from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

Ference has two years left on a contract with an AAV of $3.25 million, a product of the former management regime that was willing to overpay older free agents to, theoretically, speed up the rebuild. Ironically, it was Peter Chiarelli who was the Boston Bruins GM that told Ference before the playoffs even began in 2013 that cap constraints would mean the Bruins would not be keeping Ference once the season was over.

Then Chiarelli jumped to Edmonton, where he rightly spotted the blue-line as the place most in need of shoring up. Since taking the job this past summer Chiarelli has acquired Andrej Sekera, Eric Gryba and Griffin Reinhart.

At the bottom of a defensive corps that still needs work, you’ve got Ference, Nikita Nikitin, Gryba and Reinhart fighting for one opening night pairing. That’s three 6-foot-4 D-men and the 5’11” Ference — and that’s assuming that 6’4” Darnell Nurse starts his pro career at AHL Bakersfield....

But in order to have the kind of impact Ference has had in Edmonton over the past two seasons — or to maintain the captaincy here, for that matter — you have to be able to stay in the league, and play in the league.

How many nights can a captain spend in the press box before he can’t be the captain anymore?

Tune in next week to find out.

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