Moves carefully considered
Bruins' chemistry taken into account
SUNRISE, Fla. - On March 9, 2006, Aaron Ward learned that his boss had acquired Mark Recchi from Pittsburgh.
Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford parted with forwards Krys Kolanos and Niklas Nordgren and a 2007 second-round pick for the veteran wing. Recchi appeared in 25 postseason games, scoring seven goals and adding nine assists to help the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup and net Ward his third ring.
"Our situation was a little different," Ward recalled. "We were coming off a situation where we had lost a player who was such a key component of our team."
Ward was referring to Erik Cole, the wide-bodied winger who broke his neck five days prior to the trading deadline when he was drilled by ex-Boston College defenseman Brooks Orpik. Cole was a point-per-game player that season, putting up a 30-29 -59 line in 60 regular-season games.
This time, Cole, 30, might be deadline help for the Bruins.
The first-place Bruins, contenders to go deep in the playoffs, have until March 4 to fill in their roster via trade. The 6-foot-2-inch, 205-pound power forward (13-10 -23 in 57 games this season), an unrestricted free agent after the season, could be a good fit for the Bruins, who need beef up front and a lefthanded shot to serve as a goal-line/net-front presence on the No. 1 power-play unit. General manager Peter Chiarelli could also be in the hunt for another defenseman, ideally the puck-moving kind.
The unknown intangible with Cole, or any other player, is how a trade will affect the team's chemistry.
"It's a big factor," said vice president Cam Neely. "You really take that into account, for sure. We've got a good group of guys, character guys."
Neely, Chiarelli, and the rest of the management team, along with coach Claude Julien, strongly believe that good chemistry impacts a team's on-ice performance. For the second straight season, Julien paced his players through preseason team bonding exercises in Stowe, Vt. - orienteering last season, a ropes course in September. Instead of returning to Boston after Tuesday's 5-1 win over Carolina, the Bruins traveled to South Florida for a day of fishing or golf Wednesday.
The bottom line: A close-knit, lively dressing room makes a club stronger.
"It's a really open group," said Andrew Ference. "Guys get along. Everybody feels comfortable, from the young guys all the way up. I think everybody feels really comfortable in this room."
The concern is whether a deadline deal could alter the mood, especially if a roster player gets shipped out. When Recchi came to Carolina, Rutherford didn't have to part with core players. By landing Recchi, Rutherford also sent a directive to his team: Help has arrived.
"It was a relief to feel like you got reinforced," Ward said. "He's a guy who had been through the Stanley Cup and won before. If anything, it was a calming influence in the locker room. As a player in the locker room, you know the truth about the state of your team. Everybody was comfortable with the makeup of the team. We had come to that point as a group. As much as people talk about dismantling and adding better players, you never know what effect that has on the overall chemistry. That's where you learn early on that when you're in a situation like that, it's about adding to the mix and getting depth. It's not about changing the structure of your team."
Two years ago, then-Anaheim GM Brian Burke took the depth approach. Prior to the deadline, Burke told his players he already had made a blockbuster move when he acquired defenseman Chris Pronger from Edmonton during the offseason, and that he wasn't looking to make a roster-trembling trade. Burke followed through on his promise, trading goalie Michael Wall to Colorado for forward Brad May. May played for Burke in Vancouver, so the GM knew what he was getting - a trustworthy, gritty veteran who would not change the Ducks' chemistry.
"He was obviously a good character guy," said Shawn Thornton, who rode with May on Anaheim's black-and-blue fourth line. "That's why he's been around for so long. Burkie had him in Vancouver and knew what kind of character guy he was. With him coming in our room, there were no ripples in the water."
Last year, Chiarelli stood pat at the deadline. Later that day, Chiarelli told his team he didn't make a trade because he believed in the roster. That night, the Bruins laid a 4-0 smackdown on the visiting Senators.
This season, Chiarelli might make a trade that he and his staff believe could put the team in the Cup conversation. Ideally, he'd like to part with picks and prospects instead of swapping players off the roster.
"It's not on the ice," said Ference. "On the ice is pretty black and white. You can tell how a guy is going to do. In the room, that's definitely the unknown."
After spending Wednesday on the links or on the seas (the kingfish were biting, said Julien), the Bruins hustled through an uptempo 45-minute session at the BankAtlantic Center yesterday. "I think it was good for our team to have this kind of skate," said Julien. "It's not too often at this time of the year that you have an opportunity to do that. A lot of it is not letting your work ethic slip." . . . Mark Stuart has not been with the team. He traveled from Raleigh, N.C., to his home in Minnesota for personal reasons. Stuart is scheduled to rejoin the team today . . . According to Julien, Petteri Nokelainen has been skating at Ristuccia Arena with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides. "We're giving it time to heal," Julien said of Nokelainen's eye injury. "Once he gets the OK to play, he'll be at 100 percent."
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. 
