The Bruins traded winger Marco Sturm to the LA Kings for "future considerations." Though Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli described that to mean "nothing." In essence, the Bruins sent Sturm to LA for cap space.
As a Marco Sturm fan, I'm sad to see him go. There are several wingers on the Bruins I'd prefer to be traded for nothing (anyone named Blake, and anyone from Newfoundland). Although those guys will be gone via free agency in the off-season.
Sturm had four 20+ goal seasons with the Bruins, and was an adept power player. He was fast and disciplined enough to earn time in defensive situations, and on the penalty kill. I would've loved to see him play on a line with Seguin and Savard.
I don't like how the Bruins have spent their money on forwards. Ryder collects $4 million this year. But then there's guys like Paille and Caron, who each make $1.1 million. For what? And I'm losing my patience with Bergeron. He's an amazing defensive forward, but he's borderline useless on offense. Or at least useless as far as $4.8 million forwards go.
And I loathe the NHL salary cap. I understand and accept it as a necessity, to keep the likes of Edmonton and Ottawa in the hunt. But when teams that have no fans bring the average revenue of the League down, it brings the cap number down, and just ruins the game for fans in cities that have fan support. Atlanta and Phoenix, for example, have good teams this year, yet are 28th and 30th in attendance, respectively. Dallas lead their division, and are 26th in attendance.
These places don't want hockey, so why is the NHL so adamant that they get hockey? The NHL refuses to consider relocating teams to Winnipeg, Hamilton, or Quebec. And they don't even know what the word "contraction" means.
Before I lose my train of though, Sturm will be missed. He should do well in LA, where they need some help with forwards, and have some talent he can compliment. So Auf wiedersehen, Herr Sturm. Und viel Glück.
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