Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

Tim Thomas didn't have a horrible season statistically, by any stretch. In fact, with a 2.56 GAA he managed his second-best career total in that department. He also tied last season's mark of five shutouts despite starting 11 fewer games this time around and his .915 SV% was good enough for a 14th place league-wide tie. Not great, but not horrific at all.

The problem, as poolies and hockey fans alike well know, is that young Finn Tuukka Rask emerged as a bonafide starter in this league. Well, let's be honest here - not just a starter, but a potential star in the making. With a 22-12-5 record, league best records in GAA (1.97) and SV% (.931) and another five shutouts to bring Boston's total to 10, Rask made last year's Vezina winner a bench warmer at times this season.

While goaltending is a strong point for the Bruins, the issue is that the NHL is a salary cap league. Couple that with last year's signing of the veteran Thomas to a four-year, $20M deal - which includes a no-trade clause - and the fact that this is a Boston team hurting badly for more offensive production (only Calgary's 204 goals was a worse total)... and you can see the conundrum in which the team finds itself. $5M sitting on the bench is just not prudent for any team, although the Chicago Blackhawks are two wins away from a Stanley Cup final appearance with $5.6+M in such a position. Don't think they won't be looking to change that situation this summer though.

Potentially further gumming up the works for the Bruins is that this is not a great time to be shopping a goalie in the league because the market will be somewhat flooded with potential netminders for teams in need - some of whom are coming at a much more inexpensive price than Thomas.

The Boston Globe tackled what'll surely be a hot topic for the Bruins headed into free agency season and got Thomas's reaction to the way things transpired in '09-10.

"Certainly different than any other experience I've had as a pro,'' Thomas said. "It was challenging. You go through these types of situations and years. You've just got to try to find the lessons out of them and find a way to make yourself a better pro goaltender and a better person.''

The Globe notes that there is also the worry that Rask could regress as a second-year NHLer. The Bruins' puckstopping prospects (Matt Dalton, Adam Courchaine, Michael Hutchinson) are not close to NHL-ready, so a motivated Thomas could be a valuable asset for the Bruins to retain.

"They know that no matter where I'm at or what's going on, I'm going to be competing, for sure,'' Thomas said. "If you look over the course of my career, every time I've had some sort of setback, I came back even stronger. I think that's what people should plan on. Because that's what I plan on.''

True that. Thomas's career rose to a Vezina-worthy level by exceeding expectations and believing in himself, which is why there may well be a team willing to take on that salary and the remaining term of the contract to get that heart between the pipes.

And as much as there should be some caution on the part of the Bruins in terms of dealing Thomas and declaring Rask's unequivocal number one status at the young age of 23 with only 43 regular season starts under his belt; there are enough quality veterans on the market this summer that'll come at a really cheap price, which would allow the Bruins an extra $3.5 - 4M to spend on help up front.

Which they need to do. Badly.

WANING PRODUCTION
The team remains strong down the middle, with Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Savard's new seven-year, $28M extension kicks in next season and he's coming off a frustrating injury-marred campaign that saw him post only 33 points (10-23-33) in his 41 starts. It's the only time since his first season in Atlanta (16-31-47 in 57) in '02-3 where he's posted less than a point-per-game average and there should be little doubt he'll find his form again next year. Bergeron has one season left on his current deal with a $4.75M cap hit (after which he'll become a UFA) and he tallied 52 points (19-33-52) in 73 GP. It hasn't been an easy or quick process, but he has successfully come back from what could have been a career-ending concussion situation. Krejci inked a three-year, $11M deal last summer and while his production dipped this season (17-35-52) compared with the last one (22-51-73), it was basically a team-wide phenomenon and his importance to the roster was underscored in the playoffs - especially after he was knocked out of action in the third game against the Flyers by Mike Richards.

The wing is really where the team could use increased production from the current crop of players, while also hopefully adding at least one quality, offensive free agent... potentially hinging on the ability to deal Thomas. While the Bruins were second-last in goals in '09-10, this team was second-best in '08-9 and trailed only the Detroit Red Wings in that category on the way to posting a strong 116-point campaign. The Bruins still managed a sixth-place finish in the East this season with 91 points, but a 25-point drop in the standings is a 25-point drop in the standings.

Michael Ryder has one more year at $4M. He dipped to 33 points (18-15-33) after tallying 53 (27-26-53) in '08-9 in eight fewer starts. Pending UFA and 42 years young winger Mark Recchi was a bargain at $1M, but his stats fell to 18-25-43 in 81 GP after 23-38-61 in 80 GP the prior season - including 10-6-16 in 18 GP after being dealt from Tampa Bay to Boston. Marco Sturm has one year left at $3.5M and even though he led the team in goals this season, it was still with a paltry 22 of them (22-15-37 in 76 GP) and his overall stats were less impressive than recent seasons. He had 7-6-13 in his only 19 GP last year with 7-29-56 in 80 GP in '07-8.

Blake Wheeler needs an RFA offer this summer and his production dipped slightly from his rookie season totals of 21-24-45 to 18-20-38 this time around. Like we saw with entire team on some level, his +/- plummeted from +36 in '08-9 to -4 in '09-10. Milan Lucic battled through injuries most of the season and until the end of the year and into the playoffs he was a shadow of the up and coming power forward we've seen in glimpses before and which he'll develop into fully before too much longer. He had 9-11-20 in 50 GP after 17-25-42 in 72 GP in '08-9. A physically stronger, more confident Lucic should mean a more aggressive Lucic in '10-11, which should also bode well for his PIM totals in standard formats and this Boston Bruins team in general.

Mid-season signee Miroslav Satan only came up with 9-5-14 in 38 GP, but he was a completely different player in the playoffs with 5-5-10 in 13 GP. His shot total jumped from a 1.55 shots-per-game average before the playoffs began to a much more effective 2.85, which created more offensive opportunities for himself and the team. The 35-year old Czech will be a UFA this summer.

Phil Kessel's cap-necessitated absence thanks to the trade with Toronto was certainly felt this season, although you won't catch too many Bruins fans complaining about the loss of his goal-scoring prowess in the long run given that the deal netted the organization the second overall pick in this summer's entry draft and what seems to be a legitimate franchise player in either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin - whomever the Oilers don't choose with their first overall selection. How much of an impact will either player have in what seems sure to be his NHL rookie debut in '10-11? It's only speculation, naturally, but it's hard to imagine either guy doing anything but helping given how few goals the team produced this past season. That youthful injection combined with potential help from within the organization's farm system, mixed in with each player showing at least slightly better offensive form than was shown in '09-10 should mean better things ahead for the squad.

Either way, changes appear to be coming in one form or another.

"The variance between the ups and downs was too much," said GM Peter Chiarelli on the subject of this tumultuous campaign. "We will look to make some changes. We'll go through the normal process of meeting with our pro scouts. We'll meet with Claude [Julien] and his staff. We'll be talking about the makeup of the team, personnel, style."

WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT
A few more blurbs from The Globe related to the Bruins:

Dennis Seidenberg's agent and the Bruins have started talks on a new deal. He'll be a UFA July 1st and after going months past that date without a deal last summer, he's anxious to have his name on a contract.

"It wasn't a fun time,'' said Seidenberg, who signed a one-year deal with Florida Sept. 14 after training camp had already started. "I got nervous. I got scared. I didn't know where I was going to be.''

Zdeno Chara, who played the majority of the season with a dislocated left pinkie, will visit a hand specialist this week to determine whether surgery is the best option.

Sturm underwent surgery yesterday to repair the torn ACL and MCL in his right knee. Recovery and rehab is projected at six months, which would make Sturm unavailable for the start of 2010-11, the final season of his four-year contract.

Lucic said he aggravated his sprained left ankle in the second-to-last regular-season game when he scored an empty-net goal against Carolina. He said the ankle bothered him against Buffalo but felt better in the second round. Look for a much stronger effort from him next season with so much time off to fully heal this summer.

TUESDAY'S LINES
Patrick Marleau Joe Thornton Dany Heatley
Ryane Clowe Joe Pavelski Devin Setoguchi
Torrey Mitchell Manny Malhotra Logan Couture
Scott Nichol Jamie McGinn

Douglas Murray Dan Boyle
Rob Blake Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Niclas Wallin Kent Huskins
Jason Demers

Dustin Byfuglien Jonathan Toews Patrick Kane
Troy Brouwer Patrick Sharp Marian Hossa
Andrew Ladd Dave Bolland Kris Versteeg
Ben Eager John Madden Adam Burish

Duncan Keith Brent Seabrook
Niklas Hjalmarsson Brian Campbell
Brent Sopel Jordan Hendry

Michael Cammalleri Tomas Plekanec Andrei Kostitsyn
Travis Moen Scott Gomez Brian Gionta
Maxim Lapierre Dominic Moore Mathieu Darche
Tom Pyatt Glen Metropolit Sergei Kostitsyn

Josh Gorges Hal Gill
Jaroslav Spacek Marc-Andre Bergeron
Roman Hamrlik PK Subban

Simon Gagne Mike Richards Daniel Carcillo
Scott Hartnell Danny Briere Ville Leino
James van Riemsdyk Claude Giroux Arron Asham
Darroll Powe Blair Betts Andreas Nodl

Chris Pronger Matt Carle
Braydon Coburn Kimmo Timonen
Lukas Krajicek Ryan Parent