When it comes to the trade deadline, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli isn't been afraid of looking to the past. Just over a year ago, the former Senators GM swung a deal with Ottawa to bring Chris Kelly, a center from Chiarelli and Zdeno Chara's days, to Boston. 

This season, Chiarelli did something similar… kind of. He had drafted defenseman Greg Zanon back in 2000 while working in Ottawa. Chiarelli had scouted him at the University of Nebraska-Omaha prior to selecting him in the fifth round, and he got to know his skill set better at development camps. 

Yet Zanon would never sign with the Senators. The sides disagreed over Zanon's signing bonus, and the Senators walked away. Zanon ended up signing with Nashville. 

"You look back, and I can recall we were off a little bit on the signing bonus and we decided to walk, and he probably said, ‘Screw you,’" Chiarelli recalled with a grin Monday, "and he had a good career, so I give him credit. And I watched him and he’s a gritty guy and it doesn’t surprise me that he had a good career. We’ve followed him quite a bit."

Zanon, a 5-foot-11, 202-pound forward who's among the best shot-blockers in the game, is now reunited with Chiarelli after the GM sent Steve Kampfer to the Wild right before the deadline. 

"I hadn’t ever really thought about it at the time when they kind of let me walk," Zanon said Monday. "It was more of trying to find a place to play and the worries of, it’s gonna be a different road to get into the league. You know, I just come every day and try to be the best I can with what I’ve got and I just try to push myself."

JOE CORVO'S JOB COULD BE IN TROUBLE

The addition of Zanon didn't just mean the end of Kampfer's days in Boston, but it could mean the end is near when it comes to Joe Corvo's spot in the Bruins' lineup. Mottau shouldn't be expected to come in and take anybody's job right now, but when all eight defensemen are healthy, Zanon would make sense on that second pairing with Dennis Seidenberg. 

For now, with Johnny Boychuk out with a concussion, the guess here is that the B's will go with both Zanon and Corvo in the lineup. Chiarelli wouldn't go as far as saying that Zanon would definitely be in the lineup when everyone's healthy. 

"We’re going to have eight defensemen with Johnny healthy so there’s going to be two that are out, but we’ll figure that out over time," he said. "I don’t know who will be in to start, maybe the two guys we added won’t be in to start when Johnny’s healthy – I’m not sure yet. We’ve had discussions with our coach leading up to this, that if we were to acquire should he play, we talked about these players prior to making the deal so it’s a work in progress."

Monday's moves should have definitely sent a message to Corvo. A free agent at season's end, Corvo hasn't produced offensively like he has throughout his career, and he's committed some costly turnovers. He won't have much of a market as a free agent if he finishes the season as a healthy scratch, so if he wants to stick in the lineup, he'll need to pick things up while Boychuk is out.

TALE OF TWO DEADLINES

With no offense intended to Brian Rolston, Mottau or Zanon, the deadline was far from what it was a year ago for the Bruins. Over a week before last year's deadline, the Bruins were able to add Kelly, Rich Peverley and Tomas Kaberle. While Kaberle was a disappointment, Kelly and Peverley have been key players for the Bruins since. 

This season, it seemed the Bruins could have used a couple more players like Kelly and Peverley at the deadline. Chiarelli admitted Monday that with Peverley and Nathan Horton out, he was hoping to add two forwards before the deadline, yet there weren't deals to be made. 

Chiarelli noted that there were far more buyers than sellers this season, making it difficult to make moves. He also noted that teams, whether buyers or sellers, insisted on "maintaining a competitive roster" rather than blowing things up.

"It was just the prices, the inactivity, the reluctance to do things, and that was the feel I got," Chiarelli said. "And it’s frustrating, it’s frustrating when you’re making calls and you can feel the frustration on the other side of the phone because the guy you’re talking to is feeling the same thing. That was the theme for this year, frustration but fulfillment."

Offensively, fulfillment came in the form of the 39-year-old Rolston. With four goals and five assists in 49 games this year, Rolston's numbers aren't what they were when he had 31 goals for the B's in the 2001-02 season, but Chiarelli believes he still has enough in the tank.

"[Rolston] hasn’t had a great year, but I feel he’s a motivated player," Chiarelli said. “Terrific shot, can really skate, and he’ll add to our depth and versatility. He can move up and down the lineup, you’ve heard me say the same thing before with some of our additions and he has a big shot."

Rolston can be motivated, but that doesn’t mean he can necessarily move up and down the lineup. Remember, Peverley was filling in for the concussed Horton before he sprained his knee, so the Bruins could have used both a potential first-liner and a third-line guy. Rolston should fit on the Bruins’ third line, but it’s hard to imagine a guy going from averaging 14:10 for the Islanders to getting first-line minutes on the defending champions.