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Chiarelli believes Connolly can ‘help us right away’

brettconnollygetty

Peter Chiarelli is banking on the notion that trade acquisition Brett Connolly was buried in Tampa Bay, and that’s why the 22-year-old winger has managed just 18 goals in 134 NHL games, despite being drafted sixth overall in 2010.

“He’s a player we kind of looked at for a while,” Boston’s general manager said, per the club’s website. “They’ve got a lot of right wings in Tampa and it kind of loosened up last night so we jumped on it. It got done early this morning. But he’s a guy that we think can come in and help us right away and still could have a long future for us.”

No word yet where Connolly will start with the Bruins. He’s played the most this season with forwards Brian Boyle, Valtteri Filppula, Brenden Morrow and Cedric Paquette.

“He’s a young player, can really shoot the puck, he’s got some size, he was drafted sixth overall. He’s just starting to come into his own a little bit,” said Chiarelli. “He’s kind of a straight line player, but he makes plays and he can really shoot the puck.”