Kalman: Chris Kelly, A Perfect Bruin In Many Ways, Will Be Missed
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- A bettor trying to wager on Chris Kelly signing with the Ottawa Senators this summer probably couldn't have even gotten odds from the bookmakers in Las Vegas, because the signs overwhelmingly pointed to the former Bruins center returning to the site of the first seven years of his career.
Kelly shocked no one Thursday when he signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Senators and ended his Bruins tenure after six seasons.
Kelly is an Ontario native who was revered in Ottawa before he was traded to the Bruins, and he continued to be valued by the Senators franchise and fans alike even after donning the sweater of one of Ottawa's biggest divisional rivals. When the Senators made up a lithograph to honor defenseman Wade Redden for playing his 1,00th game, Kelly was included in the picture along with Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Neil, Chris Phillips and Redden. The Senators who went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2007 have a special place in Ottawa history and Kelly stands out because he meets the perfect description of a "good Canadian boy" who works hard and plays the game the right way while never being offensive or dirty.
Despite his mannerly ways, Kelly wound up being a perfect fit for the "Big Bad Bruins 2.0" of the early part of this decade and he was a key cog in a team that won the Stanley Cup and a second that went to the Finals.
Kelly's Bruins career started off as a disappointment because when the Bruins announced they'd made a trade on Feb. 15, 2011, everyone thought they were picking up puck-moving defenseman Tomas Kaberle from Toronto. Instead the Bruins swapped a second-pick to Ottawa for Kelly and didn't acquire Kaberle until the trade deadline.
If the letdown of getting Kelly instead of Kaberle in mid-February wasn't enough to start Kelly's Boston tenure under a dark cloud, the price added to the doubts about the acquisition. A second-round pick for a third-line center was a steep price. However, that's what teams with a legitimate chance at winning it all do – they overpay to add the right role players to make sure there's enough character and depth to help talent win the day.
Kelly did enough for the Bruins from there to justify the price. His contributions during the 2011 Stanley Cup championship run can't be understated. They were quantified by his five goals and 13 points in 25 games. He famously played through a broken face with a full cage and was instrumental in his line, complemented by Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder, willing the Bruins to a series-evening win in Game 4 in Montreal in the first round.
Beyond the ice, Kelly's wisdom was just as important for the Bruins, as they time and again had to overcome adversity and stick together through some trying times.
His contributions in 2011 weren't his only postseason highlights for the Bruins. Although Boston inevitably fell to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2013 finals, the Bruins never would have pushed the series to six games if Kelly, Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin had not been joined as coach Claude Julien's "Hunch Line." That trio teamed up for Paille's game-winning goals in Game 2 and 3 of the series.
When the chips were down, Kelly was always a player the Bruins could count on.
After the Bruins were ousted in the first round by Washington in their attempt to defend their title in 2012, general manager Peter Chiarelli rewarded Kelly for his 20-goal season with a four-year contract that carried a $3 million cap hit. Like the cloud that sailed above him after he was first acquired, the contract was an albatross that made him the target of sports-radio and fans' irrational ire because of Chiarelli's mismanagement of the cap.
The fact was Kelly was never more overpaid than many third-line centers in the NHL. As we see every summer, players of Kelly's ilk get contracts just as rich on the open the market. Few live up to the money. Kelly at least continued to be a strong two-way player Julien could trust in any situation. And, maybe most important, Kelly was the alpha male of the Bruins' leadership group – knowing just what to say at the right moment, rattling cages when necessary and helping keep thing in perspective for the team when things easily could've circled out of control.
The Bruins missed Kelly more than we will ever know when they lost to Montreal in the second round in 2014. He was missed last season when the playoffs were within grasp and the Bruins wilted.
Boston's been looking for more leaders like Kelly ever since he got injured last season and ever since it became doubtful he would return as a free agent. Leadership is a major reason the Bruins decided to overpay David Backes as a free agent, and we won't know how well his leadership style meshes in the Bruins' room until a couple of months into the upcoming season.
It was wise for the Bruins to not re-sign Kelly, considered they've invested in Backes and Riley Nash and plan on going with a couple of younger players to round out their lineup. There had to be a changing of the guard sometime. Combined with Dennis Seidenberg's departure, though, Kelly's absence from the dressing room is going to put an onus on guys who've never been leaders before or who were leaders elsewhere.
Even if you want to hold firm to the myth Kelly was never worth the money, you have to accept that he was an important piece of successful stretch of Bruins hockey, one that might not be duplicated for several years. And if the Bruins are ever again within striking distance of the Stanley Cup, as they hope to be sometime in Don Sweeney's tenure as general manager, they would do well to find a future Kelly to supplement their lineup and serve as a vocal leader.
Chris Kelly left his mark on the Bruins and he will be missed.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
