Are The Boston Bruins And Jarome Iginla Still A Good Fit For Each Other?

[Dion]

Mike Cole of NESN.com was apt to reiterate that aspect this past Wednesday. As he noted, Iginla consumed $1.8 million worth of cap space in 2013-14. But, Cole writes, “Iginla’s impressive season means he hit many of those performance-related bonuses, which count against the 2014-15 cap.”

Per CapGeek.com, the carry-over bonuses could reach a maximum of $4.2 million. As of Monday, Boston’s payroll has just over $9.1 million of spare space with five or six NHL roster spots left to fill.

Iginla co-led Boston with 30 regular-season goals. His center, David Krejci, topped the team leaderboard with 50 assists and 69 points. Fellow first-line winger Milan Lucic was fourth among the Bruins with a 24-35-59 scoring log.

All irreproachable numbers, but ones that went out with the Zamboni snow when the schedule turned to the playoffs.

The postseason was the principal purpose of Iginla linking up with the Bruins, yet he and his colleagues stood out in the team’s failure to fulfill that purpose.

During his season-ending address, club president Cam Neely told reporters of Iginla, “He ended up scoring 30 goals, which is not easy in this league anymore, and we would like to try and see if we can figure something out moving forward with him.”

Four of Iginla’s 30 regular-season goals were empty netters, as was one of his five playoff strikes. Three others—the Game 4 overtime winner against Detroit, his contribution to a vain Game 3 rally against Montreal and Boston’s lone tally in Game 7—were tip-ins.

While every goal equals the same value, the Bruins need more than deflections and empty netters—especially from the top line.

The “deceptive speed” THN alludes to may not be enough for Iginla to retain an upper-echelon caliber for a full campaign. Over the weekend, CSNNE.com beat reporter Joe Haggerty went so far as to propose an outright external replacement by name.

In a TV appearance archived on the station’s website Sunday morning, Haggerty said, “I would love to see a little more speed on that line…I think a guy like Marian Gaborik would be an intriguing possibility.”

There you go.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...m_campaign=nhl

[nik-]

Would make it a lot easier to cheer for him to win a Cup. This year and last year sucked.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I'd be very surprised if Gaborik doesn't re-sign with the Kings this summer. I'm guessing Iginla does eventually re-sign with the Bruins. That's still a very good hockey team, a tweak here or there and they could go deep in the playoffs next season.

[sun]

30G/78GP = .38 reg season goals/game
5G/12GP = .42 playoffs goals/game

I'm not necessarily saying he had a great post-season, but tips and empty netters still count. Him taking a beating in front of the net and tipping in goals is somehow a negative according to the writer? I remember them being pretty nice deflections too, but I could be wrong. I also think he tweaked something in his fight with Rinaldo at the end of the regular season.

Krejci on the other hand... was he injured or something? Historically a great playoff performer, but royally shat the bed this year.

[T@T]

Personally I see 3 years of Bruins decline and despair, Iginla should just move on.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I'd be very surprised if Gaborik doesn't re-sign with the Kings this summer. I'm guessing Iginla does eventually re-sign with the Bruins. That's still a very good hockey team, a tweak here or there and they could go deep in the playoffs next season.

I wonder if Iginla will accept a reduced role and pay? He had the benefit of the 2 week Olympic break to recharge his batteries and won't get that next season. My concern is weather he can be just as effective on the top line as he was this past season.

[trackercowe]

Boston probably gives Iginla the best chance to win a cup in the next few season. The east is relatively weak, and barring a major surprise they should win the division each year during that time. It didn't work out in Pittsburgh, and they are in turmoil right now. The west is such a crapshoot, unless maybe the Kings or Blackhawks want him (which I don't see happening with their depth) he has a smaller chance of getting far in the playoffs.

I suppose the Flyers could be a possibility, but if his main goal is to win a cup it will likely come down to a few teams.

[Huntingwhale]

Any player who scores 30 for their team is a good fit. Krejci, the guy who led the playoffs in scoring 2 of the last 4 seasons IMO is the one to blame for their lack of success. His disappearance was easily a big reason for their early exit other then Price. Where are the questions if he's a good fit? Iggy just can't catch a break. I thought him being a scapegoat was strictly a Calgary thing. I guess that label is destined to follow him around until he retires.

A couple tweaks here and there and the Bruins will be back in the hunt next season.

[Anduril]

"while every goal is of equal value..."

Then why go on to discredit tip in goals?

[calumniate]

So Iginla to King's and gaborik to the bruins? :-)

[Wolven]

The article digs into the situation from the bruins point of view pretty well. I think they would be hard pressed to find a better deal for a 30 goal scorer in today's nhl.

But what about Iginla? From his point of view there are not a lot of Stanley Cup favorites to choose from in the preseason. Bruins, Pens, Kings, and Hawks. Outside of those teams you are looking at playoff hopefuls instead of contenders.

So maybe instead of returning to the bruins, he goes to a bad team to get his money and then get traded at the deadline?

Personally, I hope he stays with the bruins.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

And it wasn't like he was invisible in the playoffs, he was arguably their best forward during that last game. Sure, he's getting older and you'll never see the power forward we loved so much during that '04 run, but he is useful. The Bruins should sign him and figure out what happened to Chara, Krejci and Marchand. If even 2 of those guys played to their potential they'd be in the finals.

[ForeverFlameFan]

They should find every possibility of signing Iggy again. He was definitely not the reason why the Bruins didn't go past the second round. I think they could get a good return with Marchand. Maybe we can take Boychuk and/or McQuaid off their hands, that would help too.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by T@T

Personally I see 3 years of Bruins decline and despair, Iginla should just move on.

I don't. They're an elite team. I see possibly them starting to decline in 3 years but they will not decline next year.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Anduril

"while every goal is of equal value..."

Then why go on to discredit tip in goals?

The 'Bruins need more than deflections from their top line' part was one of the dumbest things I ever read.
Iggy has too much class for that collection of dbag's the Bruins ice

To avoid this type of criticism, Iginla needs to sign for 2 million. At 6 million his value will be questioned.

Bruins are the slowest team in the NHL. Get out now Iggy

[bubbsy]

ugh, not sure wtf happened to kreci in the MTL series, he was abysmal.

i wonder if the blues might be a good fit for iginla?

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Led the team in regular season goals.

Led the team in playoff goals.

Not a good fit.

Next article, please.

[BigTuna]

Chara is a shadow of himself. There's no more Boston cups in the future,.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Chara is a shadow of himself. There's no more Boston cups in the future,.

I heard a rumour that teams could actually win Stanley cups without an all-star calibre Chara.

[Erick Estrada]

I hope he re-signs as personally I'm not a fan of seeing him go the route of hired gun like Jagr where he's just aimlessly moving from team to team.