The Boston Bruins have added two veteran presences to the fold, acquiring Brian Rolston and Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders at the deadline. In exchange, Boston will sent minor-leaguers Yannik Riendeau (AHL Providence) and Marc Cantin (ECHL Reading) to New York.
Rolston will be headed back to Boston for his second tour of duty. He played four-and-a-half seasons as a Bruin prior to the lockout, scoring a league-high nine shorthanded goals in 2001-02. The 38-year-old veteran appeared in 49 games for the Islanders this season, registering 4G-5A-9PTS while averaging 14:10 of ice time per game.
Mottau, 33, has played in 29 games for the Islanders after missing nearly half the season with a concussion. Mottau only recently returned to the lineup after being knocked out of action on Dec. 29, missing 26 games all told.
In addition to veteran experience, the Bruins added quite a bit of salary with these two moves. Rolston’s in the final year of a deal that pays $5.06 million annually (amusingly, he’s now actually Boston’s highest-paid forward) while Mottau comes relatively cheaply at $800,000.