So news emerged earlier that Boston have once again been busy this offseason as they picked up Philadelphia Flyers 2008 sixth round pick Zac Rinaldo. Rinaldo led the team in penalty minutes last season and was often seen as reckless, but with the Boston gaining someone so reputable for just a third round pick,who really won?
The answer is so blindingly simple it’s almost complicated. The Flyers may just have pulled the best trick I’ve seen for quite some time. For a team that so desperately needed salary cap room and ultimately need to add new talent as soon as they can, this may have been the perfect move.
It’s no lie that Rinaldo’s penalty minutes are amongst the most in the league. This wouldn’t b such a problem if his productivity on the ice was impressive..but sadly, it’s far from it. In over 200 games, Rinaldo has only scores 8 goals and 16 assists…TWO HUNDRED GAMES. In that same period he has amassed over 500 penalty minutes. Yes Rinaldo has sheer aggression and is hugely physical, something that every player in Philly has to be. But there’s a limit. His suspensions have amounted to sixteen games and he’s been fined by the NHL twice. It’s almost like Hextall has just tried to get rid of him, with that being a huge positive in itself. The Bruins have gone against their current team plan, given away a 2017 draft pick and picked up a liability. I definitely want to smoke whatever it is that Don Sweeney has been recently..Rinaldo has a salary cap of$850,000 with two years left.
It is saddening to see Rinaldo go in some ways, but for a team who had so little room to breathe with salary cap to rebuild, Hextall has removed a huge chunk of that, picked up a draft pick and sent a message to his team. He’s not afraid to offload someone if they don’t perform.
