It would appear that the Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli isn't all that pleased with Phil Kessel's agent. When I read something like this, I read it as Chiarelli is low balling Phil because he doesn't have an offer sheet.

And then Chiarelli decided it was time to explain his position on the situation with the restricted free agent. Chiarelli joked that he could “just give him a pailful of money and it will be done.” He went on to explain:

“It’s a different system now. It really is a different system now and to be a hard-liner so to speak, you have to keep in mind what these players make after their entry-level contracts. The percentage of increase is huge. And what it does is it throws everything else out of whack. So there’s a balance that you have to keep. And Phil’s a terrific young player.

“And I’m responsible to our team and the fact that there’s a fixed-cost system that may go down, all parties considered have to look at the team, have to look at their own interest and you see more sacrifices made on both sides now. These are things that a lot of people don’t understand or they fail to look at. It’s a lot more of a balancing act now than ever.

Here is the zinger and I almost have to think that maybe the cheap label might be a little deserved. I believe the Bruins have over paid Bergeron and Krecji might have actually deserved a little more.

“It becomes a distraction because the other party starts making it a distraction,” he said. “I understand all the tools of their trade too. I used to be an agent. So you deal with it. We have a strong room, we’ve got strong leadership. It’s just part of the game.

“I just get a little disturbed when they talk about us being cheap. Because it’s not about that. Look at some of the second contracts we’ve given — (Patrice) Bergeron, (David) Krejci. It’s not about that. It’s about a balance.”

[Props] [props]