Bruins Sign Defensemen Wozniewski

Here come the Stephane Yelle and Glen Metropolit-like signings.

Today, the Boston Bruins have announced that they've agreed to terms with blue-liner Andy Wozniewski on a one-year contract with the club. This is the fourth club for the 29-year old defensemen within the past two seasons. After finishing the 2007-08 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wozniewski signed with the St. Louis Blues and was subsequently traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the trading deadline.

Wozniewski spent all but except for one game in the American Hockey League between the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins and Peoria Rivermen. In his one NHL game with the Blues in 2008-09, Wozniewski played just under seven minutes and was credited for one hit.

In the AHL, Wozniewski tallied 21 points in 74 games between two AHL affiliates and had an impressive postseason for the Rivermen with his 2 points and +1 in 6 games for the Blues farm team.

Although these AHL numbers may not shine out as greatly as those of Johnny Boychuk, what Wozniewski brought to the Maple Leafs in his last relevant season in the National Hockey League is very noteworthy for a player bound to be a seventh defensemen for the Bruins, if that. On top of having nine points in 48 games for Toronto, Wozniewski didn't shy away from the rough stuff as the big blue-liner was tallied for 43 hits along with 56 blocked shots.

There's no need for an outcry of how this move will take cap space away from signing Phil Kessel because this signing is without question for 550,000 dollars or less.

The beauty of this signing is that it gives the B's another "fringe" player in the event of a rash of injuries striking the Bruins. The mentioned "fringe" are players who are good enough to be top players at the AHL level while also having the talent to fill in on an NHL squad for a short stint. The Bruins now have two presumably waiting in Providence with Drew Fata and now Wozniewski.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of this move for what it brings. In short, Wozniewski is a 6'5 behemoth signed as a cheap insurance policy. Similar to Hnidy, Wozniewski's size will be his biggest strength for the club. If all goes as planned, Wozniewski will only make an appearance for Providence this season. Worst case scenario, he's thrown into a familiar division and defensemen friendly system.