how he quickly he got back into his regimen.

"I think I got home Wednesday or Thursday, then started training on Friday," Hunwick said. "I took my rest in the hospital. From that point, it's been slowly coming back. By the middle of June, I felt 100 percent. I have my wind. My weight is starting to come back. I have absolutely no limitations right now. I'm training just as hard as I did last summer. The spleen's been a non-issue."

That is a good sign for Boston and the Bruins back end. The signing leaves only one RFA unsigned. Of course, this RFA is Phil Kessel. It is likely a trade will be made whether Kessel stays or not.

Kessel: "Who knows what's going to happen?"

Boston Bruins forward, Phil Kessel (Yes he still is a Bruin for now) talked with AM 640 in Toronto today, (Home of the Toronto Maple Leafs) and discussed his contract talks with the Bruins.

“I have no clue what’s going to happen at this point. Obviously it’s been a slow process, but you never know what’s going to happen. I don’t think (a contract with the Bruins) is any closer than it has been in months’ past, or anything like that,” said Kessel to AM 640. “Obviously you’d like to always stay with the team you were first drafted by, and you never know what’s going to happen in hockey. Hockey’s a weird game: guys get traded all the time and guys move on because it’s a (salary) cap world. Who knows what’s going to happen? We’ll see.”

If Boston and Kessel are not in discussions to bring him back at the moment, this leads to the question, who's going. From my calculations (not official) the Bruins have $2.85 million left under the cap, which is not enough to ink Kessel.

The name that may make the most sense to deal is Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew's salary dump would give the Bruins roughly, $5 million in contract space, creating enough space to sign Kessel. The other names that have been mentioned are Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard, however trading Savard seems like a stretch.

My prediction would be that there won't be anything settled on this matter until August. One thing is almost certain, a trade is in the works. Even if it is still in the beginning stages.