Frankly, the Bruins are a team that seems to annually struggle with complying with changing salary cap regulations.
After the Stanley Cup win in 2011, the Bruins found themselves over the salary cap for the next season (2011-2012) and were forced to part ways with their high scoring 3rd line winger, Michael Ryder. A year after that they lost several key depth players such at Jay Pandalfo and Mike Mottou and a year after that the cap stole both Andrew Ference as well as their brilliant rookie backup Anton Khudobin.
But now the Bruins are in danger of suffering a loss even more crippling than any they have suffered post Stanley Cup. Jarome Iginla’s contract is up and as of now he does not seem too willing to take a hometown discount of any sort. The fact of the matter is that Iginla will go to the best team that gives him the best offer and that could include a whole host of teams. Some of those teams are already are already being proactive in their attempt to snatch the Boston stud. It was announced today that Iginla is now listening to offers from other teams and those potential deals are rapidly increasing in their frequency. If the Bruins do not act soon, Iginla is bound to sign one of those deals.
But if the Bruins are going to prolong their longevity as a Stanley Cup contender, that cannot happen. In just the 82 games since he was signed last off season, Iginla has taken Boston's offence and made it absolutely lethal, infusing the attack with consistency and order in a way that no one else could.
Obviously, the Iginla story and his relation to Boston does not just confine itself to this season. Prior to the 2013 season, Iginla had been capturing the imaginations of teams for over a decade as he lit the lamp at a ridiculous pace as the captain of the Calgary Flames. However, after sticking it out as a 30 to 40 goal scorer on a last place team, Iginla decided midway through the 2013 season that it was time to win a Stanley Cup and that was not going to happen in Calgary. Additionally though, after almost locking down a trade deal with Boston, Iginla bailed on the team approving a trade to the Penguins instead.
Well Bruins fans you all know how that worked out for him. The Bruins swept the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals and went on to play in one of the greatest Stanley Cup Finals in history. As a result of that, Iginla went down the "if you can’t beat em' join em'" road, signing a 1.8 million dollar 1 year deal with Boston.
The Bruins gave Iginla a serious vote of confidence by forgiving his slap to their collective faces earlier in the season and paying him a serious contract to do what he does best. He did that and more in Boston.
You see, the wonder of Jarome Iginla goes beyond just the number of goals he scores. As the Bruins first line anchor, Iginla never went more than 10 games without a goal and actually seemed to score more against good teams in important games than he did in other games. Iginla was also clutch with 10 of his 30 goals winning the games they were scored in. In all truth, Jarome Iginla is the perfect Bruin. Though he scored 30 goals in Boston which is something that very rarely happens largely because of Claude Jullian's selfless style, Iginla was no puck hog. His line mates, Milan Lucic and David Krejci both scored 24 and 19 goals respectively and Iginla assisted on 31 goals scored by his team.
As shown by those stats in particular, Iginla's consistency was unique in the fact that it helped more than just his game. He revived the games of Lucic and Krejci when they both were beginning to fall from grace and made the Boston first line as physical as it was potent offensively by throwing hits along the boards while Milan Lucic creamed people behind the net.
If this train of thought seems overwhelming it is because Iginla's commitment and the new blend of offence that he brought to Boston are almost innumerable. Without him Boston would not only have lacked the goals he himself scored but they also would have lacked probably 50% of the goals Krejci and Lucic scored simply because the two of them were down right awful at times in the year before Iginla came to Boston.
If Iginla never came, if the team was to hurt by his passing up on them in 2013, there is a great possibility that the team could have absolutely crumbled. I say bravo in reaction to Peter Charelli's signing of Iginla last year but also say that he has to pull of such managerial magic once again. The Bruins need Jarome Iginla.
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