Someone need to smack him upside the head as soon as he gets off the plane there. This kid needs to get his head on straight. Good luck with him Boston, he’ll be a good player if he can grow up.

Posted by JAMESinMI on 06/16/08 at 07:51 PM ET

His agent also is Chara’s agent. Whoops. Big surprise his agent recommended that he sign with Boston. That aside, this is just a hoot…

...ultimately it came down to a few things for Blake, but mostly that he was comfortable with where the Bruins were headed as an organization…

Yup. There’s definitely nothing like the “comfort” of knowing your team is going to either miss the playoffs every year or get booted in the first round to make you salivate at the prospect of signing a long-term deal with them.

JAMESinMI is right. This kid needs to seriously access what’s in his future before he makes a decision like this. On the other hand, at least he’ll have an “agent-buddy” in Chara to play golf with every April.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/16/08 at 10:38 PM ET

Okay, let me correct that. Maybe the kid actually should assess his future instead of accessing it. I guess if he could access it, he’d know signing with Boston would be a mistake.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/16/08 at 10:43 PM ET

He’ll play in the NHL with the Bruins long before he would with the other teams bidding for him. The Bruins need big forwards. This isn’t such a dumb move. Or maybe he should sign with the Red Wings and play in the AHL for 5 or 6 years....NOT

Posted by kevin from boston on 06/17/08 at 07:46 AM ET

He’ll play in the NHL with the Bruins long before he would with the other teams bidding for him.

I guess it’s a question of whether you’d rather play sooner (or more) for a so-so team or play your way into the line-up of a proven winner. Those who value winning over money will pick the latter...whether that’s the Wings or some other team.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/17/08 at 10:24 AM ET

I don’t know about the maturity - I’ve read that he wanted to choose where he would sign even if it would be for less than he could get from Phoenix, and if he wanted to play right away the Coyotes would be as good a bet as many teams.

Possibly leaving money on the table in order to choose the team you want to play for actually sounds pretty mature to me.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/17/08 at 10:52 AM ET

Kevin from BOS -

That’s ok, in another 4 or 5 years when everyone’s given up on him, the Wings can sign him as another reclamation project and he can flourish and win Cups. 

I personally think it’s a mistake—the kid was a big surprise pick in the first round when PHX took him.  PHX did him quite the favor by taking him then, when everyone else was projecting much, much lower.  You’d think then maybe that he’s like to reward PHX, not play “Lindros” and decide where he’ll play…

It also does not bode well for PHX—yet another wasted 1st rounder.  Will they ever get a good building program going?

Posted by Primis on 06/17/08 at 11:18 AM ET