Seidenberg more than just a rental?
BOSTON — Dennis Seidenberg is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. If he hits the open market, the Bruins will have paid a hefty price for his services for 21 games, plus however long the Bruins last in the postseason, assuming they make it at all.
The Bruins gave up young forward Byron Bitz, who showed decent promise last season. He regressed a bit this year, but still has the potential to contribute as an NHL regular. And Boston also sent Florida a second-round pick, which proved a popular – and valuable – commodity around the league as many second-rounders changed hands in the NHL’s record 31 deadline deals.
But Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli insisted this “was not a rental deal.” He has hopes of keeping Seidenberg around a lot longer, and Seidenberg appears amenable to making a long-term commitment to his new club.
“I’m looking forward to my time here,” said Seidenberg in a conference call with Boston reporters. “Over the past few years I’ve been traded a few times and I’d like to stay in one spot for a long period of time. If it’s in Boston, great. So that’s my goal for now. I’m really looking to get a long-term deal somewhere.”
That somewhere could be Boston, as Seidenberg was excited to join the Bruins today.
“First of all I’m very glad and happy to be joining the franchise,” said Seidenberg. “It has a lot of history and a lot of success and I’m excited to join a team that’s hopefully going to be going deep into the playoffs. I’m going to be looking forward to that.”
The Bruins could have signed Seidenberg last summer and avoided having to give up any assets for him. Instead, they opted to sign Derek Morris for $3.3 million, while Seidenberg eventually settled for a one-year deal worth $2.5 million with Florida. Hindsight would indicate the Bruins chose the wrong guy to pursue in the offseason, but Chiarelli believes Seidenberg is a different player now after his time with the Panthers.
“He has improved his skill so he can at least move the puck and like I said earlier in an efficient manner,” said Chiarelli. “And he’s smarter and that comes with experience. His game has changed this year, and he really grew he felt in Florida.”
Helping the Bruins’ quest to lock up Seidenberg long term is the presence of German Olympic teammate Marco Sturm, who should make the defenseman feel welcome in the Bruins locker room and assist his acclimation to Boston.
The only other Bruin Seidenberg knows coming in is Mark Recchi, who played with Seidenberg in Philadelphia from 2002-04. Seidenberg and Recchi weren’t exactly best buddies in those days though, and his comments yesterday probably won’t endear him to Recchi now.
“When I got into the league I was 20 and he was one of the older guys so we weren’t too tight,” said Seidenberg.
That was seven years ago. If Seidenberg thought Recchi was one of the old guys then, what will he think of the 42-year-old veteran forward now?
Tags: Seidenberg
