As Chiarelli fishes around, Jurcina is the bait

BUFFALO -- In the midst of shaking up their lineup, the Bruins yesterday informed the 29 other NHL franchises that they would listen to bids for defenseman Milan Jurcina, the 6-foot-4-inch tower of power who last season appeared headed for regular duty with the club.

Front office employees of three NHL clubs confirmed that the Bruins officially were soliciting offers for the 27-year-old Czech blue liner, who last night suited up against the Sabres.

"I am not going to comment on that," said Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli, who did not make the trip and was reached by phone prior to the opening faceoff.

"I've made a lot of calls, and I've received just as many," said Chiarelli, noting that the market has loosened since the Kings' trade Monday of veteran center Craig Conroy back to Calgary. "I said I'd like to make a trade, and that's probably made for a bit of a frenzy, and also put Brad Stuart in a bit of a frenzy, too."

Stuart is among three Bruins -- with Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau -- on course for unrestricted free agency July 1. Rather than lose him for nothing, the Bruins likely will deal Stuart, and the asking price probably will be a roster player and either a prospect or a draft pick.

"I have to improve the team; I still feel that," said Chiarelli. "I threw out a timeline, and obviously it's something you'd rather do sooner than later -- but I am not going to force it."

Bruins defenseman Andrew Alberts thought he was seriously injured when a Brian Campbell slap shot hit him in the his right eye with 54.9 seconds to go in the first period. The 6-4 defenseman fell to the ice, then scrambled to his feet, blood blurring his vision. "You can't see, so you're worried," said Alberts, left with a deep cut that required stitches but lucky to escape serious injury. "I knew I was hit around the eye, but I didn't know what was wrong at first. Lucky, I guess." Alberts figured it took 10-12 stitches to close the gash. He returned for the start of the second period, and played the rest of the night with a visor. "Felt like I was in juniors again," he said. Unless it swells dramatically, the wound should not prevent him from suiting up for the Sabres rematch tomorrow. He figures he'll ditch the visor . . . Recent recall Bobby Allen, who had been doing a fine job on the backline for Boston, finished a team-worst minus-4. Mark Mowers was next at minus-3 . . . Primeau and Mowers lost 15 of their 23 faceoffs, only a 34.8 percent success rate . . . Dave Lewis on his club's lack of confidence, the product of a four-game losing streak: "It makes you slower, weaker, more timid, afraid, and it leads to bad decisions." His team in a nutshell right there.

Less than 48 hours after he said his club wasn't pondering any call-ups, Lewis announced that rookie forward David Krejci had been recalled. He made his NHL debut last night but he didn't make it out of the first period. Krejci was leveled by an Adam Mair elbow with 5:09 remaining and was helped off the ice. To make room for the 20-year-old Czech center, the Bruins placed left winger Jeff Hoggan on waivers, thus dismantling the so-called energy line of Hoggan-Primeau-Shean Donovan cobbled together before Saturday's loss in Ottawa. If he clears waivers at noon today, Hoggan will be assigned to Providence. "Things have changed in a couple of days," Lewis said following an optional workout in which only Hannu Toivonen, Petr Tenkrat, and Jason York participated. "That's what happens in this league. We have to figure out a way to win."

Asked what he feels his club most needs, Lewis said, "I'd like to see someone on this team grab the team and say, 'Follow me!' I don't care who it is, be it a kid or be it someone you don't expect it to be . . . someone." Typically, that role is reserved for the captain, who this year is blue liner Zdeno Chara. Asked if that was supposed to be Chara's job, Lewis said, "I'm just looking for somebody, let's put it that way. I am looking for someone to say, 'Follow me, boys, and I'll show you the way.' "