NHL Free Agency Rumors: Bruins targeting Kris Russell
According to CSN’s Joe Haggerty, the Boston Bruins are in on unrestricted free agent defenseman Kris Russell and could overpay for him.
One of the teams that needs to upgrade their blue line the most this offseason is the Boston Bruins. Despite that, they have not officially added any new parts to a blue line that kept the Bruins out of the playoffs last season. That could be changing soon as the Bruins, according to CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty, are “in on” free agent defenseman Kris Russell.
I'm hearing Bruins are in on D Kris Russell. Perfect candidate for B's to massively overpay. Word is he turned down 4 yrs, $17M+ w/Leafs
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) July 3, 2016
The Bruins desperately need defensive help. It made sense for them to overpay for someone like Dan Hamhuis or Jason Demers, two of the premier defensemen on the free agent market. Even overpaying for Brian Campbell would have made sense (though he signed a cheap deal with the Chicago Blackhawks). However, Russell is not a defenseman who the Bruins should overpay.
Russell brings very little productive things to the table. He only had 19 points in 62 games last season. Russell is one of the most efficient shot blockers in the NHL, having blocked more than 200 shots in each of the past three seasons.
However, blocking shots is sort of like killing rats – it’s a good thing to do but if you do it a lot, there’s likely a huge problem. He struggles to get the puck out of the defensive zone. In an NHL that is quickly switching to a faster, more wide-open game, defensemen like Russell are simply not worth overpaying for.
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