With the NHL trade deadline approaching next Wednesday, players and coaches will continue to tell the media that they don't pay attention to trade rumors and that it's out of their control. But as Marc Savard pointed out after practice on Friday, it's hard to ignore the looming deadline as a player.
"It's a tough situation, for sure," Savard said of the uncertainty leading up to the deadline. Savard, who signed a seven-year, $28 million deal back in December, won't be sweating the deadline, but he knows some of his teammates will be. "Some guys are thinking about it — I know they are. They can act like they're not but it's on your mind, for sure."
Bruins head coach Claude Julien hasn't sensed much anxiety amongst his players since their return from the Olympic break, and he expects that they can prevent the rumors from negatively effecting their play.
"I haven't sensed it yet because it's still a few days away and the guys have just been going about their business, but that's good because that's what you expect them to do," Julien said. "It is a business, and those things happen in all sports. You learn to deal with it. I always say you can control what you can and can't worry what they do up above. These things work out, one way or another."
According to Savard, players get just as excited watching the action unfold around the deadline — so the fans won't be the only ones glued to the TV and the Internet.
"It's an exciting time, and we, as players, watch to see what happens," Savard said. "Stuff will happen for sure coming out of this break, and everyone is watching."
With the Bruins playing below expectations this season and staggering through a 10-game winless streak in late January and early February, there have been plenty of Bruins bandied about in trade rumors. Despite speculation that Peter Chiarelli might make a move to jump start his squad, the general manager decided to stand pat, although he admittedly explored potential deals.
Sources continue to tell NESN.com that Chiarelli will make at least one — and quite possibly two — deals by the deadline to bolster his club for the stretch run. There have been numerous reports linking the Bruins to Nashville defenseman Dan Hamhuis, as reported here last Saturday.
But among all the talk about bolstering the blue line, Savard is hoping that Chiarelli nets him a scoring winger.
"We can use that boost for sure because we haven't had that much scoring as last year," Savard said. "I'm not sure what [Chiarelli's] plans are, but if [he doesn't make a trade], like we've done before, we've got guys in here that can [win]."
