Mark Recchi announced his retirement immediately after the Bruins won the Cup. Fellow veteran Shane Hnidy isn't necessarily finished playing, but the unrestricted free agent defenseman won't be continuing his career in Boston next season.
In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli stated that Hnidy will not be re-signed by the club, but Chiarelli did leave the door open for the possible return of fellow UFAs Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder.
"With respect to Hnidy, we've told Shane that we aren't re-signing him," Chiarelli said. "I think he'll be a good addition somewhere else and I told him that. And certainly I'd help him along the way for that."
Hnidy played just three games in the regular season with the Bruins in his second stint with the club. After suffering a shoulder injury in a training camp tryout with Phoenix, Hnidy signed with the Bruins in late February, finished his rehab and made a couple of late appearances.
He was signed for depth and injury insurance in the playoffs, and did play in three postseason games. He filled in for Zdeno Chara when the Bruins captain was sidelined with dehydration in Game 2 of the opening-round series against Montreal, then played the final two games against Philadelphia in the second round when Adam McQuaid was out with a neck injury.
Hnidy, 35, has played 550 regular-season and 40 playoff games over parts of 10 seasons in the NHL with Ottawa, Nashville, Atlanta, Anaheim, Boston and Minnesota. Primarily a stay-at-home defenseman known for his physical play, Hnidy has 16-55-71 totals and 633 penalty minutes in the regular season and 4-2-6 totals and 34 PIMs in the playoffs in his career.
His first stint in Boston lasted 108 regular-season and 14 playoff games in 2008-09, with 4-13-17 totals and 86 PIMs in the regular season and 2-1-3 totals and 9 PIMs in the playoffs.
