Despite the unexpectedly positive contributions of David Pastrnak, the Boston Bruins and GM Peter Chiarelli are focused on adding a top-6 or top-9 winger ahead of the NHL's March trade deadline, ostensibly to help fill the sizable void left by Jaromie Iginla's departure.
While the usual suspects - Buffalo's Chris Stewart, Arizona's Antoine Vermette - have already been discussed at length, ESPN's Pierre LeBrun has added a new player to the list.
"Another name to throw in the mix is Cam Atkinson from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The winger is a pending restricted free agent, so the Jackets certainly don't have to move him, but they're listening. I don't sense Atkinson is a top-of-the-list guy for Boston, but the two clubs have chatted about him and he's on the Bruins' radar at the very least," writes LeBrun.
Atkinson is a smaller guy - 5-foot-7, 173 pounds - so he certainly doesn't fit the mold of what Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien tend to prefer at the forward position, but he's just 25 years old and has 11 goals and 10 assists for the team this season.
Another player the team is rumored to "love," per LeBrun, is Mike Santorelli of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Santorelli is a talented guy who has struggled to stay healthy in his NHL career - he's only appeared in more than 60 games in a season one time.
Still, he's got a nice scoring touch - 11 goals and 18 assists in 55 games this year for the Leafs - and though he's a natural center, could slide to the wing for the Bruins.
He's also got size dimensions - he stands at 6-feet, 189 pounds - that are more in line with Boston's preference.
With the team playing much better than they did earlier in the season, it seems Chiarelli has shifted his focus to more of a depth player and less of a top-tier addition.
