21 Boston Bruins

Bostonians are patient, a quality general manager Mike O'Connell holds in spades. With an eye toward the expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement in September 2004, O'Connell has adopted a wait-and-see policy. Concerned that a new CBA could include a salary cap or luxury tax, he won't sign free agents to deals that run past '03-04. That's why the club's two most significant free agents—winger Bill Guerin (41 goals, 25 assists) and goaltender Byron Dafoe (35-26-3, 2.21 goals-against average)—weren't re-signed in the summer, leaving holes the size of the Big Dig in the Bruins' lineup. "Term is very important," O'Connell says. "After 2004 we have no idea what kind of system will be in place. If we sign, say, five players past that season, it might handcuff us. We don't know what the landscape is going to look like. We have to be prepared."

That attitude, combined with Boston's shocking first-round loss to Montreal—the Bruins were the top seed in the Eastern Conference-made Dafoe and Guerin expendable. Dafoe will be replaced by either Steve Shields, acquired from the Mighty Ducks for a draft pick, or John Grahame, last season's backup, neither of whom is a proven starter. The 30-year-old Shields appears to have the inside track. At 6'3" and 215 pounds he has unusually good lateral mobility, and he aggressively challenges shooters. "Not to take anything from Byron, but when a team expects to go a long way in the playoffs and it doesn't, somebody takes the heat," Shields says. "Obviously, Byron did in this case."

Replacing Guerin will be just as difficult. Although the top line of Sergei Samsonov, Joe Thornton and Glen Murray (a combined 86 goals and 112 assists) is among the league's most explosive, scoring depth is a concern. To solve that, the Bruins will try to coax offense from their blueliners, none of whom had more than four goals last season. In addition to puck-moving 23-year-old Nick Boynton, Boston will work free-agent signee Bryan Berard and Jonathan Girard, 22, into the rotation. Says Boynton, "I don't want to sacrifice anything in my end, but I'd like to help offensively."

That help will be needed if Boston is to avoid two years of waiting in vain.

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