The Bruins' trade of Matt Hunwick on Tuesday night reflects less a displeasure with Hunwick's work in Boston than it does the team's faith in Adam McQuaid to handle a full-time job on the blue line in the near future and in the Bruins' organizational depth on defense to fill any long-term voids.
"This is one of the steps that we had to take as an organization to take care of the cap situation in order to get a player or two back," said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli on a conference call on Tuesday night after the trade that will pave the way to activate injured center Marc Savard.
"I do this recognizing it's a reality and had to be done," added Chiarelli. "It wasn't fun, but we are confident in our defensive pipeline in the very near future. We have three or four young D that are pushing and [can] use that to replace some of the stuff that Matt brought."
The first opportunity will go to McQuaid, who has been with the big club all season as the seventh defenseman. He played 10 games while Johnny Boychuk was sidelined with a fractured forearm and acquitted himself well, but was relegated to the press box for the past six games after Boychuk returns.
McQuaid, 24, who also dressed for 19 games last year and nine more in the playoffs, plays a different style game than Hunwick, bringing more size (6-foot-5, 209 pounds) and physical presence and a simpler, stay-at-home approach.
"He plays a solid game," said Chiarelli of McQuaid. "He doesn't bring to the table what Matt does, but he plays a solid game and he's still young. He's a guy we look at that can play in our six."
And for the time being, the Bruins will stick with just six defensemen on the roster. They won't replace McQuaid with another spare defenseman, choosing to save the cap space unless an injury forces them to call up a replacement.
If reinforcements are needed, or if the Bruins decide they need more of the speed and skill elements Hunwick brought to the game, there are plenty of options available with the club's AHL affiliate in Providence.
"We brought in two new defensive prospects into the mix at the trade deadline last year with [Steve] Kampfer and [Matt] Bartkowski," said Chiarelli. "[Andrew] Bodnarchuk has taken a step. [Jeff] Penner is an NHL player, a depth player. We have players who can skate and push the puck that we feel very comfortable with. Now, they're not NHL players yet. There's obviously a way to go for them. How long that is, we'll see."
Colby Cohen, the player Boston acquired from Colorado for Hunwick, could also be an option eventually. He'll report directly to Providence, but he already made his NHL debut with three games with the Avalanche earlier this season.
"He's a big, strong kid," said Chiarelli. "[He's a] first-year pro, but we've tracked him for a while and he's someone who's been on our interest list for a while as far as young defensive prospects."
Chiarelli went on to list some of Cohen's strengths: "Good range. Good stick. Plus shot. His feet have to get a little better, but they are improving. He had a real good year last year [at Boston University], kind of came into his own a little bit. Good passer. Range and size and shot, that's probably his biggest assets."
Cohen offered a similar assessment of his own skills and style.
"I just try to be a puck-moving defenseman and make it easy on the forwards to get up the ice," said Cohen. "And I try to join the play when I can and I try to use my shot as much as I can."
Cohen is a Villanova, Penn. native, but he spent enough time on Commonwealth Ave. to be overjoyed at the prospect of eventually getting a shot to play in Boston again.
"I'm sort of lost for words right now because there's not a better place that it's going to happen," said Cohen. "I loved BU. I never realized how much I loved it before I left, and I miss Boston in the worst way. If there was a city to be back in, that's the city. So hopefully I'm hoping to be in Providence and play well and help the team win there and hopefully just wait for a call up to the Bruins."
While Cohen was ecstatic about the chance to come back East, Hunwick took the news a little harder.
"I talked to him," said Chiarelli. "Matt's a good kid and generally a quiet kid. I think I detected some shock. He was very thankful for the opportunity, and that's not surprising because he's a real polite and professional kid. I told him that it's a little harder to trade a player that has come up [in the organization] and you've developed, but I said 'that's the reality of the business, Matt.' I told him I enjoyed having him with the team. He's a real good kid."
Chiarelli admitted he was concerned with upsetting the chemistry of the team with the trade, but also recognized that as tight-knit as the club has been, the results haven't been there of late.
"We've lost 4 of 5, so maybe it was a good time for a trade anyway," said Chiarelli. "It's never fun making a trade. … You can imagine the reverberations that go through the team, but it is a business. We have to ice the best team we can within the parameters of the CBA, and we're going to do that."
And Chiarelli wouldn't rule out making further trades. He knows he has to clear more cap space when Marco Sturm is ready to return, but Chiarelli also didn't rule out adding to the defense if he could find the elusive puck-mover every team covets.
"There's few players like that out there," said Chiarelli. "That's the type of player everyone is always looking for, ourselves included, so we won't give up that search."
With the Bruins already looking for a puck-moving defenseman and having traded away an offensive blueliner in Dennis Wideman this summer, dealing the slick-skating Hunwick as well wasn't an easy decision. But Chiarelli insists he is confident the rest of the defense can still provide the puck-moving skills and transition game the team needs.
"I still like our back end," said Chiarelli. "They've shown that they can move the puck. They can pass it within the realm of our system."
