Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli is trying to fight complacency. His team has been in first place since the second month of the season and has been coasting down the stretch towards the postseason.

That's why Chiarelli felt he had to shake things up at the trade deadline.

"We talked going into the deadline about how our team had a comfortable lead," said Chiarelli, "and I think you could see some of that complacency creeping into our play. We wanted to fix that without impacting our chemistry, and we've been able to create some competition."

There is always competition on the ice, but Chiarelli (and Coach Claude Julien) wanted more competition for the right to get on that ice. Last Wednesday, the Bruins added veteran Mark Recchi and tough defenseman Steve Montador, and suddenly there were too many players for spots in the lineup.

That's the reason promising rookie Blake Wheeler ended up in the press box watching from above the ice for two straight games. He was back Sunday in New York and seemed to have gotten the message: Play with urgency and you'll see your name on the lineup sheet. Play like you're bored with the final weeks of the season and you'll sit alongside the sports writers.

"Our team is all about work ethic and playing a solid game within our system," said Chiarelli. "We didn't get the points we've gotten up to now by accident. We just need to get back to the job we've been doing and get our lunch pails out.

"(The front office) needed to send a message at practice. We know what we need to do, we just need to remind the players once in awhile."

There is no better reminder than Recchi, a two-time Stanley Cup champion skating the final laps of a Hall of Fame career.

He's still as tough as anyone on the ice and gives the Bruins that potent left-handed shot they've been missing since Marco Sturm was injured.

"Experience is very important," said Chiarelli. "You can already see now how the players are ramping up a bit. He's a very good addition to the locker room and here and there can help Zdeno (Chara) with leadership roles. It's essential you have that type of player."

In the end, Chiarelli didn't pull the trigger on the "big one" at the deadline, although he said he was close to getting one more deal done.

While there is a real chance to go far into the playoffs this year, there is also a nucleus of young players that should keep Boston contending for some time to come. The nucleus survived the frenzied final hours of last week's deadline.

"It's significant because while everybody talks about the opportunity to win now and how we have to seize those opportunities, I think it's my job to maintain that core group," said Chiarelli.

"The two players we gave up are solid citizens, but we figured we had good replacements coming up through the pipeline."

The moves won't guarantee a Stanley Cup or even a first-round playoff win. In fact, the Bruins have lost 2 of 3 since the trades (although Sunday's loss at New York sits squarely on the shoulders of goaltender Manny Fernandez).

Ultimately, the moves should make the Bruins better, and the future wasn't mortgaged to get it done.

These days more than ever, we fully understand what kind of damage a bad mortgage can cause. The Bruins feel their short-term future is still bright while the long-term prospects haven't dimmed.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.