Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed to the media in a conference call Monday that he has had general talks with Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini regarding a possible deal. However, there's been nothing specific that would secure the player whom the Bruins would like to draft with their No. 2 overall pick — either Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall — at the NHL draft in Los Angeles this Friday.
"I spoke to Steve on the weekend and we didn’t really discuss that in any detail," Chiarelli said. "But after speaking with Steve I think he probably has these two guys very close, as we do. So neither of us are really committed to moving forward on that type of discussion."
At this point, such a deal looks unlikely, but the two GMs will speak again during the week.
"We spoke briefly on the weekend, and I would imagine that we’re going to talk again at some point, but right now if the draft was tonight, I’d say there would be no deal," Chiarelli said.
Both Chiarelli and Tambellini are obviously in an enviable position with the chance to take either Hall or Seguin, but neither is letting on which one it is that he wants. Chiarelli admitted that he and Tambellini have discussed pros and cons of each player, but both have kept their poker faces on. However, both agree that the gap between the two prospects is very small.
"Well, it is different," Chiarelli said when discussing each GM’s position. "I generally would characterize it as we both don’t want to play any cards to each other right now — if we have any to play — because I genuinely believe that Steve is of the same opinion on these players as me. [We feel] they’re very close.
"And the discussions we’ve had … they’re not really in detail yet because we’re not very close to [the draft]," he added. "I don’t know if they’ll ever get really into detail, but it is unique. I think we’re both really non-committal, and in fact, I know we are when we talk, but we talk in specifics on other fronts and we’ve talked about the boys in general what our thoughts are on each of the kids. So it’s a little different. You’re right, it’s a little different in this case and I wish I had more to tell you about it, but that’s all I can tell you about it right now."
Chiarelli also confirmed again that the 15th overall pick is in play for a possible trade and he will entertain offers of moving up and down until this weekend.
"Yeah, that would be of interest to us," he said of moving the Bruins' other first-round pick. "Again, it’s hard to move up right now as far as it being a week away from the draft. I’ve had a lot of concepts thrown at me as far as moving up and moving down and that’s per the normal course. It’s just that nothing is really imminent now. There’s no pressure, there’s no reason to really talk in detail right now."
