Boston Bruins Looking For Defense At 2011 Trade Deadline

The reputation of these Boston Bruins is that they have great team defense, only bolstered by the fantastic goaltending of Tim Thomas. That’s just not true, writes SB Nation’s Stanley Cup of Chowder, and as a result, it’s not surprising that the team is in the market for another defenseman.

General manager Peter Chiarelli admitted as much on Tuesday night during a press conference.

“Well I’ve been pretty public in saying I’d like to get a defenseman, so that’s still in the works,” Chiarelli said. “I think it’s just a solid defenseman that can log some minutes and there are some out there like that, solid two-way defensemen.”

“There are other defensemen also, different types of defensemen. It’s hard to find a match as far as a team that is willing to maybe trade just for futures. There are different routes to get to that defenseman but there are some decent options.”

All signs seem to point to Tomas Kaberle of the Maple Leafs. Sportsnet.ca reported a bit prematurely on Tuesday night that Kaberle would waive his no-trade clause to go to Boston, and Leafs’ GM Brian Burke admitted that he’s been in discussions with Chiarelli. Still, it’s not a lock, and there are other possibilities on the market.

Stanley Cup of Chowder says that it has to be a guy that fits the same mold as Kaberle, no matter who it is.

If the Kaberle negotiations fall through, Peter Chiarelli will still be looking for defense. Ideally, it would be someone with Kaberle’s skill set of mobility, passing, power play excellence and competence in their own zone. As you might expect, that’s not easy to find, and sacrifices would have to be made.

Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com threw out a few potential names, including disgruntled Zach Bogosian of the Thrashers and Joni Pitkanen of the Hurricanes. He says that Pitkanen is not yet available considering Carolina is firmly on the playoff bubble, but that he might be the best non-Kaberle option.

Non-Kaberle. It’s not any secret that the Bruins have one guy in mind here. We’ll see if it gets done.