“Hey, dude! Bruins just won in OT!”          “Oh nice. Who scored, Kessel?”          “No.”

“Was it Seguin?”          “No.”          “Iginla? It must have been Iginla.”          “No. Chris Kelly.”

Now I know that’s not a conversation I’ve ever had with any of my friends, and I’m pretty sure that holds true for every Bruins fan from Boston to San Diego (Hi Craig). I admit that maybe I’m making those 2011 trades sound worse than they are by saying Boston gave up 3 players and 3 draft picks for Chris Kelly, but the fact of the matter is that what the 2015 Bruins are left with in the aftermath of those 2 months is, well, simply Chris Kelly. Allow me to break down the 3 tragic trades for you.

The Kelly trade actually wasn’t that bad, the Bs gave up a second round pick. Fine. Despite my disgust with Chris Kelly, I’d still probably make that trade today. However, Boston’s trades with Atlanta (now the Winnipeg Jets) and Toronto are simply some of the worst moves I’ve seen. Giving up Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart still makes me cringe, and what did the Bruins get in return? Rich Peverly and Boris Valabik…yeah, Boris Valabik. You’ve probably never heard of him, and I apologize for the name drop. Remove it from your memory; forget I ever brought him up. The trade with Toronto was even more egregious. How about unloading a young prospect (Joe Colborne), a first round pick and a conditional second round pick for a 4 month rental of Tomas Kaberle?!

Blake Wheeler (6’5″ 205 pounds) has shaped up into a great, scoring top-6 forward. He dressed with the US National team in the Sochi Olympics, and has basically become a perennial 20-goal scorer (he’s only scored 20+ in two seasons, but has tallied 18, 18, and 17, as well as 19 in a lockout-shortened 2012-2013 campaign). In 2013-2014 he scored 28 goals and 41 assists in 82 games, and so far this season he has 17 goals and 29 assists in 62 games. He’s currently signed through the 2018-2019 season for $5.6 million and has only missed 6 games in 7 NHL seasons.

Mark Stuart is one guy I would love to have on the blue line. He’s tough, physical and plays responsible defensive hockey. While he isn’t going to contribute much on the score sheet, he does all the little things and plays smart. At 6’2″ 213 pounds he isn’t afraid to hit, or to drop gloves. He’s also grown into a leadership role quite nicely as one of the Jets alternate captains and a definitive top-4 defensive player. In the last 2 seasons he’s played in 122 games with a combined +16 rating and 156 penalty minutes. As for bargain contracts, how does $2.75 million a year through 2017-2018 sound?

Granted, Joe Colborne wasn’t much of anything at the time the Bruins gave him up. That being said, the former first round pick has started to blossom since he moved to Calgary last year. A Center with good size (6’5″ 219 pounds), Colborne has managed to break through and get a large chunk of playing time with the Flames. In 2013-2014 he played in 80 out of 82 games and registered 10 goals and 18 assists. He’s continued along that trend this year, already collecting 6 goals and 18 assists in just 44 games. Again, he comes at a decent pay grade, making $1.275 million through the end of next year. He’s still just 25 years old.

What have the Bruins wonderful additions given the team since they were acquired in 2011? Chris Kelly has played in 311 games, totaling 49 goals and 67 assists up to this point, and he’s costing the team $3 million a year for one more season after this. Kaberle put on the black and gold sweater for just 49 games, scoring 1 goal and 19 assists. Even in those 49 games his play was questionable (Our beloved Mike Milbury so lovingly dubbed him a “creampuff” during the playoffs). He no longer plays in the NHL. Peverly managed to score 30 goals and 56 assists in 180 games before the Bruins parted ways with him in the summer of 2013. He collapsed on the bench during a game against Columbus last March, almost a year ago to date. His NHL future is currently unknown (though it can be assumed that he will most likely have to hang ’em up for good) and he is serving as an Assistant Coach for the AHL-affiliate Texas Stars…

The Jeggernaut-