Marc Savard hopes brass can score some help


Stephen Harris

Bruins players are braced for one or more significant trades to occur soon after the NHL trade embargo is lifted at midnight tomorrow.

Indeed, there is expected to be a flurry of activity across the league before the trade deadline arrives at 3 p.m. Wednesday. While some players – maybe the ones who figure they could be on the move – expressed hope no Bruin gets dealt, center Marc Savard hopes general manager Peter Chiarelli can land some scoring help.

“Yeah, we could use that, for sure,” Savard said. “We haven’t been able to score as much as last year. It’d be nice, it’d be really nice. So hopefully (Chiarelli is) trying to do that.

“I’m not sure what his plans are. But if not, we’ve got guys in here who’ve done it before. We haven’t had the best of years, but it’s just a matter of guys stepping up.”

The Bruins have inquired about 37-year-old Carolina winger Ray Whitney. That deal is complicated because the free-agent-to-be has a no-trade contract and is reportedly not willing to waive it unless he gets a two-year extension from his new team.

Rumors persist, too, that the B’s remain interested in Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle. Veteran Aaron Ward, who’d love to come back to the B’s from the Hurricanes, has also been speculated on. Might not Anaheim sniper Teemu Selanne be a good fit here?

Savard knows it’s not a pleasant time for players who think they could be traded.

“It’s a tough situation,” he said. “Some guys are really thinking about it. I know they are. You can say you aren’t, but it’s on your mind, for sure.

“It’s an exciting time for everybody else around the league, watching what’s going to happen, especially the way it’s going to work out now. Everybody waits till the last minute.”

Defenseman Derek Morris has been traded three times in his career, and hopes neither he nor anyone else will be departing the Bruins in the coming days.

“It’s definitely a difficult time, because we really care about each other in this room,” Morris said. “We don’t want to see anybody move.

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