Bruins Didn't Do Shit!

The Bruins were one of the best teams in the NHL last year. This year is a different story. After trading away Kessel, and Kobasew, not to mention losing Aaron Ward the Bruins lack offense. They haven't looked right all season. Yet, there was hope.

Hope that they would make a deal and bring in a big time forward, or at the very least a veteran who could provide some kind of scoring punch. Instead, the Bruins did shit, except pick up a defenseman who is really no better then Morris (who is now gone).

Listen, I get the Kessel trade. I really do. You can't pass up 2 1st rounds, and 1 2nd round draft pick, and the Bruins are in place to get a top 3 pick. Still, this is a team that was so close to making a Stanley Cup push last year, and now we are back to playing the waiting game.

It is not just the GM's fault, because guys like Krejci, and Ryder just haven't been the same players. Yet, I still will never understand why the Bruins gave away a 20+ goal scorer (Kobasew) for basically nothing. I am not saying the season would have been much different, but when you trade away 35+ goals (Kessel) you would think that you would want to keep the rest of your offense in tact.

Why the Fuck Did the Bruins Trade Chuck?

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.

-The Commodore

Even More Bruins Injuries

I wrote earlier that Kessel was going to need surgery, well apparently he is not the only one. Krejci will have hip surgery next month. He is not expected to be ready for the start of training camp. Andrew Ference will undergo groin surgery next month, and forward Chuck Kobasew confirmed he played against the Canes with two broken ribs. The Bruins cover their injuries up so much you never know how bad these injuries were. Krecji's injury by far seems like the most serious. Still he should be able to recover and is only 23 years old. I wonder if his injury will affect Krecji as he is a restricted free agent. Hopefully it will slow down other teams from trying to steal him....

Bruins Resting Players

You may see a not of Bruins in the injury reports over the last couple of games. They are not actually hurt, a lot of them are just nicked up, and this is the perfect time to get them 100% before the playoffs start. The playoffs are long and grueling (much like the regular season), so it is important to take advantage of the time they have earned by clinching the #1 seed in the East.

With last night's loss to Ottawa there is little to no shot of the Bruins getting the President's trophy (best record in NHL), so they really have nothing to play for. Even though Julien will never come out and say it, because he believe much like Belichick that nothing good comes from telling people anything, they are really getting these guys healthy and ready for their playoff run.

Right now it looks like it is Kobasew's turn to get some time off. He might be a little hurt, but this is much like what happened to Kessel, where the team has the luxury of giving these guys time off.

Bruins Injury Updates

"Petteri Nokelainen (eye) and Chuck Kobasew (leg, upper-body) are both day-to-day, according to Claude Julien. Neither will be available for tomorrow's game against New Jersey, although Julien didn't rule out either from traveling to Nashville for Saturday's match (Boston.com)."

The good news is that Nokelainen does not have a fractured face, which I actually thought he had, because he was hit in the face in a very similar fashion to what happened to Ryder. So, he shouldn't be out too long. Tomorrow's game is going to be very rough against the Devils, since the Bruins will be shorthanded. Martins Karsums will take the right wing position on the Bergeron line. They also shifted Bergeron from the point on the 1st power play line, to the "down low guy" on the 2nd power play line.

Ryder seems like he will be back maybe sooner than previously thought, as he went through an off-ice workout today. His face is still swollen, but we will know more when he talks to the media on Monday.