Bradley has the watch
New personnel director in a can't-miss position
Sometime in 2008-09, Scott Bradley might start his week scouting a Canucks game in his native Vancouver, then cross the border to take in a Seattle Thunderbirds junior match the next night, fly cross-country to Providence for a Friday night AHL tilt, then drive to Boston for a Bruins game the following night.
Prep the double espressos!
"That probably won't be every week," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said with a laugh.
Providing he's not addled by travel woes, Bradley, officially promoted to director of player personnel Aug. 1, will be an even more powerful resource for the Boston bosses to tap when it comes to hockey operations decisions. Bradley, formerly director of amateur scouting, will be counted on to have a grasp on virtually every player in the world who plays in the NHL or has a crack at a big-league roster.
"He's got to know all our prospects. He's got to know our team. He's got to know the significant amateur players. He's got to know the existing pro players," Chiarelli said. "It's not possible for him to see everybody on the pro and amateur side. But he has to know the players of interest on the pro and amateur side. He's going to be on special assignments. He has a list of things he has to check off through the course of the year."
Bradley, a rare holdover from Harry Sinden's regime, is the son of the late Bart Bradley, a 30-year employee of the Bruins who threw his endorsement behind a deal that brought Cam Neely to Boston from Vancouver. Under Scott Bradley's watch, the Bruins acquired core players such as Patrice Bergeron (2003), David Krejci (2004), and Milan Lucic (2006) in the second round of their respective draft years.
There have also been some flops (Lars Jonsson and Martin Samuelsson in the first round of 2000 being two examples). But overall, Bradley has demonstrated enough hockey knowledge that he's now part of the inner circle - Chiarelli, assistant GM Jim Benning, vice president Neely, and director of hockey operations and player development Don Sweeney - that is responsible for hockey ops.
"He's going to be one of our key guys," Chiarelli said, "when I ask, 'What do you think of Player X in our organization? Or what about Player Y in another organization?' He's already built up quite a large library based on his amateur stuff. This allows him to increase his portfolio."
Another factor in Bradley's promotion was Chiarelli's desire to have him round out his responsibilities. Before, Bradley would make the calls at the draft table, then pass his selections on to the next stage of the assembly line - junior or college coaches, Scott Gordon and Rob Murray in Providence, or Claude Julien and his staff. Now, Bradley can keep tabs on all the Bruins through their development curves, ensuring that he is involved in all phases of their careers.
"He's been in amateur and done well in amateur," Chiarelli said. "They project how these guys are going to be, but they never get to truly see how these guys will be in their pro stage. It's a very good process he's going through to contribute at the pro stage also. It will make him even better at what he's doing."
While Bradley will remain involved in selecting future Bruins, former head amateur scout Wayne Smith will now head the draft efforts. Smith, an Ottawa native like Chiarelli, was a former Minnesota-Duluth teammate of Brett Hull and ex-Boston assistant Norm Maciver in 1985-86. The 40-year-old Smith also played two years of juniors in London with Brendan Shanahan and former Bruin Tim Taylor. Smith scouted for Kingston of the OHL and spent seven years as a scout for Columbus before joining the Bruins in 2006-07.
With new crew, Dineen will steer Pirates' ship
One of the most valuable resources for the Sabres last season was approximately one hour east: The Rochester Americans and coach Randy Cunneyworth, who stood watch over the rich Interstate 90 pipeline that shuttled cheap, hungry, and skilled talent to Buffalo, such as Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad, and Thomas Vanek.
But the Buffalo-Rochester affiliation has ended and the Sabres have shifted to Portland, formerly Anaheim's farm club (now based in Des Moines). The question is whether a similar feeder system can exist, especially after Cunneyworth left the organization to become an assistant to John Anderson in Atlanta.
On Tuesday, the Sabres made the logical choice to ensure the Pirates' stability by rehiring ex-Whaler Kevin Dineen, who has coached Portland the last three seasons. Dineen has gone 135-89-16, most recently upsetting a stacked Providence squad (bolstered by the assignments of Vladimir Sobotka and Petteri Nokelainen) in the second round of the AHL playoffs.
"Our AHL team has been a very integral part of our success on the NHL level over the last five years, and we expect Kevin to continue this tradition," Buffalo GM Darcy Regier said in a statement. "He's familiar with Portland, and his coaching record and player development skills the past three years in the AHL are very important to our organization."
Dineen could have remained with Anaheim, either as Iowa's coach or a pro scout. But he signed a two-year deal with Buffalo to develop future Sabres such as former Boston College star Nathan Gerbe and Michigan State standout Tim Kennedy, who are expected to start 2008-09 in Portland.
College focus
A pair of NCAA free agent signings by the Bruins in March (Jeff LoVecchio from Western Michigan and Jeff Penner from Alaska-Fairbanks) qualify as under the radar, considering both players will most likely be in Providence in 2008-09. However, with former pro scout John Weisbrod being named director of collegiate scouting, similar signings of undrafted collegians could take place in the future. "You only have seven rounds now, so there's a reduction in the amount of players selected," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. "Now you have Tier 2 players and high school players that may not have gotten drafted. Before, when you had nine rounds, a guy might have been an eighth-round pick. Now, he goes undrafted." Such signings are considered low-risk for several reasons: First, college free agents are older (they might play a year or two of juniors before enrolling), making them more developed. Second, the signing bonus is capped at 10 percent of a player's annual salary under the entry-level system; million-dollar bonuses were not uncommon for NCAA free agents before the current collective bargaining agreement. "We don't want to miss anything," Chiarelli said. "We want to make sure we have a full player pool."
Crowded nest
During the introduction of goalie Cristobal Huet last week, Chicago GM Dale Tallon said he wouldn't have a problem retaining Nikolai Khabibulin to give the Blackhawks two veterans in net. Nice try. Together, the goalies stand to earn $12.375 million in 2008-09, a crippling 21.8 percent of the $56.7 million cap. It would be the most salary committed to the position by an NHL team, nearly $5 million more than the $7.6 million the Rangers (second-most dollars devoted to goal) have committed to Henrik Lundqvist and Stephen Valiquette. The logical landing spot for Khabibulin is Los Angeles, where GM Dean Lombardi desperately needs some experience to make sure his baby-faced defense doesn't crack under repeated beatings. Considering the Kings would be doing Chicago a favor by taking on Khabibulin's salary (the team's second-highest behind defenseman Brian Campbell's $7.1 million annual paycheck), it wouldn't take much for Lombardi to land the veteran netminder he needs.
Missing Mats
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Mats Sundin, the Canadiens are still thought to be in the mix for the big Swedish centerman if he decides to continue his NHL career this fall. However, the Canadiens may be in better shape if they don't land Sundin, considering the number of big-time contracts GM Bob Gainey will be scheduled to negotiate next summer. Currently scheduled to hit the market: top-line right wing Alex Kovalev, captain Saku Koivu, sniper Alex Tanguay, shutdown D-man Mike Komisarek, forward/defenseman Mathieu Dandenault, and valuable core guys Steve Begin, Tom Kostopoulos, and Francis Bouillon. That's two of your top five 2007-08 scorers in Kovalev (84 points) and Koivu (56), and four of your top seven hitters in Komisarek (266 hits), Bouillon (168), Kostopoulos (128), and Begin (119). Montreal also has forwards Tomas Plekanec, Christopher Higgins, Guillaume Latendresse, and Kyle Chipchura hitting restricted free agency next July. Considering the healthy raises sure to come for Kovalev, Komisarek, Plekanec, and Higgins, there's no way the 2009-10 Canadiens will resemble the top-flight club that was poised to make a Cup run in 2007-08. One of the skills required in the post-lockout world is overlapping players to ensure that a big block of contracts doesn't expire at the same time. The Bruins will face that issue after 2010-11, when Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Michael Ryder, Marco Sturm, and Chuck Kobasew are scheduled to reach UFA status.
Loose pucks
Think Jay Leach has Mike Mottau in mind? Leach, the Providence College graduate and former Providence Bruins captain, signed a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey, hoping some of Mottau's luck rubs off. Mottau, the former Boston College star, signed with the Devils two summers ago in what he considered his last crack at NHL employment. New Jersey gave Mottau an opportunity, and the Thayer grad most recently signed a two-year extension in May. The 28-year-old Leach wouldn't mind something similar taking place ... Best of luck to John Paddock, the former Ottawa boss who was named coach of the Phantoms, Philadelphia's AHL team, on Thursday. Paddock took the fall last year on Feb. 28, a day after the Bruins waxed Ottawa in a 4-0 embarrassment that even had Claude Julien puzzled by the Senators' lack of juice. GM Bryan Murray took over for Paddock and was promptly broomed out of the first round by Pittsburgh, unable to squeeze some life out of his star players ... One of the more interesting UFAs-to-be is Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil, due to hit the open market next summer. Neil, currently earning a mere $1.1 million, has a rare skill set - thumping, skating, shooting - that makes him a pleasure to watch (and a beast to play) when he's healthy and on his game. Hard to find comparables for Neil; there are so few like him. The Senators would be wise to re-sign Neil, who should at least double his salary.
Etc.
Extending Thomas: With both Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez entering the final year of their contracts, the Bruins have a game plan to address their goaltending in 2009-10 and beyond. At this point, it would make sense to extend the 34-year-old Thomas, especially if Tuukka Rask isn't ready for the NHL in 2009-10. Thomas, in the last season of a contract worth an annual $1.1 million, would most likely be seeking a multiyear extension - with a raise, of course. An interesting comparable for Thomas and the Bruins would be Chris Osgood's extension (three years, $4.25 million) the netminder signed with Detroit before winning the Cup. Yes, Osgood won a ring, but he is older than Thomas (he will turn 36 Nov. 26) and stands to face a lighter workload playing behind the puck-possession Wings. Some of the goalies currently scheduled to hit free agency next summer are Philadelphia's Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki, Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom, and Edmonton's Mathieu Garon, but extending Thomas might be a better alternative than signing a goalie off the market. "It's certainly something we've talked about," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said. "We do have a course of action and we will follow through at some point. But that hasn't begun yet."
Loose pucks: When Team USA won its first and only gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Tournament, four of its 20 players previously played for Canadian major junior clubs: forwards Patrick O'Sullivan (Mississauga) and Dan Fritsche (Sarnia) and defensemen Danny Richmond (London) and James Wisniewski (Plymouth), with the other 16, including captain Mark Stuart, opting for college hockey. This summer, 15 of the 53 Americans invited to the US Junior Evaluation Camp, used to help USA Hockey finalize a roster for the 2009 tournament, played for major junior clubs in 2007-08 . . . While the blue line philosophy around the league is trending toward puck movement, Ottawa is sticking to its stay-at-home school of thought. In Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, and Jason Smith, the Senators project to have three shutdown defensemen who will have no hesitation about dishing out the rough stuff in their own zone. In 2007-08, the three combined for 421 hits and 564 blocked shots.
The list
Of the 31 players who appeared in at least one game for the Bruins in 2006-07, seven didn't play a single NHL game in 2007-08. Here are the seven players and where they spent 2007-08:
Nate Thompson, AHL (Providence)
Jonathan Sigalet, AHL (Providence)
Petr Kalus, AHL (Houston)
Stanislav Chistov, Russian Super League (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)
Petr Tenkrat, Czech Superliga (Kladno) and Swedish Elite League (Timra IK)
Nathan Dempsey, Swiss Elite League (Bern)
Jason York, out of hockey
By the numbers
72.5
Percentage of shot attempts by the Bruins last season that were on net.
82.6
Percentage of shot attempts by Chuck Kobasew last season that were on net (147 of 178), the highest of any Bruin with 100 or more attempts.
63.1
Percentage of shot attempts by Dennis Wideman last season that were on net (171 of 271), the lowest of any Bruin with 100 or more attempts.
Speak up
"Don't ignore the skill and don't ignore the player that stands out. But try and find something in these players that epitomizes a Bruin. For me, it's work ethic, night in and night out, competitiveness, and character. That's my message to the staff."
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, on his instructions to his amateur scouts
