Men,
Earlier today, the Bruins traded recently acquired goalie Martin Jones to the San Jose Sharks for a 1st round pick next year and an unsigned prospect named Sean Kuraly.
http://bigbadblog.weei.com/sports/b...ins-prospect-sean-kuraly-will-stay-in-school/
Touching base with WEEI.com Tuesday afternoon, Miami of Ohio coach Enrico Blasi said that center Sean Kuraly, whose rights the Bruins acquired earlier in the day, will stay in school for his senior season next year.
Blasi sang the praises of Kuraly, whom he called a “horse,” and noted that the 22-year-old will be the RedHawks team captain this season. The Bruins are aware of Kuraly’ intention to stay in school.
After the Bruins got Kuraly and San Jose’s 2016 first-round pick for goaltender Martin Jones, former Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean tweeted that Kuraly was a “steal” for Boston and that he is an NHL-ready player. The Bruins will have to wait, it seems.
This is the same as I heard yesterday. So the Bruins got an NHL ready player. He wants to finish school so he won't play soon but it sounds like he's got a clear head, which lead me to the next subject.
Earlier this past season, for some reason I'm thinking it was February or March there was a report about how Julien called out Hamilton, one among others, for poor play. As I said in an earlier post and as covered in the Hockey News, the issue with Hamilton were lapses in intensity, positioning, and toughness. Julien called out some players on their poor performances...with a heavy hand...as some reported. It's not the way I might approve most of the time, but then an player has to decide how to deal with it . There were discussions at the time that Hamilton may have reacted with resentment rather than becoming determined to work harder.
Now we learn yesterday that the Bruins offered Hamilton as much as $5.5 Million per year for 6 years, but Hamilton allegedly said he wanted $7 million per year. According to reports Sweeney then looked at that and decided he isn't nearly worth that and decided to get what he could for a guy who was basically saying he wanted out of Boston like another sulking ex-Bruin languishing on a team that can't make the playoffs. Frankly based on the average going rates in the NHL for a guy like Hamilton I would not have been happy giving him what the Bruins did finally offer. Because of the Bruins salary cap strains and the price for Hamilton it's now clear Sweeney did what he had to do, and it's clear Hamilton didn't like being pushed to perform to suit Julien's standards so Dougie wanted out since he singed with the Flames for almost the same money. When asked if that was the case Dougie refused to give any direct answer.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bruins_nhl/boston_bruins/2015/06/did_dougie_hamilton_bolt_boston
Dougie Hamilton wouldn’t say yesterday his relationship with the Bruins soured. But he didn’t exactly deny it, either.
The Hamilton trade took on a whole new complexion when news broke that the former Bruins defenseman signed with the Calgary Flames on a six-year deal with an average annual value of $5.75 million. It was long thought that he was looking for the same kind of money that Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was getting ($7 million).
It is believed the Bruins offered Hamilton a six-year deal worth $5.5 million per year. Given the relatively miniscule difference between the two offers, it begs an obvious question. Did Hamilton want out of Boston, forcing new general manager Don Sweeney to a make deal for which he’s been hammered since it went down on Friday?
Well, Hamilton wasn’t saying one way or another on a conference call, certainly leaving the impression that he did not want to continue his relationship with the Bruins, whether that’s true or not.
“I’m just excited to be a Calgary Flame,” Hamilton said after he was asked several times about his desire to stay in Boston. “What’s in the past is in the past.”
Hamilton is definitely not worth anywhere near $7 million per year regardless of any salary cap issues. Though he can be a very good player at times he's not living up to potential and he descends into sulking when he's called on to do so. If he wants to be another Kessel so be it. Sweeney was right to deal him now.
Cheers,
Merlot