Mara Shipped to Broadway

Paul Mara was shipped to the NY Rangers this afternoon for defencman Aaron Ward. This is nothing too exciting. It will save the Bruins $250,000 in cap space for next year, and will make the Bruins better defencively. Mara, although better lately, has never lived up to last years offencive output. This fact was amplified by his poor defencive play in the first half of the season.

Ward, on the Bruins, will likely be a top four defencman. He is not a power play specialist, but should see a lot of time on the penalty kill. The key with Ward is that he has played 78 career playoff games and has three Stanley Cup rings (2 Detroit, 1 Carolina).

I will post tonight after everything dies down, to discuss the other trades in the NHL. At them moment I believe the Bruins have improved, but other teams like the Islanders, Buffalo, Atlanta, and Ottawa have improved more.