Take one: Bruins

Today until the end of August I will periodically post my short, but inteligent opinion on the decisions made by the Boston Bruins. In case you do not know who the Boston Bruins are, you should slap yourself. Just kidding. They are an NHL team, who were collaborated as the original six teams long ago.

Andrew Alberts (3rd year Defenceman): Re-signs 2 years/ 2.5 million

I am an Andrew Alberts fan, and I am happy that PC re-signed him, however, the salary bothers me. Alberts is a good defenceman who will become an even better defenceman through experience like many players. However, raising his salary from 661,300$ to 1.1 and 1.4 millions in the next two years respectively provides Bruins fans to question Peter Chiarelli's signings. I believe Alberts would have agreed to a 900,000 a year for two years, or 1.9-2 million / 2 years.
This signing follows another intriguing question, how much do you pay to keep Brandon Bochenski. Obviously, Bochy (as I like to call him) is not a number one line player and will not receive number one line salary. However, Bochy may ask between 1.3-1.8 million per season. I believe that is too much for a player that had a good half a season. What says that he will provide the same numbers the following season? You must remember that when Bochy came to Boston, he joined a young, open team that pretty much knew they weren't making the playoffs. Nonetheless, it will be quite interesting watching Chiarelli operating the Bruins this off season.

Sergei Samsonov: (Forward) Signed with Montreal last season 2 years/ 7 million, but may be bought out before his final year of the contract.

I for one always liked Sergei Samsonov. It is unfortunately that he signed with the habs and played with disgruntled center/wing Alexei Kovolev. He had a poor season, however, what do you expect from a player who hardly sees power play minutes, never played on the first line with Koivu -if he did it was once or twice for insufficient amount of time - and Sergei did not get the amount of ice time he was getting in Boston. Obviously, a team and its fans expect a lot from a player who is getting a scorers based salary. However, who has performed better playing with Alexei Kovolev, that is what I would like to know. In case you have forgotten, Tomas Plekanec was on fire once Guy Carboneau placed him on another line. Anyways, back to the topic. Sergei Samsonov needs to play with better players. Alexei Kovolev is a useless pole on skates who barely moves. If he is cut, the Bruins would have to pay in the 1-1.9 million dollar range, which is quite a steal. Sergei always played best against the Habs, whether it was from scoring goals, assisting on goals or playing an overal strong game. If he were to sign with the Bruins, imagine the fire he would get playing the habs? I understand that we wouldn't want him to only play strong against the habs, but just by knowing that he will play them eighth times a year should already pump him up.
Therefore, I would sign Sergei Samsonov if he were bought out. Nonetheless, it would depend on the difference from his contract and the amount payed to buy him off. He would had tremendous speed to the Savard-Murray line as well as the Bergeron-Sturm line. However, I'd rather see him play on the Bergeron-Sturm line.

More to come....