When free agency began early on the first day of July, the Bruins watched as three key players were hacked off their roster. The first of those was backup goalie Chad Johnson who signed a 2 year 2.6 million dollar deal with the Islanders. The second was the beloved 4th line anchor, Shawn Thornton who signed an identical deal with the Florida Panthers. But neither of those two losses were the most painful nor the most surprising.
Chad Johnson was widely known to be a short term fix in goal while the Bruins prime young prospects like Niklas Svedberg and Malcom Subban for an NHL job and especially after the Bruins upped Svedberg's contract last month this move was expected. The Shawn Thornton loss, though crippling to the Bruins' forth line was also expected. We were told almost 2 weeks ago that Thornton would not be resigned by the team.
All of these were expected. The loss of Jarome Iginla especially to the Colorado Avalanche was almost bizarre. After toughing it out in a city that never won anything for over a decade, Iginla decided last season that it was time to win the Stanley Cup. He shortlisted 4 teams he would accept a trade too. Those teams were the Chicago Blackhawks, the LA Kings, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins and they all had one thing in common. They were all recent cup winners with the personnel and coaching styles that could help them win again. When Iginla was traded to the Penguins they were on a 15 game win streak and were poised to win the cup. When he was signed a year later by the Bruins they were a team in defense of the Eastern Conference Title and were really just one step away from winning in 2014. The point of all of these travels made by Jarome Iginla was to find a place where he could win a Stanley Cup and now suddenly, he breaks the mold.
Contrary to the perennial, state of dynastic success that Iginla jumped into in Pittsburgh and Boston, Colorado lacks any established core. Their goaltender, Semyon Varlomov is a man riddled with off ice issues, while their captain, Gabrial Landaskog is just 21 years old. They are a young team that can score on breakouts but lacks any physicality, chemistry or therefore, passing skill. What does that all translate out to in regards to playoff success? Not much. If you look at the past 4 Stanley Cup Champions ('11 Bruins, '12 Kings, '13 Blackhawks, '14 Kings) all of them have played hardball hockey and used established veterans to groom a few young speedsters to greatness. The Avalanche do no have that, meaning that in the time that Iginla is there, they will really only be able to get him through a series or two before they meet a real champion like the Kings or Blackhawks and get bounced.
His decisions seems bizzare and almost hypocritical as it undermines his reasoning for getting out of Calgary. Choosing Colorado over Boston? What the heck? In this season and many in the past, Boston was a better team and it will stay that way for many years to come.
But regardless, Iginla did have reasons to leave and both he and his former Bruins GM tried to explain the deal the best they could. Iginla told TSN after the deal with Colorado was signed that, "It was a tougher decision than I thought. On one hand, it was very, very difficult. I loved playing there, my family loved it, I got a great opportunity and it's a great organization. Their team is, on the ice, a great team and they're going to be contenders for year, but their team off the ice is a great group of guys, too. I love playing with them, but that's on the one hand, it was a tough decision. But on the other, it wasn't, because there wasn't really an opportunity there in a tough position with the cap."
Frankly, there was an opportunity just not one that allowed the Bruins to pay Iginla 5 million dollars a year for any length of time. If Iginla really wanted to stay in Boston the team would have loved to have him and may have been able to deal him as much as two or three million dollars as well as giving him a much better chance to win a title than he will ever get in Colorado. But that was not enough.
You see, when we compare this deal and all the others that were drafted by the Bruins before free agency began, they are different in two fundamental categories. Money and skill. The Avalanche offered more money, the Bruins offered much better chances at winning the Stanley Cup. What did Iginla choose? Money.
Honestly though, what could we expect, this is professional sports.
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