The recently named Slovakian Olympian and former winger for the Oilers, Sabres, Islanders and Penguins joined the Bruins for practice at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, Mass.
Satan reportedly signed a prorated deal worth $700,000, or approximately a $350,000 charge against the $56.8 million salary cap this season. In other words, this signing is at worst a low-risk gamble. At best, it could motivate underachieving players like Michael Ryder (10 goals, six assists), David Krejci (seven goals, 13 assists) or Blake Wheeler (no goals in his last 15 games) to start finding the twine with more regularity or risk seeing their playing time cut significantly.
Only two weeks ago, Chiarelli claimed he would wait until the injured Milan Lucic returned to the lineup to consider bringing in another forward. But even with Lucic recently activated off injured reserve and reportedly set to return any day, this deal was too good to pass up for the Bruins.
"We've got an opportunity with Miroslav Satan," head coach Claude Julien told the media after skating in the Legends Classic at Fenway Park on Saturday. "He's a guy who's shown he's capable of scoring goals, so we hope he's going to provide some of that and also provide some competition. With Lucic coming back, with Satan coming in our lineup eventually, there is going to be some stiff competition and some tough decisions on my part. But I'd rather make those tough decisions than have no decisions to make."
Satan, 35, hasn't played an NHL game since last spring when he played 65 regular-season games with the Penguins — plus 17 more in the playoffs, amassing one goal and five assists and winning a Stanley Cup ring in the process.
Over the years, he has developed a reputation as a one-dimensional player, only exerting himself in the offensive zone. But the Bruins believe that just as they've dealt with similar players — most recently, current Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel — they can work with Satan to get the best out of what he brings to the rink each game. Satan, by the way, will wear Kessel's former No. 81 with the Bruins.
"There's no problem," Julien told the media of Satan's focus on offense. "I'll give the example of Phil Kessel. He was more offense than defense and he fit in well with our team. That buildup of issues [with Kessel], there were no issues from our end. We take what we can from players like that, and [as a coach] you have to understand that their strength is offense.
"You can help them out along the way defensively. We liked Phil on our team last year. He scored some big goals, and ‘Miro' is that type of player. We need that type of player."
Chiarelli is also willing to be patient with Satan's defensive deficiencies and is not worried about Satan's demotion to the AHL last season when the Penguins needed cap space to acquire veteran Bill Guerin at the trade deadline.
"Obviously he's a skill guy that's been in the league a long time, and we felt like we needed to increase our depth at forward and our skill," Chiarelli said of acquiring Satan. "He can make plays and he can shoot. He has always been in very good shape. I know what happened with him last year was he got shuttled out [of Pittsburgh] for cap space at the deadline.
"We watched all of his playoff games shift by shift. He wasn't a prolific point-getter in the playoffs, but his work ethic was good and he made some plays. He can make plays in tight with skilled linemates, and we liked what we saw."
That is why this move should only help the goal-starved Bruins, who have only 100 goals (29th in the NHL) through 40 games and are averaging a not-so-impressive 2.50 goals per game after finishing second in the league to the Stanley Cup runner-up Red Wings in scoring last season.
Saturday night, NESN insider Mike Milbury, in his regular appearance on CBC's Hot Stove and Hockey Night In Canada, claimed that Marc Savard is "unhappy" he doesn't have a better scoring option than Steve Begin on his wing to go with Marco Sturm on the other. On Sunday, sources close to Savard confirmed his frustration. Satan is just as streaky as Sturm, but if he can catch fire like Sturm has recently, it can only help keep Savard's game in top form.
A $350,000 cap hit for a player with 721 points in 1,012 career games can only be a bargain. If Satan ends up not being worth the money, the heat he puts on other capable goal scorers in the Boston lineup will be.
And if those players continue to struggle, well, then it's a small price to pay for Chiarelli to realize that it may be time to call the Thrashers about Ilya Kovalchuk.
