Acciari, B’s move forward together
Checking one more item off his to-do list, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney yesterday announced a new one-way, two-year NHL contract for Noel Acciari.
The young forward will earn $725,000 per year.
Sweeney & Co. continue their efforts to acquire a veteran left-shooting defenseman with the opportunity this week to bring in players who’ll become unrestricted free agents on Saturday to interview with the staff and have a look around the Garden, Warrior Ice Arena and the city.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley is one presumed target. The Washington Capitals’ Karl Alzner might be an even better fit, and there is a long list of other blueliners who might fit the bill.
The B’s could also aim high for ex-Boston University defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is very talented offensively but not great in his own zone. Shattenkirk is a right shot and will be a very expensive signing.
The 25-year-old Acciari had a so-so start to his NHL career, with just two goals and four assists in his first 48 games over the past two seasons. The Johnston, R.I., native signed with the B’s as a free agent out of Providence College.
Acciari emerged as a versatile and valuable guy in the first-round playoff loss to the Ottawa Senators, averaging 19:03 in ice time, a workload exceeded among the forwards only by Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. He scored one goal and had another potential game-winning tally disallowed after a video review. The stocky 5-foot-11 winger averaged 5.5 hits per game in the series, second most behind defenseman Zdeno Chara’s 6.0.
“I just want to make sure that I can start how I ended last year with the confidence that I had,” Acciari said via the Bruins. “(I) just (want to) make sure that I’m ready for any situation, whether it be penalty-kill (or) anything. I want to work on my skating, continue to work on that. Just make sure that I still have a step on people, be ready to take some faceoffs whenever I need to jump in there, work on shooting more and making my shots purposeful. Just critique my game a bit. There’s always something to work on, so I can find plenty in my game to make sure I can help the team out next year and the year after.”
Acciari started the season in the NHL, playing the first 12 games before going down with a leg injury that sidelined him for 14 games. He spent most of the next three months with Providence in the AHL, before returning to the B’s to play 10 of the final 11 games.
“Last year was an upand-down season for me,” he said. “I think going down was a great help to just kind of let me know that, when I was down there, just to continue to play my game. And when I got the call back up, just do what got me to that point: Not to be nervous, not to grip the stick a little too tight, and just play. Once I started doing that, relaxing a lot more and feeling a lot more comfortable with the guys, I think it made my game excel.
“The more comfortable I get with the team itself, the more I can produce and be a good player to help out in whatever I can.”
Acciari wants to be more than a physical role player, which means he’ll be working on puck possession and making plays.
“Just have a little bit more confidence with the puck on my stick, rather than just dumping it and throwing it away,” he said.
But Acciari assures fans the nasty, edgy, hitting part of his game will remain.
“Oh, definitely,” he said. “I’m not going to change anything that helped me to get where I am right now and that was hitting, being hard on the puck, forechecking. That part of my game is not going to change. That will be with me for the rest of my career, and I like to chip in with goals and points whenever I can.”