Bruins Acquire Kelly, More on the Way?

Kelly comes to Boston in hopes of a deep playoff run. Just hours after a miserable performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs, General Manager Peter Chiarelli shook up the balance of the locker room.

Chiarelli dealt an upcoming 2011-2nd round draft pick to the Ottawa Senators, who in return sent Chris Kelly to the Bruins. Kelly leaves Ottawa behind for the first time in his career, where he has manned the center position since the 2003-2004 season. Leaving Ottawa came as a shock to Kelly, who stated, "It's pretty tough to get traded. It's my first time, but these things happen, especially the way things have gone this year."

While home may be Ottawa for Kelly, the playoffs hope to be a routine destination spot for the 30 year old veteran. "I get an opportunity to play in the postseason and an opportunity to go, hopefully, deep in the playoffs," Kelly said. The opportunity to play and compete at a high level with the Senators was simply not there.

He now has that chance in Boston, and will quickly fill one of multiple needs the Bruins have.

Kelly doesn't spark a large magnitude of attention based off of name recognition, but garners plenty of respect from the hockey world. Kelly truly defines two way center, someone who will make the Bruins that much tougher on both ends of the ice.
He totaled at least 10 goals in all 6 seasons with the Senators and put up a +/- rating of a whopping +28 and +21 in his early years with the Senators. Coincidentally, those Senator teams were much more competitive than the Ottawa team on display this year. Despite their lowliness, Kelly still compiled 12 goals and 11 assists this season.

But where Kelly will be seen may not always be the box score after the game. Rather, Kelly will do the little things. An established penalty killer, Kelly may provide the defensive presence from the forward position that has been lacking in recent games from the back lines.

The added depth up front will ease the growing pains for Tyler Seguin and Zach Hamill, and could possibly open the door for a much larger transaction.

Kaberle may finally be able to wear the "spoked B". What seems like an annual occurence, Tomas Kaberle to Boston rumors are heating up as the Trade Deadline approaches. While we've seen this before, there may be more reason to believe Kaberle will be on his way. While only rumors, it has leaked that Kaberle would lift his no-trade clause only if the Boston Bruins would be the team on the receiving end of him.

Kaberle is sorely needed in Boston. If this wasn't evident before, it is after this past 3 game stretch. While Claude Julien attemps to mix and match his defensive units to generate some production, it's becoming clear the talent simply may not be there. If Dennis Seidenberg was enough of an addition last year to propel a boost in defensive production, what could Kaberle do?

Paired with Zdeno Chara, Kaberle would be a force on the power play. Where Chris Kelly shores up the defensive special teams, Kaberle could improve a struggling power play unit. He's totaled 22 power play assists already this year, and figures to do more with the added talent Boston has to offer.

While nothing is set in stone yet, the trade for Chris Kelly may be a precusor for bigger moves in Boston.

You can contact Mark at chiarellimark@yahoo.com, or follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/Mark_Chiarelli.