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Kalman: Rinaldo Out To Change Reputation With Move To Bruins

BOSTON (CBS) -- With a track record that includes just eight goals scored in four NHL seasons and 14 games lost to three suspensions, forward Zac Rinaldo doesn't strike many outside observers as someone who can realistically make the Bruins a better team this season.

But rookie general manager Don Sweeney traded a third-round pick in 2017 to the Philadelphia Flyers to acquire the left-shooting Rinaldo last month. Sweeney lauded Rinaldo's enthusiasm, energy and courage. The Bruins clearly see Rinaldo as a combination of Shawn Thornton's fighting, Gregory Campbell's shot blocking and Daniel Paille's penalty killing.

Rinaldo likes the Bruins' faith in him and he plans to reward his new organization.

"I'm bringing an energy. I'm bringing in life every game, home and away," said Rinaldo is his first meeting with the Boston media Tuesday at TD Garden. "I'm going to be the rough, tough Zac Rinaldo but I'm also going to add in more hockey sense. I'm going to shoot the puck, I'm going to be blocking shots, I'm going to be creating more opportunity offensively, whether it be for myself or for my teammates, whether a little shot here or there off a pad can lead to a rebound, get a goal. A smart chip, a smart dump to get a good forecheck, it's all going to tie into a factor in winning the hockey game. So anything I can do offensively to bring a little more of an oomph, anything I can do, is what I'll be bringing."

Rinaldo scored one goal in 58 games last season. He's never scored more than three in his four NHL seasons. He also never averaged nine minutes of ice time per game. The Flyers drafted Rinaldo in the sixth round in 2008 with a plan for him to fit a certain mold. Now the Bruins are counting on the 25-year-old to break out of that mold and do more.

Coach Claude Julien has shown he can work with a player that toes the line between legal and illegal hits, and sometimes crosses over to the wrong side. Julien and forward Brad Marchand have forged a love-hate relationship for just this reason. It took a while, but Marchand went all of last season without a suspension or behavior-related benching.

Julien might be able to create the same relationship with Rinaldo, who knows he's going to have to earn the coach's trust and respect.

"It's different because I was drafted in Philly because of my hitting and my fighting," Rinaldo said. "That's what they drafted me for. They probably saw some potential. But that's just the way things went. But trust factor is huge. It's huge with the coach. But now I have a fresh start. So they didn't get me on my history. Now I'm kind of like they got me because they see more of me, they see what I have inside, not my history. So that's probably the biggest thing is trust and how I'm going to be able to gain it on the ice. The smallest details will gain trust. So I'm all for anything I need to do to gain his trust, I'm going to do."

Typically a fourth-liner acquired during the summer by a team that also signed one of the most coveted free-agent scorers (Matt Beleskey) and imported a hometown power forward (Dorchester's Jimmy Hayes) would fly under the radar in the offseason and even once the season starts. But the price the Bruins paid for Rinaldo will shine more of a spotlight on him. He said he's not feeling pressure because of that asset that went to Philly, and he didn't even know what was traded to the Flyers for a couple of weeks after the deal. He's taking the Bruins' trade as a compliment and a boost of confidence that they want him to be a major part of their four-line attack. He's working out on the ice this summer with other pros in Hamilton, Ontario and trying to get better carrying and shooting the puck.

Four years is usually long enough to decide what type of player a guy is going to be. Through four seasons, Rinaldo hasn't given many people a reason to believe he's more than a trouble-making thug. He never even scored more than 10 goals in the Ontario Hockey League. But around the Bruins we've seen Marchand's maturation, we've seen how important energy players can be to a championship drive and we've seen Julien press the right buttons to get more out of players than they produced in other cities.

Rinaldo will probably never do enough to justify the third-round pick that went to Philadelphia. His on-ice dalliances with danger, though, don't translate to off the ice. He didn't come to Boston with a Cup ring the way Thornton did, but many say Rinaldo's a solid citizen in the room and a loyal teammate.

If he keeps up his off-ice politeness and cleans up his act on the ice, he can at least change public sentiment about him, and maybe the Bruins win enough games the next couple years to make that third-round pick sink down the draft board.

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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