Last night, the Bruins traded winger Chuck Kobasew to the Minnesota Wild. As surprising as this move was, it was simply stunning what the B's received in return: Alexander Fallstrom, Craig Weller, and a 2011 2nd round pick.
Fallstrom is currently playing for Harvard. He's a freshman. In the NHL, you can draft a player and they can remain with their junior team, or their college team. He's a 6' 2" 200 pound forward.
Weller scored 1 goal and 2 assists last season for the Wild. He's 28 and has 4 NHL goals. He's good for a bunch of penalty minutes, and maybe he might fit-in on the 4th line. I'm not really sure. All I know is the guy spent 6 seasons playing for the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL.
So the Bruins traded a solid 3rd line forward for a POTENTIAL 4th liner who hardly ever scores, a college freshman, and a draft pick 2 years away.
I'm not too happy. But I am quite confused. It's not a bad deal for the future, but it hurts the team right now. And the last thing this team needs is to be hurt. Kobasew only has 1 assist so far, but he has played decently in every game. And if this was about clearing cap space, why not do it before the season, and perhaps create enough room to re-sign Kessel.
The Bruins' biggest weakness seems to be at defense. Hopefully this move clears space for the Bruins to make another deal for a solid defenseman who can play the penalty kill. But I have my doubts.
I'll miss Kobasew. He was what he was, and wasn't going to get markedly better. But he was a solid backbone-of-the-team kind of guy. He played the Carolina series with 2 broken ribs for Christ's sake. Yet folders like Blake Wheeler get to stay with the team.
Sources:
Boston Herald
Hockey Data Base
Harvard Athletics
I 100% agree.
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