thier is no such thing as we have enough
offense in hockey.keep the best scorers
you have, without going over the
salary cap.

I'm not sure how people can give votes to someone who hasn't even argued their point! In any case, although the B's are one of the deepest teams with guys on all four lines who can do damage, it's always one or two injuries that somehow F things up for our Cup chances.

Plus, if all else fails, let Big Z get a few more offensive opportunities! How could you not let a guy with a 100+ mph ripper have any offensive touches? Just wondering.

I was actually seeing that, too, Gonzo. I finally got around to pressing the button to add my slugfest, and I came out of it with a 2-1 lead. I was saying to myself, "Wow, haven't even said anything yet." Lol.

Well, I think they should be alright without Kessel but they would be a lot better if he was to come back. He's the quickest on the rush.; Sure Sturm will be back but imagine if they were all here!! Look at the lineup.. can't ignore that:

Lucic-Savard-Kessel
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew
thornton-Begin-Bitz

I mean, hell yess!!

We have the most 20+ puckers in the league. Will Phil be missed? Damn straight but we need work on D right now. Parting is such sweet sorrow but c'est la vie.

If Phil is here great, if not we still got depth.

Let's Go Bruins!!!!

What is wrong with you people; we have a homegrown, fast skating, team leading goal scorer and we just let him go because he doesn't hit like Neely or play defense like Kasper?! Bergeron is not the same player since injury and his salary is now a problem. STurm and savard are great, but aging and getting to the end of their contracts. Recchi has one year left. We need help on D still. We didn't have enough WITH Kessel last year and you want to let him go? what message does that send free agents that we dont' even keep our rising star draft picks. Reminds me of the penny wise pound foolish Sinden days.

p.s. Cammalleri became a Hab on July 1st.

Absolutely, the problem is on defense. We're slow. We need Hunwick back and possibly a new good defensman with skating skills.. (that, if kessel is not returning)

Marc-Antoine, you're missing Recchi in there. He'll play the left side with Bergeron and Kobasew again because that line clicked so well. They were the best line, hands down, down the stretch.

I think you're looking at something more along the lines of:

Lucic-Savard-Kessel
Sturm-Krejci-Ryder
Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew
Wheeler-Begin-Thornton

Of course, I do think that they are looking to move one from the group of Bergeron, Ryder and Kobasew for cap purposes. Sturm saying he's not waiving his no trade clause is a bit of a concern, but I do think it would be a good team without Kessel. Better with him.

I'm more concerned with our D men than the loss of Phil the Thrill as well. Montador & Hnidy just walked, and we signed no one. Yes, Hunwick is ready, but then what?

I just hope that the B's can get something for Kess besides a bag of pucks.

I would love to keep Kessel with the B's but if they cannot come to a salary agrrement and if we could get a good D in return + a draft choice that would not hurt so much ....but still the B's would be in business with Kessel

True, I forgot about Recchi. I dont know if I would put him on the Bergy line though. Simply because Sturm and Bergy always played great together. Anyways, we have depth.

It's a very important year since the cap will lower next after that and we'll lose a lot of players I fear. I want to keep Kessel...but if we could get a great number 2 or 3 defenseman for him, well I'd do it. We need need to be faster on the D..

The difference between the 8th place B's of '08 vs the 1st place B's of '09 was goal scoring. You want to take away your 36 goal scorer? Your YOUNG 36 goal scorer? Just stupid.

I was just looking at the Bruins website - just a real shame to see an awesome team with no Cup to show for all of their efforts last year. What a sack of BS. I know championships aren't won on paper but Management needs to keep this team (or its nucleus) together for a while.

Addressing the D comment - Hnidy, Z, Montador, Wideman, Ference, Stuart - those six guys can play D! I think we need some front line helping on D because who we have there is sufficient to keep Thomas from facing more shots than our Army in Afganistan.

Looking at our top scorers from last year, (again, bruins web site) TWO of our Top THREE goal scorers were defensemen! Is that due to the Claude Julien system? The left side is partiularly weak - Lucic is our scorer. Can we make him a defenseman because he is great nailing people to the boards. I say we need a guy who can be a top of the line scorer to compliment Kessel on the first line.

With Sturm returning, there will be enough offense. B's should try and work out the deal for Kaberle, although not straight up. The last 2 number one picks will hopefully be ready when it's time to turn over the roster again. A stud puck moving, PP QB Dman is the last piece of the puzzle. Kess is good but not worth trading guys away to get the money to keep him.

I don't want to see Kessel go, but I believe The Bruins can survive without him. Although Kessel is a good (one way) player, he needs some work to be the great two-way player that his salary demand would justify. The problem is that contract may only be possible if you moved someone to clear space. I have heard all kinds of names being tossed around, one of them being Savard. This is easy math; Kessel - Savard will NOT = 36 goals. PK's curl and drag move is no longer a secret and get's shutdown 9/10 times.

Defense still wins cups. On average throughout the league fewest goals allowed wins championships. In the end last season the Bruins needed a defensemen and not Montador playing on his off hand side. If you can't keep Kessel than get something in return at least.

Phil has steadily progressed his play. He's a Must sign!!!!

It's too ealry to give up on Phil yet. Game breakers are extremely hard to come by. I think there's a situation where we can still keep him. Let's get it done Peter.

The difference between the bruins and the elite teams is *skill* level. Let's stop this nonsense that you can win with more "scrappers" and fewer scorers. The Bruins need MORE talented offensive players, not fewer.

Oh yeah, the 'slugfest" voting thing is lame.

DrGonzo. Not sure where on the Bruins website it says that two of our top three goal scorers were defencemen. I believe our top two were Savard and Krejci. Maybe two of our top 10... And addressing your commenent about the D, we lost Hnidy and Montador. Our top 6 D are Z, Ward, Wideman, Ference, Stuart and Hunwick. Not much depth after that as far as NHL ready players. If the Bruins can't sign Kessel I'd say we need help on D before we try to replace our 30 goal scorer. We got walked on by Carolina's offense in the post season.

Didn't anyone watch the playoffs? The Bruins will not be a cup contender until they can get a 35+ goal scorer that can perform under pressure. I don't know if Kessel is the guy seeing how he did in the Playoffs - I know he was injures - but didn't do so well in high pressure games all season (I think an article said less than 20% of his goals scored were against playoff teams). This year everyone contributed but I'm not so sure we're gonna be that fortunate next year, I hope I'm wrong but we'll see.

What I'm getting at is this - we have a great Defense, probably one of the best in the year but we have a hard time scoring goals when it matters. The series against the Hurricanes should have been over in 6 at the most with Boston prevailing. Instead everything that could possibly go wrong with the offense did. Wheeler did not impress me one bit in the playoffs so if we're counting on him to step up in Kessel's place I think it's gonna be a long season (and short post-season). Lucic played his role well but he's not gonna be the goal scorer we need. Honnestly I really hope Bergeron has the year we've been waiting for, otherwise getting rid of Kessel (or making a trade to keep him) will have a really bad effect on the offense next year.

Marc, you're right about Sturm and Bergeron. But it's hard to argue with the production of that line last year. I think Krejci is a better playmaker than Bergeron is at this point as well (though Bergeron still has the potential to be the number 2 center he was a couple years ago before the concussions). Recchi is best fit on a line that takes a lot of shots because he is a net front presence with fantastic hands and can tip a lot of pucks in, as well as banging in the rebounds. Both Kobasew and Bergeron like to shoot the puck and I think that's why that line was so successful. Sturm is more sniper-esque. With Krejci a fantastic playmaker, I think Sturm can flourish there.

Many props to Chris Forsberg for the link from the main page to our slugfest here!

To think that the Bruins will be fine without Kessel is optimistic. We have no clue on how Sturm and Bergeron will produce next year. Yes, Sturm, Bergeron and Recchi might compensate for some goals but i don't think Sturm have the breaking speed of Kessel which create space for his teammates on the ice and draw penalties as well. To let go a young sniper because he's not " tough " is pretty stupid. We need a little of everything to be a Cup contender and a " soft " sniper is one of the ingredient. We are in this situation because our GM decide to give a bad contract to a 35 years old goaltender. Now, i'm waiting to see how Chiarelli will clean that mess...

Of course they are all right without Kessel. Calling him a "lock" at 30 goals is a stretch by any measure! I do think he will score 30 again, but he's also shown injury-prone and needs to stay on the ice. I really admire the guy...he overcame cancer and took the benching in the playoffs 2 years ago and used it as a motivator, as opposed to complaining. I don't think they are going to lose him. He's a victim of a bad market. He'll sign a one-year deal to get to arbitration next season. Then, if he does it again, we can talk about it then in the context of Wheeler and Lucic.

We would be better with Kessel. I think his goal production and chemistry with Savard is vital to the Bruins' success. If we don't keep him, then maybe we should make a big trade and get a gamebreaker. But we need his goal scoring.

In team sports any individual player is expendable. This team has survived previous departures and will continue to survive once Kessel is gone. That said, let's consider the following:
1. He was the team's highest goal scorer.
2. He made Savvy a better player and vice versa.
3. He's got talent which, as the B's braintrust publicly admits, you can't teach.
4. None of us regular fans really know what Phil is like in the locker room, as a teammate, etc.
I hope they resign him - maybe to a 1-year deal like guy0677 suggests - or maybe longer depending on the egos of all involved.
If Phil goes somewhere else, we will mis him, but we will move on.

Tale away Phil's 36 goals and the B's would have ended up with 1 goal less than Carolina....we remember them right?

The B's need to solidify the D with someone who can quickly move the puck out of our end. That's what killed us vs. Carolina.

All great points. Kessel was awesome last year and only going to get better. He is now 6 ft and still going to fill out. As much as I like Ryder, if anyone needed to go he would be likely. Probably could get a decent 3-4 d-man for Ryder. If the B's do trade Kessel, we need more than Kaberle. He is aging and soft on D. Honestly Pronger was the guy but at his salary we can't afford him. This may sound crazy but B's should see if Kessel would sign a 3 yr deal at 2.5 first year then 5 and 6 million over the next two years. Savards contract is up next year and the B's can hopefully fill his spot with Coburn or Hammil.

These people who are so ready to let Kessel go don't understand how hard it is to find guys who can put the puck in the net like that. We let another young scorer go at our peril of falling back to irrelevance...

Great point by Mike. Keep in mind, Kessel was initially projected to go #1 in the 1st round so it goes to show the pedigree. We were lucky the get him at #5. Plus he is best buddies with Krejci. Once Savard is gone Kessel Krecji on a line would be killer! I would even trade Wideman since he misses the net something like 65% of the time.

The Bruins are obviously a better team with Phil Kessel. But realistically looking at their salary cap situation they cannot keep all there players and sign Kessel. Signing Kessel means not signing signing other players next year like Wheeler, Lucic, and possibly negate any chance on resiging Savard. The cap is expected to drop by about 3-5 mil next season. Forget about trading Patrice Bergeron, it aint gonna happen. No one is gonna take his $4.75 million. The Bruins best chance to win with this current group as constructed is to trade Kessel and either Ward or Ference for a solid puck moving defenseman. The problem with the Bruins against Carolina wasnt offense, it was that they could not get the puck out of their zone with any sort of speed and therefore could not attack in the offensive zone. You cant play dump and chase in the playoffs. You gotta figure with the return of Sturm and continued development of Krejci, Lucic, and Wheeler the Bruins will score goals. Defense is where they were exposed. Kessel is the perfect chip for a solid puck moving defenseman. Maybe revive those Kaberle talks.

i accidentally forfeited!!! oh no!

Darn, that's a bummer! Was going to be a good slugfest. :( We can keep talking about it here if you want. There's been good discussion thanks to Chris Forsberg mentioning us on the main page.

Uh, sk88ts, "the team with the fewest goals against wins Cups?" 1. not usually true and 2. The BRUINS allowed the fewest goals last year! (which will never be replicated by their breathtakingly overrated starting goalie)

To Bill in Montreal...yes you take away 36 if Phil leaves, but you are reinserting Sturm the leading goal scorer from the previous season. I believe Wheeler made the choice of Boston over Montreal as a UFA because he was friends with Kessel. Bergeron should have a resurgence year...but I would still love to see Bitz in the lineup somewhere.

Can Kessel score without Savard? Yes, but not 36 goals. Maybe 20. At the same time the B's can't come up with 36 goals out of nowhere. That was proven in the playoffs. With the cap someone has to go and Krejci and Lucic are legit. Wheeler is very raw. It's Chiarelli's problem to solve so lets see if he can come out a winner.

Apologies if someone brought this up already, but I think a BIG factor here is Blake Wheeler.

He's a big winger with good handles and pretty decent speed, but it's all about consistency with him. Flashes of brilliance (remember that 1-on-4 against the Blues) and then nights where he might as well have driven the zamboni. He rounds out the lines nicely if he works with Looch and Savvy. And he'll be in a contract year too.

Considering you gotta expect an increase from Bergeron and the return of Sturm, production-wise I think we'll be just fine (and we're not missing a clubhouse presence by losing him). Let's face it, I don't think we can argue if we got the offensive production of last year's team.

Lucic-Savard-Wheeler
Sturm-Krejci-Ryder
Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew
Thornton-Begin-Bitz
(add Sobotka in the mix somewhere)

Of course, you can never have too much scoring, but the Bruins needs are elsewhere. Don't forget the havoc that a contract like his would create with re-signing guys in the near future.

I like how these people think that Sturm is going to be able to pick up the slack if Kessel leaves, Kessel is 21 and Sturm is 30. Sturm has seen better days and Kessel is still on his way up.

Nobody trades their 21year leading scorer. Who is leading scorer even strenghth-Ovechkin. Who is second? Kessel-played first PP he's a 50 goal scorer easily. Nobody has kessel sniper shot.

Kessel was second in the league scoring EVEN_STRENGHTH-? Enough said-

UPDATED SALARY CAP NUMBERS
With Hunwick's $1.45 million on the books for next year, the current cap hit is $53,937,500 (which leaves $2,862,500 in space under the ceiling).

It's a tough call...but I feel like the writing's on the wall based on the front office's actions this offseason. I'm sure there's a lot about Kessel that management has considered that goes beyond the scoresheet. You don't hear too much about it in hockey, but it's been reported Kessel isn't good in the clubhouse and is, for lack of a better word, a young punk with an attitude. Those are the type of things that go beyond the headlines and make deals make a lot more sense in the realm of things.

Kessel Keep!
It's just plain stupid to dump our leading scorer. Nobody on the team has his speed and his shot. He's lightning in a bottle, instant offense on a team that gets stuck in it's own end way to much. He is the one guy on the team that all by himself transitions from defense to offense in a blink. Kessel Keep!

ok so the 2008-2009 bruins allowed the fewest goals in the NHL...and everyone is worried about our defense? The bruins have had the best defense in the league the past two seasons...this years difference was their goalscoring...with the biggest player being kessel..if they don't sign kessel i hate to say it but they will probably become the 8th place bruins of 07-08 who couldn't put the puck in the net. don't worry about the defense, as long as juliens around it will be great, the bruins need kessel...and the popular phrase that "the bruins can survive without kessel" still puzzles me, since when did we become satisfied with a team who can just survive, i don't know about you, but i want a cup baby, keep kessel and it will happen.

tuukka rask 2010

We need more D? What are you talking about? We led the league in least goals against last season....

We need scoring! Ergo, we need Kessel

Are you kidding me....locking up Lucic and Wheeler?? Neither can carry Kessel's jock strap. Lucic is simply a big goon who will last about 5 years in the NHL. The reason the Bruins like him is because they think he is the 2nd coming of cam Neely... not a chance. Wheeler?? He is trade bait.

Roland, we'll respectfully have to disagree here. The bruins system is built on the defensive style they play. Lucic and wheeler both play into that system very well and have great upside. No one wants to lose Kessel but he doesn't play the defense that the others do. If they could keep kessel, great. But this is a cap world