The Boston Bruins have agreed to terms on contracts with forward Chris Wagner and veteran goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The deal for Wagner will last two years and will pay him $2.5 million over two years, giving him a $1.25 million cap hit. The contract for Halak will last two years - the financial terms have not yet been disclosed.
In Wagner, the Bruins are getting a veteran fourth-line player who has spent time with the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche and most recently, New York Islanders since being drafted in the fifth round in 2010. While he won';t be a major contributor on the offensive side of the puck having scored only 17 goals
and 29 points in 174 games in his career, Wagner is a very good penalty killer who also happened to finish third in the NHL in hits last season with 253.New Bruins'; right wing Chris Wagner (Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
The Bruins were in the market for a good penalty killer given the fact that Tim
Schaller won';t be returning and Riley Nash is potentially on the way out the door as well.
Spending his 2017-18 season as a member of the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders, Wagner managed to score seven goals and 16 points, both career-highs, in 79 games. He also logged a career-high 37 penalty minutes and will likely be given the first chance at replacing Schaller';s minutes on the team';s fourth line. It will be interesting to see the dynamic for the team';s energy line without Schaller, however, especially with Acciari and Kuraly both capable of playing center and at right wing - the same as Wagner.
This could also mean that the Bruins aren';t yet ready to hand the ropes to one
of their young players in Providence like Ryan Fitzgerald but there';s still a distinct chance that the Bruins will be using a line-by-committee approach with
Wagner as valuable insurance in case of injury. The team dealt with injury more
than any other last season and giving themselves some much-needed depth from the get-go isn';t a bad way to go.What the Bruins Have in Halak
In Halak, the Bruins get their backup goaltender after losing Anton Khudobin to
the Dallas Stars. Khudobin signed a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per season
so Halak';s deal could realistically be even cheaper than that.
While Halak';s recent NHL success has been minimal, including a 3.19 goals against average and .908 save percentage, the important thing to remember is that he played behind a very poor defense in New York with the Islanders over the last few seasons. According to the Bruins Stats account on Twitter, Halak';s high, medium and low-danger save percentages were almost the exact same as Khudobin';s from 2017-18 but Halak played 1,000 more minutes.Jaroslav Halak (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
For comparable production behind a significantly worse defense, the Bruins are banking on Halak bouncing back in a Bruins'; uniform as Rask';s primary backup.
With Khudobin spelling Rask so well last season and at the tail-end of the 2016-17 season, it';s clear that the Bruins'; franchise netminder is best when he can stay fresh during the regular season after multiple seasons of average to sub-par play due to a heightened workload that eventually caught up to him.
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