He said he didn’t regret the trade that almost was — when he was minutes from being dealt to the Bruins before asking onto the Penguins at last season’s deadline, a trade that could have been the missing piece to a second Cup in three seasons for Boston.

Before the season, before the Bruins’ Jarome Iginla even had donned the spoked-B sweater in a regular-season game, he was asked about possibilities missed and taken, about chances that might have been lost forever. He was asked about a Stanley Cup that could have been his.


“I just keep trying to go forward and keep looking forward,” Iginla said then. “There’s so many different plays that happen. It’s not like I could come in . . . it changes the whole dynamic. It just changes the whole dynamic.”

That, in fact, is what Iginla has done this season, bringing consistency and heightened play to a line that has, in past years, been streaky through the regular season before raising its level in the postseason. And while it’s impossible to know what could have happened had it been Iginla as the addition to the Bruins last season instead of Jaromir Jagr, the fact that both Iginla and general manager Peter Chiarelli checked their pride for the greater good could mean an excellent chance at altering that outcome this season. It could mean a Cup for Iginla.

The winger — who now is 26th in all-time goals with 553 — is likely on his way to the Hall of Fame. He has more than $78 million in career earnings, according to capgeek.com. He has All-Star games and trophies (Art Ross, Maurice Richard, King Clancy, Ted Lindsay). He has worn a C. His next game, Monday night against the Wild at TD Garden, will be his 1,300th in the NHL. He does not have a Cup.


But coming to Boston and joining a line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic has proven fruitful for all concerned. Iginla leads the team with 23 goals, and is second in points (53) to Krejci’s 59. The trio has 47 points combined in its last 14 games, which coincides nicely with the team’s performance, an 11-1-2 mark in that time.

“They’re right up there,” Iginla said, when asked how Krejci and Lucic rank with the linemates in his career. “I’m very fortunate to get to play with them.

“They’re very competitive, they’re very hungry. It’s not just their skill level, which is very high, but it’s their compete level and their drive. Physically, Krej, his poise with the puck, his speed, his change of speed, they’re fun to play with and they have great chemistry, too. So I’m very fortunate to come this year and get to play with them right out of training camp.”

Asked about Iginla’s influence on his linemates, coach Claude Julien said, “The other day I said [to Krejci], ‘This is as consistent as I’ve seen you since you’ve been here,’ and that’s all part of growing as a player, maturity, understanding his role. Looch has come back this year and has played the way he finished last year. We can’t forget these are still young players. They are in their 20s and they’re young players so there’s always room for them to grow and I think that’s what we’re all seeing here is growth in some of those players.


“But at the same time, you’re right. You got a guy like Jarome Iginla, for a guy who’s been in the league this long has really done a great job in maintaining his conditioning, comes into practice and games and works hard, competes hard all the time. So those young guys don’t have an opportunity to do [anything] more than try and follow his lead.”

Iginla has kept his level strong, even at age 36, and raised the level of those around him. After a slow start — just four goals in his first 24 games — Iginla now has his 15th 20-goal season in 17 NHL seasons. The only times he has not scored 20 were in his second season in the league and in the lockout shortened 2012-13.

“He’s exactly what he was advertised as, as a good team player, a hard worker, competitive guy, and again I can see why he had a letter in Calgary because he’s got that leadership quality in him,” Julien said.

He has maintained that in Boston, part of a core group that helps make decisions between coaches and players, acting as a leader even without the captaincy that he had for years in Calgary.

But it’s what he has done on the ice that has been crucial to the team’s success this season. Iginla and his scoring touch, his physicality, his presence, have been excellent fits, and have yielded a line that has found its footing at just the right time of the season.


“It’s been great having him here,” Lucic said. “You can see he’s obviously come into his own here and starting to feel good about himself, as he has the last, I’d say, 10, 20 games.

“We all know what he can do from what he’s done in the past, and you know he’s definitely a confident guy that’s always pushing for more. You see the little things in him that has made him so successful throughout his career, and I think it’s starting to show more and more as the season’s gone on.”

And maybe, in the end, it even will yield that ever-elusive Cup for Iginla.