Bruins Trade Alberts to Flyers

I apologize, I was so busy stuffing my face with turkey and ogling women that I completely missed this trade. I am sure some of you will miss Alberts but he is expendable and he releases more cap space (1.25 million). I expect Matt Hunwick to be called up, but Sobotka could also be in the mix. I personally see no benefit in calling up Sobotka though, as we have too many forwards and one defenceman short. In return for sending Alberts to Philly the Bruins receive some boob (Ned Lukacevic) and a 4th round pick (if Alberts resigns this becomes a 3rd round pick). I doubt Ned will ever be an impact player with the B's and possibly not in Providence either. This is a salary dump pure and simple and it let's us look at more young talent.

Good move Chia...

Side note; Kobasew will be on the shelf for up to 3 weeks with his fractured right ankle. Be nice to see him back in the next couple weeks but I'd prefer they don't rush him since it is early.

UPDATE:

Sobotka and Hunwick have both been recalled from Providence for tomorrow's game. With this move we are now around $750,000 under the cap. Sabotka will most likely only be around for the duration of the Kobasew injury. It was decided that Kobasew will not go on long term injury reserve therefore all his salary counts against the cap.

Mowers Traded

Mark Mowers was traded to Anaheim last night for defensemen Nathan Saunders and Brett Skinner. Mowers days were numbered with the play of still newcomers Glen Metropolit and Petteri Nokelainen. Metropolit is still unsigned and with the team salary cap being so high it made sense to trade off Mowers for prospects and give Metropolit the league minimum. This of course hasn't happened yet, but I will assume a contract comes within a week. My guess is Metropolit will become the teams number three centre and Nokelainen the number four. Both young defencemen that were traded to Boston, will be immediately assigned to Providence.

Almost there!

If you are finding out here any of the below, well you are finding out in the wrong place.

1. Training camp starts this week!
2. The B's traded a prospect for a prospect today.
3. The B's need to do something to spark the collective hockey conscience of the area (the guy in the picture at the link is your average current Bruins fan)

So what have you been doing to get ready for the season. Me? Well, I have rented and watched Youngblood the 80's hockey classic starring Rob Lowe, featuring brief nudity, decentish slo-mo hockey, fighting, mullets and a hazing scene - its no Mighty Ducks that's for sure.

Hannu Traded

Well thanks to the very helpful anonymous, I was informed of this breaking news (I was too busy chatting to notice). Mr. Hannu Toivonen was traded late this afternoon for Swedish forward Carl Soderberg. I found this old futures article on him.

Söderberg started playing in the junior league with Malmö where he evidently was
on a different level than the rest of the opposing forwards. Halfway through the
season he was called up to Malmö’s SEL team where he also stayed for the
remainder of the season. An exceptionally skilled offensive player with a nose
for the net and good playmaking ability, Söderberg is an explosive player,
though not overly physical, who is very creative in the offensive zone while at
the same time not frightened of back checking.

He had a good season last year after he opted out of playing for the AHL Peoria Rivermen and instead for the top Swedish league. He was only two points behind the teams top scorer, and that was after playing 22 less games! The draw back, he played 22 fewer games due to a serious eye injury sustained mid way through the season.

Originally he was projected to be out until at least Christmas but there are some reports that say he may begin contact drills in September or October. Now I assume the Bruins either have done a physical on him or they have a condition on the trade which says they can void if he fails a latter one. Let's hope. Supposedly a Swedish newspaper reported that doctors cleared him to play this season. I can't read Swedish and therefore will not be researching anymore.

I am thinking due to the injury he will not make the NHL this season, and he may not report to Providence if assigned there. Either way from what I read on the Blues forums the Bruins have made a pretty good trade if he fully recovers. So no more goalie controversy in Boston! Tim Thomas will be the starter and Fernandez the back-up. ;)

In other news,

The Bruins re-signed Jeff Hoggan late last week to a one-year, two-way
contract that will pay the winger an NHL salary of $495,000 in 2007-08.

Donovan Traded

PC just pulled off a trade, which has sent Shean Donovan to the Ottawa Senators for Peter Schaefer. The Bruins will take on what looks like an additional $1.25 million in salary cap but Schaefer has a lot more offensive upside than Donovan. Defencively they are both similar, and while lacking Donovan's size Schaefer will be a tremendous asset on the Bruins penalty kill. The last two seasons have been the best offencively for Schaefer, with 32-64-96 totals in 155 games. So is anyone else liking this trade as much as me? It could be that because I am in the Ottawa area I see and hear more about him so my view is askew.

Unnecessary Move

It looks as though the Boston Bruins have acquired a new goaltender.

According to the Pioneer Press, the Minnesota Wild have traded Manny Fernandez to the Bruins for forward Petr Kalus and a future fourth-round draft pick.

Not that I think Manny is a bad goalie but Boston's problems last season were not the fault of goaltending. This is a panic move by desperate a GM who really doesn't seem to understand the BIG picture. P.C. looks like he is trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist instead of fixing problems that do.

Lets see what happens over the next few days (free agent market opens up today) to see what (if any) vision P.C. has for this team.

The Boston Bruins have selected...

Zach Hamill in the 2007 NHL entry draft. He seems like an OK pick, but I was a bit surprised by it. If it wasn't for the damn greedy Russians and a lack of a transfer agreement with the NHL, we could have had another steal this year with Cherepanov.

As of yet there has been no news on a trade for Manny Fernandez, which means that we would have to trade a few players now that the Bruins 1st rounder has been used. It was nice to see Cam Neely announcing the pick for the Bruins; does this mean he might be joining the team in a larger role (Assistant Coach). I know, I'm just pulling shit out of my ass.

Zach has spent the last four seasons with the Everett Silvertips, and had 32-61-93 season in 69 games. He was the leading scorer in the WHL this year, and he seems to have picked things up physically with 93 penalty minutes the past season.

Rumour Has it...

that Boston is going for Manny Fernandez. There are reports all over the place regarding this one and it is being said there might be a flop of 1st round picks and then a player from Boston of a significant cash value. Meaning Murray or someone of a lesser dollar value. This could be Axelsson, Ference or some other person. Also, I would not be surprised to see MacDonald thrown in as well. I highly doubt they will take Murray so look for two players if this does go through.

Making Mountains Out Of Mole Hills!!!

Thanks to Zanstorm an issue has been brought to my attention. There is still a backlash going around about The Bruins trading Boyes and Jurcina. This time, however, it is not coming from an individual's blog but rather from a supposed knowledgeable reporter. Stephen Harris from "The Boston Herald" is now reporting on Boston's mistake in trading these players and that they were to be a big part of our future.
I would like to, because of this article, finally offer my opinion on this issue.
First off let me remind people that these were not blockbuster trades involving players like Crosby and Lidstrom. The players traded were Boyes and Jurcina - no big deal (not superstars now nor will they be).
First off lets look at Jurcina. In 112 NHL games he has recorded 21 points and was a BIG liability on defense. I know we never got anything for him but when you give up nothing you get nothing in return.
Next we have Boyes. I personally do not see what all the commotion was about when he got traded. At the time of the trade he had 34 points in 62 games and he was billed as an offensive weapon. He played most of the season with either Savard or Bergeron on his line and he still only had (I repeat) 34 points in 62 games. His offense was sucking and no one would ever accuse Boyes of being a defensive player as he wasn't even sure where his own end was located (an impressive -17 at the time of the trade)!
People were outraged at him being traded as he was just having an off year. Truth be told when last year, as a rookie, he recorded 69 points he was actually having a career year as even in the AHL he not once averaged a point a game for a season. Why do people think his average would be that or better in the bigs?
I would like to ask Mr. Harris why he thought these two players were a big part of our future? Does he want to see the Bruins' future as dismal or does he not really watch hockey and just report opinion instead of looking at the facts. I only brought this up because of the source it came from. I never attacked any blogs that said the same thing but they are just blogs. Mr. Harris writes for "The Boson Herald" and should have better sense than to print such garbage!
I would like to thank Zanstorm for bringing this to my attention and would recommend his site for reading to any true hockey fan.
Also as I am pimping sites I would like to inform everyone that #4 Bobby Orr now has his own Bruins' blog (he has been a long time commentator on this site and writes on facts and knowledge rather than emotion and falsities). I highly recommend his site!

Flyers @ Bruins - 01/03/07

The Boston Bruins will be taking on the suddenly revamped Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night in Boston. In a surprise move Philly traded a second round pick for goaltender Martin Biron. While this is a no-brainer move for most teams with poor goaltending, Philly has been virtually eliminated from the playoffs and Biron is set for free agency this summer. I would have to believe that the Flyers will be pushing hard to resign Biron before June, otherwise they will be right back to where they were.

The Bruins were also busy yesterday picking up two new defencemen, Ward and Wideman. Most people are happy to see Mara go but the jury is still out on the Boyes-Wideman deal. I see a lot of potential in Wideman, but Boyes may have been just having a bad year. I don't envy PC though, you have to make tough decisions as a GM and this was his first big one. As our great friend from WFS pointed out Wideman has had his problems. Now if I could draw your attention away from his finesse game, I would like to show you a better video. Wideman's not the only one with good fists, as you will see in exhibit B. Enough of the fluff though!

Tomorrow's game might be tough as Biron has beaten the Bruins in his last five starts. Yeah it is only Philly, but the last game (Boston won 6-3) was closer than the score would indicate. I would expect Timmy Thomas will be in nets for Boston, and hopefully the new look Boston defence will stand tall in front of him. I might update this post after lunch tomorrow when I know more about the projected line-up.

I just took a look at one of my comments yesterday and noticed that my link to a spreadsheet I made did not paste in correctly. Here are some numbers I did up quickly for the players involved in yesterday's trade deadline.

Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes what ya going to do...

Brad Boyes has been traded to the St-Louis Blues for offensive defenceman Dennis Wideman. This is after earlier reports today that Boyes had been taken off the market. I have to go on the bus now so I will discuss more when I get back home.

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.

It's Official - Bruins win trade with Flames!

I was debating who won this trade and was leaning ever so slightly towards The Bruins. However, I stopped analyzing it when it donned on me that this was not a blockbuster trade and will really have little effect on either team - The Bruins won't automatically make the playoffs now and Calgary are not now guaranteed to win The Cup - little improvement made to either team.

I like the trade personally because I like Ference. He is my type of player - good in his own end, likes to hit and most importantly plays with a lot of heart.

I now know that Boston has won the trade because of what I saw on "That's Hockey" last nite.
Pierre McGuire said hands down that Calgary won the trade. For my American friends who may not know McGuire; he is a hockey comentator on TSN, who believe it or not, knows less about hockey than Eklund from "The Hockey Buzz". If McGuire says Calgary won hands down then make no mistake about it; Boston got the better of the deal!

Bruins Win - Trade Stuart and Primeau

What do I start with trade, or game. First I will say thanks to Heather for the tip on the trade. I was just about to go to bed and up pops MSN! I guess I will start with the trade.

The Boston Bruins have sent defenceman Brad Stuart and forward Wayne Primeau to the Calgary Flames for forward Chuck Kobasew and defencman Andrew Ference. If you're keeping track that is 2/3 of the Thornton deal gone. I am hoping that they will try and re-sign Sturm, as I think he is having an off year, and as of late has really turned it on. Now lets see some stats on the new guys!

Kobasew - 4g 13a 17p (40 games)
Ference - 2g 10a 12p (50 games)

Currently Kobasew is out with an elbow injury and is supposed to be back late February. He is a former first round pick (14th overall) and I think (correct me if I am wrong) he is a restricted free agent at the end of this season. Kobasew is a having an off year and has been injured a lot as well, thus making him expendable. He could easily join the second line when he comes back, but I think he will end up on the third.

My lines would look like this:

Murray-Savard-Bochenski
Sturm-Bergeron-Kessel
Axelsson-Boyes-Kobasew
Donovan-Mowers-Tenkrat
*Chistov is the extra forward (I forgot all about Donovan).

I'm sure PC will call up a centre for the third or fourth line but, I am dealing with what I got. In Ference we get a tough, mobile defenceman who likes to hit. He's also not that bad offensively, scoring a career high 31p last season. I can't find any reference about Ference's salary except on his TSN profile where it lists that he was signed to a 3 year contract extension in October. I imagine he'd cost no more than 1.5 million per season, but we will need to wait and see.

Great trade for Boston. It doesn't improve them any in the short term (Kobasew is injured) but the key to this trade is both players will likely (barring further trades) be with the Bruins for another two years. We may also have saved over a million dollars on the salary cap!

Well I am not going to do the game, maybe myself or someone else will get to it tomorrow. Bruins freakin won that is the important thing!

My Guy is Gone

The Los Angeles Kings have just announced the trade of Sean Avery to the New York Rangers. Going to the Rangers are Avery and junior prospect John Seymour, to LA are Jason Ward and prospects Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek. As good as this trade is for the Rangers this year, LA may win in the end with the high scoring Russian Marek, and Team Canada (junior) member Cliche.

Avery is a guy I personally thought would be a good fit in Boston. We need a fighter that can kick serious ass (led the team in PM last year) and put up good numbers (on pace for 42 points this year) as well. Traditionally Boston gets tough guys that play a maximum of five minutes a game, basically wasting a roster spot. One hope is that he doesn't get signed by the Rangers and PC picks him up this summer (fat chance). Although this might not be possible since TSN is reporting that he is only a restricted free agent. I'm too lazy to check if that's true right now, sorry.

Well there is still defenceman Brent Sopel available. He's relatively cheap, typically high scoring, and not bad defencively. He's having a slightly off year and is a free agent in the summer so he might come cheap.

The petit trade acquisition du jour: Brandon Bochenski

In a tip of my hat (aka toque) to our American and Canadian fans, that's my first ever half-English, half-French headline. I, too, pray it never happens again...especially since it also contained a player with a Polish last name.

In a season where a fire sale seems imminent, the B's keep making minor tweaks to their roster. This time trading Kris Versteeg and a conditional draft pick to Chicago for Brandon Bochenski. Somehow, this makes sense to Peter Chiarelli. He was seeking a pure goal scorer...which apparently Bochenski is...while in return giving up Providence's leading scorer (49 points in 43 games). The thing is, with that kind of mindset, you'd expect the Bruins to get a seasoned veteran sniper along the lines of, say, a Petr Bondra. Instead they get someone who's played 50 games over the last two years and was expendable because "because of the emergence of forwards such as Jeff Hamilton and Rene Bourque". You read that quote from PC correctly. Jeff Hamilton (24 points in 46 games) & Rene Bourque (8 points in 24 games). Maybe Hamilton I can see, but Rene Bourque? They feel more comfortable with Bochenski than giving Versteeg a shot in the bigs?

But maybe they're on to something. Hockeysfuture.com considers him a decent prospect and echo the sentiment that he's a pure goal scorer. He's also put up an impressive 33 goals and 33 assists in just 35 games while playing in the AHL. Rotowire (link for subscribers only) reports that he's a candidate to skate on the Bruins' top line with Savard and Murray. Conversely, Hockeysfuture also reports that his greatest weaknesses are his skating and his defensive game (gulp).

His greatest weakness as far as the defensive side is concerned is his positioning when attempting to defend against opposing players one on one. More often than not, he’s not where he should be and it has led to some good scoring opportunities for opposing players, particularly in the slot and crease areas.

Uh oh. So, with the defensive play the biggest question mark on this team, will Bochenski help or just further contribute to their woes? Another snippet from Hockeysfuture which is more amusing than anything else.

His draft stock suffered because of some criminal problems where Bochenski and a friend were accused of printing counterfeit money.

Hey, any chance he can enhance that skill and try to learn positive salary cap manipulation for the B's? :)

Milan Jurcina Traded

Not a big trade and not a shocker. Jerky hasn't been playing much all season, and was the odd man out whenever the team carried an extra defencmen. With Jason York back in the lineup after his knee injury and Bobby Allen playing well, Jurcina is the best choice to be traded. The Bruins got Washington's 2008 4th round draft pick in return. Jurcina showed a lot of promise last year but just couldn't get it together this season. He should be able to get more playing time in Washington right away:

''This acquisition is consistent with what we are trying to accomplish,'' Capitals GM George McPhee said in a statement. ''Milan Jurcina is a young guy with some growth potential. We expect that he will help our penalty kill right away and we look forward to seeing how else he can help us in the long term.''