From Russia With Love

The Boston Bruins have acquired the rights from the New Jersey Devil for Ukrainian-Russian, Nikolai Zherdev.

Earlier this month it had been rumored the Bruins were calling around the league and scouring the market for some scoring punch up front.

GM Valente explains, “We felt we needed some more depth on the wing and we now have more scoring options available.”

There are many question marks around Zherdev but he has proven in the NHL to be a 20 goal scorer, GM Valente is banking upon this production. “We are absolutely thrilled to have Nik joining our club. We feel he still has some upside and can play anywhere from our first to third lines.”

The price for Zherdev was not cheap but GM Valente felt he could make this move. Jarred Tinordi a highly touted defence prospect earlier acquired this year is on the move to New Jersey.  It seemed with a glut of defensive prospects, the writing was on the wall.

The Bruins hope to have Zherdev in the line up against the Detroit Red Wings later this week. GM Valente will be watching his squad closely to see how they stack up against a star studded Red Wings squad. "We feel this will be our clubs first big match-up of the season. A great opportunity for us to gauge players performance and see who can elevate their game".