Hockey Trade Rumors

Here are a few names to keep in mind when the Bruins get serious about a veteran defenseman on the trade market:

Dan Girardi – the 6-foot-3, 203-pound impending unrestricted free agent is the best fit for the Bruins in terms of his simple, defensive game and the size/strength department.

Michael Del Zotto – the 23-year-old is a few years removed from the player that had 41 points and a plus-20 for the Rangers, and appeared poised to become one of the best young, puck-moving defensemen in the league.

Mark Stuart – The 29-year-old former Bruins defenseman would seem to make sense on a lot of levels: he’s a great fit in the dressing room, he’s a rugged defender that NESN’s Jack Edwards used to marvel at for his caveman strength. He wouldn’t cost the Bruins a ton dealing with a Winnipeg team going nowhere.

Christian Ehrhoff – This one is intriguing: what better when your German defenseman goes down than to go get yourself the next best German defenseman on the market? Ehrhoff is a minutes workhorse, has plenty of playoff experience and would become the first member of the hated 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks team to cross over to the Bruins side of the street.

Andrej Meszaros – The veteran defenseman has been in and out of the Flyers doghouse this season, and injuries/ineffectiveness have really taken a chunk out of his game the past few years. He was a top-four guy for Ottawa, Tampa Bay and his first few years in Philadelphia, and had 10 goals, 39 points and a plus-34 in his rookie NHL season.

Chris Phillips – Another member of the Ottawa Senators connection, the 35-year-old has ideal size (6-foot-3, 221-pounds), experience as a 15-year NHL veteran and he already knows several guys in the dressing room including Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly.

Other names to consider: Kimmo Timonen, Ron Hainsey, Nick Schultz, Henrik Tallinder and Rostislav Klesla.

http://www.csnne.com/boston-bruins/possible-replacements-seidenberg