Wideman signs extension

Word is 15.75 over 4 years. A bit steep, but with the money puck moving defensemen have been landing, this might be a deal in the future. He better perform, because I personally didn't think he was even worth the $3mill he was expected to get... Should have let this one go to arbitration.

Farewell, Muzz.

Oy.

Not as bad as I expected but still too much.

The man is not worth 3 mil a year. Two million I could swallow, but he's now being paid twice what Axellson does and he's not even close to twice the player.

What a joke. Almost $4 mill a year for this guy? Definitely should have let it go to arbitration. The guy is horrible in his own end and was consistently burnt by speedier forwards. Just another case of the Bruins tryng to pull the wool over Bruins fans eyes by giving some schmuck a lot of money and then telling us how he's the next coming of Ray Bourque. I hope they enjoyed their playoff appearance last year. They'll be back in the cellar again very soon!

Anything over 2.75/year is waaaaay too much. See what 10 goals as a defenseman can get ya?

I'm gonna go ahead and assume the 3 posts prior to mine were all made by non-hockey fans.

Yes, its more than we'd like to pay Dennis Wideman but people need to realize how much a puckmoving d-man can make on the open market. If Wideman had been a UFA, he'd have gotten even more than the Bruins just paid him.

I also don't see how the Bruins are pulling the wool over anyone's eyes here. They have a promising young team that pushed Montreal to 7 games and they have now successfully locked up that entire team plus Ryder and then Bergeron and Fernandez's returns.

The Bruins are on an upward swing, and that is an opinion held by most people outside of the ignorant Boston sports fans who love to bash the Bruins simply for not being the Red Sox. The NHL doesn't work like MLB. Give the Bruins time, they're moving in the right direction for the first time in years.

Mark,

Thank you for the intelligent post to the Wideman signing. IMO it is very importnat for the B's to keep as much of the team intact as possible, reason being it took that group a while to come into their own. The team definately showed promise at the end of the year. Chiarelli has made some good moves and seems to have more of a hockey mind than the last few GMs. I think the B's will be a team to look out for this year. Not an A level but a strong B, and in a couple of years who knows.

hey Mark, good words.

I think signing Wideman was a good move. now, the other thing they can do is rework Murray's contract to sign under the cap.

Yeah - because he would have only got $2.5m in Arbitration ... seriously, any d-man that put numbers anywhere close to Widemans last season signed for $3.5M + (See Gilbert, Seabrook, Hainsey, Liles etc). He got market value - get over it guys, its how much it costs for a player like D-Wide. The market is definitely inflated for that skill set but that's not PC's fault.

I especially like the "pulling the wool over the eyes" comment. What a joke - no doubt this same guy was complaining yesterday about how cheap the JJ is. I often wonder if other NHL teams have fans as ignorant about the league, market and their own team as the Bruins do.

Does this deal with Wideman mean that the Bruins are definately going to cut Murray? I hope so. Murray has to be one of the slowest forwards in the league. I'd love to see a young guy from Providence step up and take his place.

I agree with Mark on this one big time. Not really sure why people are saying that he is terrible in his own end. To me he looks more like a player with a better plus/minus then the team average. I also watched 75-80 of the Bruins games this year and never really saw Wideman looking out of place. Julien knows what he's doing, and he chose him to play over 25 min. per game. The other part of Wideman that makes him of value is his ability to quaterback the powerplay. This was a good signing, and another case of maybe based on last years performance 4 mil is slightly higher then he WAS worth, but at 25 years old he's got nowhere to go but up. And in three years from now when the cap is sitting around 65-68 mil, Wideman will be scoring around 20 and will be an absolute bargain.

One other thing to add, why does everyone assume Murray has to go, wasn't Schaefer and his 2 million dollar salary a healthy scratch for a big part of the here. Hmm maybe he's a better option to dump

Tony, Are you a Murray relative? Did you not see Murray play in 07-08? Not only can he only score (rarely) when he is stationary, he probably only hits the net 2 out of 10 times with that one timer. I say it is time for this FOJ (friend of Joe) to go!

Mark
you are so right about the Bruins Wideman is a good players he fits right in to the Bruins which is so important.

I have to say as a lifelong Bruins fan( I have been waiting patiently since 1972 for the Bruins to have there Parade) I have not been as excited and looking forward to the start of a season than I have since the Neely/Bourque days. They are a good team and with Bergeron and Fernadaz back they will be even better. Who is with me on Seeing the Duck boats go though Boston next spring with the Bruins and Lord Stanleys Cup on them?

Wide's was a decent signing, yes too much money, but that's the going rate this free-agency. I say we dump guy's like Muzz & Schafer. It's time to give some of the kids in Providence a chance. Plenty of talent coming up.

I'd rather see Muzz go than Schaefer, based on how they performed when it really mattered. Schaefer was a ghost during most of the season, but when he was put under pressure during the playoffs he really stepped up, where Muzz simply disappeared and never buried his chances.

Mvega$

I'm not saying that Murray is worth his money, or that he has much in the tank, but there is no way on earth Murray could move via trade with his contract, but at 2 mil there is a chance that Schaefer could be moved, and then next year Murray could be off the books completly. Not to mention that if he had been healthy last year he still could've scored 20. And again, I don't think he's got much more in him then a 4th line role, I just think a Schaefer trade would be more valueabe then a Murray buyout I mean come on Schaefer was worse then useless, at least Murray tried really hard, Schaefer just doesn't care

Marina, good comments; Andrew Alberts should also be back, and if he is healthy it is great to have a guy like him among your six defensemen...

rockstareh, Jacobs is "cheap"; he greenlighted this (excellent) deal, in my opinion, to save face from trading Brad Boyes away for him. If you risk losing everything (e.g., D-Wide), it's a PR nightmare. And frankly, I think that the saber rattling of fans all over Boston for the last several years demanding new ownership, especially in wake of the Thornton fiasco, has given Jacobs a kick in the butt to start caring about the quality of talent on his team. That culminated in the same-day Chara and Savard signings - which took me by complete surprise a few years back - and has continued in the Bruins being more aggressive in free agency since then. So basically, rocksareh, I think that you and the people bashing Jacobs are both right: Jacobs is spending more money than he used to, but it is for reasons of trying to save face, in my opinion.

The dough that they are giving Wideman is the going rate for puck moving defensemen with scoring ability. Too much, definitely but it is what it is right now. So it was a good move on the part of Chiarelli (and Jacobs).

And this should be a great team next season. If Bergy comes back without any recurrences of the concussion, they just might be knocking on Lord Stanley's door.

"Give the Bruins time"..HA! What? 36 years isn't enough time?

I see that posts 4 through 10 happen to disagree. If you guys think Wideman is a $4 million per year player and that JJ is "spending to the Cap" so all is well, I seriously suggest you lay off the JJ Kool-Aid.

Wideman is a career -31. That's his plus/minus for those of you keeping score at home. As for JJ. There is a difference between spending to the cap just to do so, and spending to the cap wisely. This move stinks of the first part.

Lastly let's not forget...the Bruins ONCE AGAIN didn't get out of the 1st round and they are getting back a center who could be one hit away from having his career ended and a goalie whose best season was 2005 and played a total of 4 games last season. Get Pumped & jacked!

The guy is also 25 years old and $4 million may be a steal in a year or two

David - I really don't follow your comment. So the JJ is cheap argument is legit, but he's not cheap anymore, but only because he's signing guys to save face, yet those guys have been signed at market value????

Fact is since the cap has been in place this team has spent to the max while other teams operate under self imposed budgets. Its not a valid argument anymore ... I could care less WHY he's spending more money, the fact is that he is, end of story.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a Jacobs fan and would much rather have the B's owned by someone who was first and foremost a hockey fan and a businessman secondarily. Which isn't Jacobs - but the arguments people still use are antiquated and invalid these days. Just find some new material.

From the appearance of things, with Charlie taking a bigger role on the Bruins side of operations - the meddling from ownership seems to have lessened and the management team appears to have more freedom to operate the team as they see fit. Of course the Jacobs need to greenlight decisions - its their money ... but it seems that they are much less involved at a detail level then they were 10 or even 5 years ago

Great!!! A four year deal for a puck moving defensemen who cant move the puck AND can't play defense. He is responsible for more turnovers than the rest of the D combined. Disregard the PP Points and he is a below average defenseman who constantly puts outlet passes in people's skates or to far out front so they either go for Icing or we loose possession. The only way this works out is if he becomes the next Mark Streit and moves to wing and plays the point on the Power Play.

Tony, I hear ya. My bad, I didn't know you meant via trade, Murray is a buy out to me and I am not going to bash them (for not doing it already) but they are crazy if they think they can get anything for Murray besides someone else's financial burden ala Murray. My bad man, I just want Murray out of town ASAP.

Go B's!

"There is a difference between spending to the cap just to do so, and spending to the cap wisely. This move stinks of the first part"

So what is his motivation for spending un-wisely to the cap?? To be an unsuccessful team and have fewer playoff games generating less revenue while spending more money? Brilliant! Or is it because he thinks the name DENNIS WIDEMAN is going to bring in fans in droves for the regular season?? Come on. You may not agree with the signing but the notion that the team is spending money on inferior players (in your eyes) to keep up appearances is ludicrous.

The only way I see Muzz moving to another team is if PC reaches an agreement with another team to take him off re-entry waivers. I hope they don't assign him to Providence, just out of respect for what he's done for the franchise over his career. Buyout is an option but I'd hope that its a last resort ... I'd prefer not to have any portion of his salary counting against the cap next year too.

Wideman is a poor excuse for a puck moving D Man. When pressured, he loses the puck or passes to someone else. This is one of the worst signings the B's have made in years.

Please sign Pelletier & Thompson.....we'll need guys to call up from Providence and if nothing else, who is the checking line center going to be this year??? I say it's Nate!!! He's done it here in Providence, I think he can do it in Boston too

I think that the best option for the B's checking line center is going to be Nokalainen for this year, although I agree that Thompson may not be a bad option if he can provve himself in the NHL of coarse. He seems like he could do it and he needs a chance sometime. Pelletier would be a good signing because he was real good last year for the Baby B's last year, but he won't make much of a callup, he came up last year and didn't do much. I'm excited to see what guys like Soderberg, Wheeler, and Lehtonen can do this year in Providence, not to mention Hamill.

All good points. I agree D-Wide is worth the cash. I expect big things though in return. I love you guys who bash Mr. Jacobs. Hello, We have a salary cap and he spends to it annually. Give him a break. I think that if you look back on things, it has not been Mr. Jacobs, rather Mr. Sinden prohibiting the wallet from being emptied. This year is going to be BIG and I mean BIG. Muzz will restructure because he wants to retire a Bruin and he wants to get a ring here. It will happen. Relax, enjoy and LET'S GO BRUINS!!!!!

"I love you guys who bash Mr. Jacobs. Hello, We have a salary cap and he spends to it annually. Give him a break. I think that if you look back on things, it has not been Mr. Jacobs, rather Mr. Sinden prohibiting the wallet from being emptied."

Putting aside that it is Jacobs who owns the purse strings and calls the shots, not Harry, I believe it was Jacobs around the time of the Thornton trade who said that he wanted for the Bruins to pay their players like the Buffalo Sabres (cheap). But people can change for the good, so I hope you guys are right. Don't deny though that irate fans got this mgmt's attention.

Wideman was a simple deal that had to be done. This will look good in 1-2 yrs.

Deals they need to do is dump over-priced players that are not performing. Murray, gone, simple $4mil for 20 goals is not good enough anymore. Schafer (although played well in playoffs) not worth $2mil. Sorry, all you PJ fans, he is a defensive specialist not a first line LW like they have been using, I would like to see them get some value for PJ now before he is (maybe already) an aging vet wasting cap space.

As for Fernandez, this one is a mystery, huge salary hit at $4m per, and what has he proved? I hope for their sake he bounces back otherwise another year lost with that cap space. Globe pegged it right this weekend, B's have alot on the books for their goalies, but are they really that good?

The B's are on the upswing but they are far from challenging. Give them 2-3 yrs and a few better prospects/FAs before we start talking about duck tours. And you are all correct, it is not a JJ thing, it is a talent thing and the B's still need more.

No team in the NHL is going to trade for Murray, because his contract is way too high at $4M per year. The B's do have a few options in regards to his contract:

1. Assign Murray to Providence for the year and pay him his full contract. It does not count against the NHL cap. At the end of the season he would becomes a free agent and will most likely sign with another team...

2. Buy out his contract... The team pays him $4M not to play with them this season. We take a salary cap hit of 1.5M each of the next two seasons.

I don't believe that either of these options work out well for the Bruins or for Murray. The following is what I would do in regards to Murray:

3. Trade Murray to a team with a clause in the deal that the Bruins will pay a portion of his contract (approximately $1M). This would work out well for both the B's and Murray. Murray will get his money and still continue his career in the NHL. The B's would only have to pay $1M in stead of $4M, and the cap hit is only $1M for one season... We may be able to pick up a 1st or 2nd round draft pick in return.

And not to keep pressing this, but Jacobs was called a "cheapskate" by another owner. This courtesy of Slam Sports:

"A year before signing Martin Lapointe, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and Detroit owner Mike Illitch got into a heated shouting match at the board of governors meeting.
Illitch called Jacobs a cheapskate for raking in so much profit with a mediocre team year after year and Jacobs vowed revenge.

It came in the form of signing Lapointe to the tune of four years and $20 million...

Word is, Lapointe's agent had a deal with Detroit GM Ken Holland to give him a last chance to come to terms and Holland's reply hearing the numbers was: "You're lying."

Hey guys rooting for Jacobs - still don't think that Jacobs is spending dough to save face? It happened before......

Still, if he has changed his ways, then I will be his biggest fan.

I agree that 4 mil is too much, right now. By years 3 and 4 it could be a bargain if Wideman continues to develop. Julien trusts him, he played in all situaions, averaged roughly 25 minutes a game, and was a big factor on the PP (see game 3 vs. the Habs in OT). Murray is a goner, theres really no way around it. He will be bought out in the coming weeks. A buyout (or trade) of Schaeffer would not give the B's enough wiggle room under the cap.

Also I'd like to comment on the bitterness of some B's "fans". This is not the Sinden/O'Connell regime. They have spent just about all they could (not always wisely - cough Fernandez cough). And they've begun to stockpile prospects, which the previous regime was incapable of doing. They are on the right track. It's a long, slow process.

//Schaefer just doesn't care//

How the hell do you know? You ever meet the guy?

Did you pay attention this year? If you had, you'd recall that Schaefer was hurt for much of the season, and from the article Fluto wrote, frustrated as hell about it.

I'm also amused as hell by "fans" who complain about Wideman's contract. Some people have no clue at all about what the NHL market is right now.

Just what I predicted...should have locked him up six months ago for less money. Anyway, if Chara is worth $7.5m then Wideman is worth $4m.

Char - I have to agree with the other person on Schaeffer, I watched about 75-80 games last year and when Schaeff played for the first 4/5 of the season he looked lazy and disinterested ... that could just be his nature, but from appearances and his performance, it definitely looked like his heart wasn't in it.

Of course its all speculation, but that's all we really have to go on.

If he plays like he did in the play-offs, I'd love to have him on the team. If he plays like he did for the first 70 games of the season, he can stay home.

@Rich:

"3. Trade Murray to a team with a clause in the deal that the Bruins will pay a portion of his contract (approximately $1M). This would work out well for both the B's and Murray. Murray will get his money and still continue his career in the NHL. The B's would only have to pay $1M in stead of $4M, and the cap hit is only $1M for one season... We may be able to pick up a 1st or 2nd round draft pick in return."

Just an FYI, under the current CBA a team has to assume all of a players cap hit when they make a trade. So there is no "picking up" a portion of the contract that is common in baseball.

In order to trade Murray, the B's would have to A) Find some team that has not hit the cap floor and needs to pick up salary or B) Package Murray with a "good" player and take cheap crap in return. This is likely as the Bruins have been known to make bad trades. Overall, assigning him to Providence or a buyout would be the only option for him. While a buy of Schaeffer seems like a quick fix, it's doubtful the money they'd save would be enough to put them under the cap.