In the span of about an hour, a previously dormant Boston trading block has almost literally blew up.
Coming into today, we all knew the stories surrounding Jaromir Jagr and Andrew Ference. Jagr: gone in reaction to a lifeless score sheet. Andrew Ference: a guy who the Bruins would love to retain but with their intent to resign Tuukka Rask and the pressure of the falling cap, the B's were willing to let their veteran blue liner go.
In addition to that as time went on and while guys like Danny Briere and Vincent Lecavalier were announced as buyout opportunities in the NHL, the Bruins were quick to express interest in not only Lecavilier but also Briere (although they were most interested in Lecavilier).
Nevertheless at exactly 1:00 this afternoon, coveted Bruins insider Joe Haggerty came out with a jaw dropping report that the Bruins were "interested in listing to trade proposals for Tyler Seguin." As that report circulated the web, it was quickly backed up by TSN reporter Bob Mckenzie up in Onterio. McKenzie then went on to add that the basic framework for an offer the Bruins may accept would include: an all-star player in addition to a top 10 draft pick. Well that narrows this down.
Following that criteria, the 10 teams that could give a top 10 pick for Seguin would be: the Stars, the Devils, the Sabers, the Oilers, the Flames, the Hurricanes, the Predators, the Lightning, the Panthers and the Avalanche. Yet when you look at that, really only teams like the Sabers and Oilers would be able to boast that criteria of a top 10 pick AND an all-star forward although for both those teams, neither of them would likely be willing to give up both their pivotal rebuilding tool (the draft pick) and any of the few pieces they already have to build around (the all star player the bruins would need in exchange for Seguin).
Regardless of that, the only definitive story coming out of this fire storm of roomers today has been that of Nathan Horton. In the minutes following the Seguin story, one of the speculations about the possible trade was that, the Bruins were looking to get rid of Seguin in order to open up some money to resign winger Nathan Horton yet at 1:37 today, the same Bob McKenzie out of TSN reported that Horton's agent Paul Krepelka had told the media that "Nathan has told BOS he wants to explore free agency. It's not a financial issue, just a decision to move on." So. Now what. With Horton gone, you begin to think that, much like their game six loss, things look to be falling from Boston’s fingertips yet when you look into the reports and twitter blasts of this crazy afternoon, this may be a carefully orchestrated plan on the part of the Bruins front office.
After the Jaromir Jagr trade back in April, the Bruins ended up surrendering their 1st round pick to Dallas and while after going on to become the second best team in the league, that pick would end up turning out be a pathetic 29th selection, this draft has been dubbed by many as one of the deepest drafts since 2003 and not having a pick until the end of the second round (61st overall) is not a good idea. So with that in mind, according to yet another Haggerty report, the Bruins are "Desperately trying to move up in the draft" which is without a doubt a huge factor in the Seguin roomers.
But now after learning about the Horton departure and the Bruins thirst for draft picks, you may ask: why don't you trade Horton for picks if he is already leaving? The main answer for that question is that: you can't. With 5 and a half million dollars paid to him this year, reports said that with Horton going into free agency, he was looking for a pay day around 6 or 7 million dollars, meaning that unless the Bruins were willing to give that to him, he would not be their ticket to a top pick: Seguin would be.
Yet after examining the stories of what the Bruins plan to do with Seguin, another question surrounding Horton begins to arise. Why leave a team that was 2 wins away from giving you your 2nd Cup in 3 years. One reason suggested by radio show Jonsten and Flyn, included that, that "the style that the Bruins employ with such a skill and flood of success in largely based around beating the cr*p out of an opponent" and, after several injuries sustained on brutal body checks (the shoulder injury in this playoff and both concussions in and around the 2011 cup run) and a crippling hand injury he was given when he punched the helmet of Jarome Iginla during a late April fight, Horton would not want to risk a career ending injury by staying in the physical atmosphere and style of the Bruins organization thus opting to get out of his longtime relationship with the city.
Horton is gone, Tyler Seguin might be hot pursuit, and the B's are looking to trade the rights of fleeting D-man Andrew Ference. Long story short, this has been a crazy week in Boston sports and time will only tell if this week will get any weirder as at least for the talks surrounding draft picks they must be completed before 3 pm tomorrow when the draft commences.
On a normal day I would say go Bruins with a gleeful ease but after what may turn out to be a mega roster turnover over 24 hours or so, this Bruins team might not be the Bruins we came to become acquainted with after the 2011 Cup Run.
