It’s stupid to say that the Bruins are interested in Pittsburgh Penguin’s superstar, Marian Hossa. That’s a given, the entire league is interested in the upcoming free agent. As the rest of the league watches Hossa play along side Sidney Crosby, GM’s around the league cant help but drool over the possibility of the Slovakian star wearing their team’s sweater.

Financially the Bruins can give Hossa what he wants. Word is that Hossa could get as much as $8 million per season for a five-year deal, or more. With the $4.1 million salary of ex-Bruin Alexei Zhamnov ending, and the NHL salary cap expected to rise $4 million to $5 million, the B’s would have nearly $10 million available to spend. The Bruins have almost $39 million committed for the 2008-09 season and the NHL’s salary cap is expecting to rise to approximately $53 million. Boston could free up even more money if they dumped Glen Murray and his $4.15 million cap hit.

Speculation that Hossa could become an unrestricted free agent this summer was risen by a report claiming the Penguins won’t try very hard to re-sign him. This is not shocking considering that Pittsburgh is loaded with home grown youthful super stars who will be taking the Hossa dollars away from Pittsburgh. It’s believed Penguins management will put more priority into retaining young stars Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal.

The Penguins acquired Hossa at the trade deadline to bolster their roster for a run at the Stanley Cup and while he’s paid strong dividends so far. Through 12 games in the playoffs, Hossa has 8 goals, 7 assists, and is a plus 6. With Pittsburgh about to play in the Stanley Cup finals the trade has been well worth it.

To say that the Bruins will be the only team making a strong push for Hossa’s services is borderline insanity, with the Rangers and Canadiens already proclaiming high interest. However, rumors around the league say that the Bruin’s are the front runners in the Hossa sweepstakes.

Reports out of Boston since the end of the regular season suggest Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli could make a serious push to sign Hossa. Chiarelli was assistant GM with the Ottawa Senators during Hossa’s final seasons with that club, plus Hossa’s friend and former Senators teammate Zdeno Chara is captain of the Bruins. Chara’s relationship with Hossa may be Boston’s best chance in landing the free agent to be.

Both Hossa and Chara are Slovakian and have played in numerous games together representing their country. They also were teamates with the Ottawa Senators, minor hockey in Slovakia and in the WHL. These two have remained close and are “Best friends” for over the past 10 years. Their relationship goes even deeper when Hossa was Chara’s best man when he got married this past summer. Chara was also Hossa’s best man at his wedding.

As Hossa continues to dazzle in the playoffs and help Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup, the rest of the league will be developing a game plan on how to land his services. When the bidding war begins, its essentially up to Hossa to decide. As long as Chiarelli offers him a reasonable deal, then Chara’s friendship may just be the piece that puts Boston over the top as Hossa’s new destination.