One more Ryder viewpoint

If he can get back to scoring 30 goals, then he'll be worth the $4 million. We need someone to spark the PP and is willing to take some punishment and stand in front of the net when he's on the ice. Is this the guy? Let's hope so.

Ryder is definitely a one dimensional player, which is definitely why he wasn't a Carbonneau guy, who was hands down one of the best defensive forwards of his day...Ditto Bob Gainey their GM. Not too hard to see why he ended up in the dog house in Montreal.

Also, look at the stats, he had 2 straight 30 goal seasons in Montreal, one under Julien. Additionally, Montreal doesn't have a puck mover like Savard. Leading Montreal forward in assists last year...Kovalev with 49 assists. Compare it to Savard's 63 last year and 74 the year before. Like some skeptics, I don't see this as a blockbuster, but like many have said already: getting a healthy Bergeron back is better than signing a free agent anyway. I like the direction this team is going. Keep it up PC.

I don't like what I'm hearing. He was a good player on a lousy team. Couldn't play for a good team. Not a good skater? Sounds alot like Glen Murray to me...This team needs a quality 2-way Dman in the $4-5M range more than they need a 2nd rate forward like Ryder. You can always pick up a crappy forward if you need one. Dmen are much tougher to come by.

Mercifully, I think we've seen the last of Glen Murray.

This story was inflammatory from the get go and carries little merit. You are comparing one season and summing Ryders ability without looking closer at the overall history of this player. He was a solid goal scorer with a decent plus/minus rating in HULL and Hamilton. He had seasons of 25, 30 and 30 goals prior to last years 14. In 70 games last year he recorded 122 hits so he brings a physical brand of hockey to the Bruins. If you want to compare him to Murray look at the number of goals Glenn was scoring in LA prior to arriving back in the "Hub of Hockey", I think you will see similar output with his most productive seasons in Boston. This is a good signing at the right level of money for the correct number of years. To further justify this signing the Bruins stand to improve and have improved while their immediate division partners are floundering. Lastly, all the scouts and prognasticators were gushing over the Rangers last year as shoe ins for the Cup with all the signings they made.................how did it work out?

Kevin,

Ryder like Murray? Glen Murray btw is 900 years old. In his prime when the Bruins had some decent teams during the Thornton Era Murray was a more than adequate sniper. I wouldnt say that Murray couldnt play well on a good team, as a snapshot of his career. Murray has 337 career goals will probably finish his career with around 377 or so. The yr before the lockout he scored 30 goals with 28 assists and the yr before that he had 92 points, those Bruins teams were superior to what is on the ice now.

Comparing the two in their primes, Murray is a better player than Ryder. Given the age of the two players, I would say Murray has lost a step. He can still be effective as a 2nd liner if he has someone to feed him the puck in the slot.

I would disagree that the Bruins need another 2 way D-man. What we need are more puck moving aggressive defensemen to take advantage of the new rules. This team is full of "quality 2 way hard working players". That being said you arent going to win a Cup with just that. You need a couple offensive stars, and many times those guys dont play the best defense in the world. Thats just how they are. Ryder is not one of those stars, but he will take the body and he will score you 25-30 goals. He is a slightly more talented version on Dan Cleary who just signed for about 2.5 mil to stay in Detriot.

Montreal fan here, season ticket holder, have seen a lot of Ryder. Besides all the problems you guys have identified, Ryder's worse problem is he hogs the puck like mad, cannot make a pass, drives his linemates mad, lots of plays die on his side of the ice because he held on the puck too long, it was getting worse and worse I would say from the middle of the 2006-2007 season and really was horrible last year.

The guy that said, "Good player on a lousy team"...did you watch last season? As I recall, the Canadiens finished 1st in the East with the NHL's 4th best record. The Bruins were lucky to make the playoffs my friend AND were knocked out by the Canadiens. Maybe you should watch some hockey...

I think the Bruins made a huge mistake signing him at that price. $4 million a season for a guy that COULD score 30 goals is a big gamble. Incidentally, his last 30 goal season (and maybe the one before too) came via a hattrick in his last game of the season.

Good signing for a good player...money is out of whack across the board: who likes
Brian Gionta?? he averages 25 goals a season (Ryder the same), there's a host of others players paid more money without having the upside. True a gamble but not w/out stats to back it