BOSTON (AP) – For the second straight year, the Boston Bruins begin training camp with plenty of new players. This year, new general manager Peter Chiarelli hopes the results will be different.

Since taking over a team that finished last in the Northeast Division, he’s added productive veterans and promising youngsters to the group that starts camp Thursday.

“These are my type of players,” Chiarelli said. “I certainly wouldn’t want to cast aspersions on the other group that came in” last season.

The Bruins had only four signed players when the lockout that forced cancellation of the 2004-05 season ended. They also had plenty of money to spend on free agents, but few of them helped while the team allowed veteran contributors like Brian Ralston and Mike Knuble to sign elsewhere.

This offseason, the Bruins appear to have been more successful. They added defenseman Zdeno Chara, who could start the season as the team’s captain, forwards Marc Savard and Shean Donovan and defenseman Paul Mara.

They also convinced Phil Kessel, the fifth player chosen in this year’s draft, to leave Minnesota after his freshman season.

“He’s got some world-class assets,” Chiarelli said of his 18-year-old forward. “He can turn a game around in one or two plays, but he’s got a lot of work to do away from the puck.”

Chiarelli, who replaced the fired Mike O’Connell, then fired coach Mike Sullivan and replaced him with Dave Lewis, who was an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings when they won three Stanley Cups.

Lewis is personable but demanding in a region whose two top franchises have leaders with contrasting personalities. Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona is known as a players’ manager who chats comfortably with his players and reporters. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is far more reserved with both.

“I want the (Bruins) players to respect each other and to have a common goal, however you get there,” Chiarelli said. “Where would I put Dave Lewis between Francona and Belichick? Somewhere in the middle. He might be more toward Terry.”

The on-ice leadership also should improve, especially since the Bruins start camp with less uncertainty than a year ago when two key players, goalie Andrew Raycroft and defenseman Nick Boynton, held out. All 49 players are signed and Chiarelli and Lewis have long-term contracts.

The Bruins hope Savard can supply some of the playmaking they lost when they traded Joe Thornton to San Jose last November and he went on to become the NHL’s MVP. With Atlanta last season, Savard had 28 goals and 69 assists.

That should help goal scorer Glen Murray, whose production dropped when he no longer had Thornton to feed him the puck.

Chara, perhaps the most sought after free agent this offseason, is a unique player. At 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds, he is a huge presence on the backline and is a gifted offensive player with 16 goals and 27 assists last season for Ottawa.

“As much as we talk about Ralston and Knuble being character guys, Chara (also) is, Savard is, in his own way,” Chiarelli said. “Zdeno Chara is just a big shutdown defenseman, a dominant figure in the game.”

Chara is one of 32 new players on the roster who will report to camp at the Bruins practice facility in Wilmington. That includes rookies who reported earlier.

The best returning player is 21-year-old Patrice Bergeron, who led the team with 31 goals and 73 points. The Bruins have tried to upgrade their public presence and arranged to have him throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a Red Sox game.

But Chiarelli acknowledges the perception that owner Jeremy Jacobs was reluctant to spend the money to build a perennial contender.

“I can keep talking about a new attitude, being communicative,” Chiarelli said, but “at the end of the day, we have to get a team on the ice that succeeds.”

On Thursday, he hopes that team takes a step toward that goal.

“I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Chiarelli said. “It’s an exciting time when they hit the ice. Everyone’s in first place at that time, so it’s a good place to start from.”