Putting the Wheels Back On

Written by Ryan Durling

Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:06

Blake Wheeler may be donning Black and Gold for at least another year.

An NHL arbiter awarded the raw, promising forward a one-year contract worth a reported $2.4 million, according to ESPNBoston.com's Jimmy Murphy. The deal would keep the soft-handed winger around Boston for the 2010-11 season.

Wheeler will now wait for the Bruins, who had been unable to come to terms on a contract with the young gun despite numerous tries, who have 48 hours to either sign the winger or to decline the offer. If signed, he will likely find himself paired alongside Patrice Bergeron on the second line or Gregory Campbell on the fourth line.

That, of course, assumes the Bruins are able to retain Marc Savard as their first-line center and sign Tyler Seguin to play a role on the third line. If the Bruins do sign Wheeler, it is hard to believe Savard will come back.

Wheeler, who has been a regular for the Bruins in the past two years, playing all but one regular-season game and making an appearance in all of the Bruins 2010 playoff games, has averaged 20 goals in each of his first two seasons, but many in the organization believe that he can be much better.

The area in which he most needs to improve to make that happen? Physicality.

The team has long been concerned with Wheeler’s ability to get into the zone and get physical in the corners, two things which he’s shown an aversion to doing, especially in the playoffs last year.

Even if given the contract, Wheeler's not guaranteed a spot on the 2010-11 Opening Day roster. It’s likely that management views the influx of talent acquired in the past couple years (Colborne, Seguin, Knight, Caron) as a proving grounds of sorts; and Wheeler would have to sign and get through the studs before suiting up on October 6th in Prague.

There is also the option that Bruins' management might pursue a sign-and-trade with Wheeler, especially if they are able to acquire future draft picks and not take any additional cap hit for him.

More to come in the hours and days ahead...

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