The 2011 NHL trade deadline is Feb. 28, and the Boston Bruins have already entered into the fray. On Tuesday, the Bruins swapped a 2011 second round draft pick with the Ottawa Senators for center Chris Kelly.
Kelly, who has 23 points in 56 games with the last-place Senators, has one year remaining on a four year contract he signed in 2008. According to WEEI's DJ Bean, he has a salary cap hit of $2.125 million.
Depth and experience at the center position was needed after Marc Savard was lost for the season due to a second severe concussion in as many seasons. Kelly has seven seasons of NHL experience and 36 games of playoff experience.
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has a familiarity with the 30 year old, given that he worked in the Senators front office while Kelly was a prospect and as he began his career with the team. In a Tuesday night press conference about the move, Chiarelli was excited about bringing Kelly on board:
"He’s got an element of energy to his game and hockey sense, so he combines both those things well in his game. You know what and there’s an element of accountability. I mean he’s been to the Stanley Cup final, he’s played a lot of playoff games, he’s played a lot of years in the league and he’s had success. So it’s the fact that he has that veteran presence too. That’s going to help out the team"