Posts Tagged Phil Kessel
Around the Boards: Niedermayer Retiring a Duck, Sens looking for a Center, Wings continue to get healthier, New center for Kessel
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 12th, 2010
- Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times: Scott Niedermayer is going retire an Anaheim Duck, and not get traded at the deadline. According to Ducks GM Bob Murray “No. Scotty and I have been talking and he’s going to retire an Anaheim Duck. And that’s the way it’s going to be unless he tells me different. I have an agreement with Scotty and it’s my word. “We’ve talked about this. I see him staying here. Who knows, he might play next year.”
- Bruce Harrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators GM Bryan Murray is looking to add a center, but no much is available at the moment.
- Dan Martin of the NY Post: Islanders GM Garth Snow is in no rush to trade his 3rd goalie, Martin Biron. That’s a smart move considering DiPietro’s history, he could get hurt in practice and be out for a year.
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Happier times in Detroit with the all the potential returnees to their lineup lately. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson could be back on Thrusday against the Hurricanes. Tomas Holmstrom is hoping to return on the 25th or 27th. Both Johan Franzen and Jason Williams are back skating.
- Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star: Phil Kessel has been in a 12 game scoring slump, and now the Maple Leafs have called up Tyler Bozak from the Marlies in an attempt to jump start Kessel. I think Bozak has the skill, speed and IQ to be a good center for Kessel, though I’m not sure if he’s ready just yet, time will tell. Bozak had 20 points in 32 game in the AHL, and battled the swine flu earlier in the season.
Around the Boards: Habs keeping Halak? Hitchcock safe for now, Gonchar leaving Pens after season? Kessel almost a Blue last season
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on December 28th, 2009
- Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News:
- The starting goalie flip-flop in Montreal may have taken place again, with Jaroslav Halak winning 3 consecutive games. Carey Pirce had lost 4 straight decisions. It’s looking like the Canadiens might be keeping Halak.
- Columbus is currently having a franchise worst stretch, 2-11-5, and coach Ken Hitchcock job is safe for at least the time being. Columbus has reportedly been looking to make a few shake-up deals, but have been unsuccessful so far. Team Leadership is something they need.
- This season could be the last for Sergei Gonchar in Pittsburgh unless he’ll take a pay cut. The 36 year old is looking for a 3 to 4 year deal worth between $15 and $20 million. The Pens seem to be fine with the years, but not at $5 million a season. Kris Letang needs a big raise from his current $625,000 salary, and looking for between $3 and $4 million.
- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com:
- It’s no secret that the Bruins are looking for scoring, but it probably won’t happen until closer to the deadline. They don’t expect anything in the upcoming weeks, the there is the 2 week Olympic shutdown. Until the Atlanta Trashers-Ilya Kovalchuk contract talks are resolved, you’ll read/hear the Bruins are a possible destination.
- Last season at the trade deadline, the Bruins and Blues were discussing Keith Tkachuk and David Perron for Phil Kessel.
Around the Boards: Flyers fire Stevens … DiPietro returns, to minors … Gustavsson surgery and Kessel’s return to Boston
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News on December 5th, 2009
- Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: The Philadelphia Flyers have fired head coach John Stevens and replaced him with Peter Laviolette. Laviolette last coached in Carolina and led them to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2006. Look for the Flyers scoring to increase a bit.
“Laviolette’s] more of an offensive coach. His teams play a real aggressive, pursue-the-puck type of game. I think that’s going to suit us real well.”
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: Rick DiPietro will be making his first start in almost a year today, albeit it in the AHL.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Jonas Gustavsson second heart ablation surgery went well, and he’s expected to miss 7 to 10 days.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Phil Kessel makes his return to Boston tonight, and I’m guessing it won’t be a friendly return.
Around the Boards: Forsberg, Lehtonen, and Kessel
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 5th, 2009
- Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The New York Rangers have confirmed their interest in Peter Forsberg. “Yes, we have interest in Forsberg,” GM Glen Sather said. “From the reports we’ve been getting, the foot is much better than it was a year ago.” I see the Colorado Avalanche and the Philadelphia Flyers as the leading NHL clubs to land Forsberg, based on his apparently loyalty to past teams, though I can see the Flyers having trouble luring him due to salary cap restraints. With the Avalanche off to such a hot start, I think they are the leading candidates. Washington provides the most intrigue for him, possibly playing with Ovechkin or Semin would interest anyone.
- Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: Despite the injuries to Simon Gagne and Danny Briere, the Flyers are not interested in Forsberg.
- The AP through The Globe and Mail: Kari Lehtonen, who’s already out recovering from back surgery, will undergo a second surgery and will be 6 to 8 weeks.
- Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun: Phil Kessel coming off his 10 shot Maple Leafs debut on Tuesday, found himself with a new centerman, John Mitchell, yesterday at practice. After 1 game Matt Stajan has possibly found himself off the Kessel-Blake line. Strange. Stajan worked okay with Kessel and Blake on Tuesday, but on occasion was too focused on getting Kessel than shooting at the partially open net.
- Chric Kuc of the Chicago Tribune: Jonathan Toews practiced with teammates yesterday, and will be a game day decision.
Phil Kessel Makes Maple Leafs Debut
Posted by Derek in NHL News, NHL Videos on November 4th, 2009
Phil Kessel made his long-awaited and highly anticipated debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Maple Leafs have been competing better in recent games, looking like a much better team and showing some defensive aptitude with Jonas Gustavsson starting to emerge as the solid goaltender Brian Burke was hoping for.
Anyone who’s ever played hockey, or watched it for an extended period of time knows that a team will play completely different depending on the level of confidence they have in their goalie. There’s no worse feeling than that of knowing that any mistake you make has a great chance of ending up in the back of your net, and with the “Monster” bailing out his players from time to time you can see a big difference in the team defense with him in the crease.
That said, I would like to get back to Kessel for a minute here. For a guy who hasn’t played in 6 months and is recovering from shoulder surgery, he made an impact on the game playing 23:50 in the game with ten shots. (Wayne Primeau has 8 shot’s in 9 games, granted as a checking forward)
The problem for Kessel was predictable though. In one of our usual hockey chats yesterday, some friends and I figured with all the build-up for Kessel’s debut he would be pressured to try to make a difference right away, and therefore take an unnecessary risk, leaving himself open for a big hit. Guess what happened?
For those who missed it, here’s Mattias Ohlund welcoming Kessel back with open arms…
For the record, that was a classic, clean open-ice hit and I’m all for that. The problem I’m having is the lack of any response from Brian Burke’s “truculent” Leaf team. Where is all this “team toughness” Burke was selling all summer? What exactly is Colton Orr doing on the team anyway? Credit to Matt Stajan for the immediate response but this was the type of situation where a message needed to be sent. So what was stopping Orr from doing it? The Instigator Rule? Hmmmm…Who would you rather lose, Colton Orr to suspension or Phil Kessel to concussion?
To further the point, anyone who saw the overtime goal would’ve seen Ryan Malone slash the puck through Jonas Gustavsson as he was interfering with him in the process, another sign that the Lightning weren’t at all worried about the Leafs “team toughness”.
Let’s make one thing clear, Phil Kessel is the best chance the Leafs have of not giving up a 1st overall pick to Boston next season, with Gustavsson being the 2nd best chance, and the only true top 6 forward on that team. Is this not an investment worth protecting?
Around the Boards: Phil Kessel, Sam Gagne, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Elias Updates, Wisniewski Suspended
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News on November 3rd, 2009
- Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star: Phil Kessel is expected to receive clearance from doctors this morning to make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kessel has been skating with Jason Blake and Matt Stajan. The problem I see with this line is that both Blake and Kessel like to shoot the puck a lot. It will be interesting to see how Stajan handles both shooters.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Sam Gagne will be out of the Flyers lineup for 6-8 weeks after his hernia and abdominal surgery today. Though he definitely will be missed, it creates an opportunity for some of the Flyers younger kids to step up. Also, Daniel Briere hope to practice tomorrow, with the goal of playing on Friday.
- Corey Masisak of the Washington Times: Alexander Ovechkin is listed as wee-to-week with an upper body strain. Brooks Laich take Ovechkin’s spot on the line with Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison.
- Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Jonathan Toews is still not allowed to skate, no timetable on his return has been set. There’s a chance that Marian Hossa returns before November 25th.
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: Struggling Canadiens winger Andrei Kostitsyn has been demoted to 4th line. Kostitsyn has only 1 goal and 3 assists in 14 games, and received only 7:32 minutes of ice time on Saturday.
- Curtis Zupke of the OC Register: Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski was suspended for 2 games for his elbow on Shane Doan.
- Rich Chere of The Star-Ledger: Patrick Elias for the first time this season with the Devils and is eying a weekend return the lineup. He’ll give the Devils a much needed offensive jolt.
- Brian Mullen of the Nashville Tennessean: Shea Weber will be out the Nashville Predators lineup for 1 to 2 weeks.
- Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province: Matt Pettinger signed on for his second stint with the Vancouver Canucks after inking a 1 year, 2-way, $500k contract.
Around the Boards: Fri. Oct. 30th
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on October 30th, 2009
- Chris McCosky of the Detroit News: The Detroit Red Wings offense took another hit last night with Valtteri Filppula broke his right wrist. He’ll be out for 6 to 8 weeks. Darren Helm may be given the first chance to replace Filppula on the 2nd line with Cleary and Bertuzzi.
- Michael Russo of the Star Tribune: It looks like Marian Gaborik’s return to Minnesota will have to be postponed as it doesn’t look like he’ll be returning to the New York Rangers lineup.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Randy Jones was claimed off re-entry waivers by the Los Angeles Kings. Jones was in the final year of a 2 year, $5.5 million deal. Both the Flyers and Kings will have a $1.375 cap hit for Jones.
- Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star: Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson said there is a good chance that Phil Kessel will make his Toronto debut on Tuesday versus Tampa Bay. Vesa Toskala was activated and may see action tomorrow. Joey MacDonald and rookie Viktor Stalberg were sent to the AHL’s Marlies. Jiri Tlusty was recalled to take Stalberg’s roster spot.
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: Carey Price will be making the start tonight, his first since October 17th. The Canadiens are also mixing up their top 2 lines: Andrei Kostitsyn, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta; Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and Maxim Lapierre.
There have been rumors floating around that the Canadiens and Blackhawks might be talking trade involving Carey Price and Cristobal Huet, but they don’t appear to be true.
Around the Boards: Sat. Oct. 24th
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on October 24th, 2009
- Damien Cox of the Toronto Sun: Leaf fans are marking Nov. 3rd down on their calenders. Ron Wilson said that is the day they expect Phil Kessel to receive clearance for game action. That would be a little earlier than expected, mid-November was what they were hoping for initially.
- The Denver Post: Darcy Tucker was hammered from behind by Tuomo Ruutu last night, and was carted off on a stretcher. He looked like he was knocked unconscious before he hit the ice. Tucker was alert while being examined at the hospital.
- Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta Thrashers goalie, Kari Lehtonen, continues to experience pain in his legs following his July back surgery. There is no time table for his return.
- Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune: Good news for Cristobal Huet fantasy owners, he’s still with the big club, and expected to start tonight.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: 3 new lines for the Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux centering Gagne and Ian Laperriere, Mike Richards centering Scott Hartnell and Aaron Asham, Danny Briere centering Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk. Ray Emery starts tonight, Brian Boucher starts tomorrow.
Around the Boards – Fri. Oct. 16th
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on October 16th, 2009
- According to the Dallas Morning News, it might not be a surprise if Marty Turco is traded at some point this year. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent, and no extension talk has taken place.
- Scott Clemmensen will get his first start of the season for the Florida Panthers tonight against the Flyers. Nothing like sitting for a couple weeks then thrown in against the Flyers.
- Phil Kessel may be ahead of his mid-November return date and Jonas Gustavsson should be skating today and could be ready for Saturday.
- Mike Van Ryn’s season is over before it even started. His knee wasn’t healing as well as it should have been, and has gone under the knife to repair his damaged left knee. He came over to Toronto over a year ago for Bryan McCabe. He’s a solid Dman when healthy, but that is main issue with him. Van Ryn only made it in 27 games last season as he was out with the knee injury, broken nose, broken hand, and 2 concussions.
- Craig Conroy is back centering Jarome Iginla. Iginla and Jokinen have struggled this season when lined up together.
- In a desperate attempt to put more then 6,000 fans in the seats, the Coyotes have put in place a promotion for 5 games (Oct. 24 vs. Los Angeles Kings, Nov. 14 vs. Dallas Stars , Dec. 5 vs. Ottawa Senators , Jan. 16 vs. Minnesota Wild , Feb. 13 vs. Dallas Stars) where the team wins, fans who attended the game will get a voucher for a free ticket.
The other side of Phil Kessel’s coin
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on September 19th, 2009
While doing some research online to see what could be dug up about the trade of Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs, I’ve come across several sources questioning his character. Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.com paints a picture of a petulant kid who was disgruntled with the firm coaching style of Claude Julien.
“The truth was that a youngster like Kessel should have welcomed the chance to play for Julien, who only tried to make him a better all-around player.
Or maybe he didn’t like the press and fan interest in Boston. On a personal level, Kessel has a lot of maturing to do. He remains a shy kid, uncomfortable at times with even mundane social interactions.”
This seems a little harsh to me. Since when does a guy need to be an outgoing, media savvy person to play hockey? Further more, since when does being shy depend on your age? This seems like a kangaroo court to me, where the media decides a person is of poor character and the fact he doesn’t feel comfortable talking to them somehow confirms it. How do you question the character of a young man who’s battled testicular cancer and survived?
The problem for Kessel is that the media scrutiny is only going to get worse in Toronto.
Here’s an angle from Paul Hunter of The Star in Toronto. “Burke said the winger has been largely misunderstood because of his shyness. The GM said he is completely comfortable dealing for Kessel after spending time with the native of Madison, Wisc., on the national level in the past. Burke is also the general manager of the American Olympic team and was reassured by Kessel’s behaviour at that team’s summer camp.
“I’ll tell you a story,” said Burke, harkening back to an American camp in Portland, Me., before last year’s world championship when a fishing trip was planned as a team outing. “The captain, Jeff Halpern, asked Phil if he wanted to go. Phil said, `I get seasick in a bathtub. I have trouble even fishing on a lake.’
“So Halpern said, `I guess that’s a no.’ But Phil said, `If the guys are going, I’m going.’ He went, puked his guts out but did it because it was a team function.
The media spin machines are obviously in full swing in both Boston and Toronto, painting the picture the respective fans want to see.
There will be a lot more talk about the past, until Kessel recovers from his shoulder surgery (expected to resume playing in November) and gives us a glimpse of the future.
Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Phil Kessel
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Trades on September 18th, 2009
According to TSN, the Maple Leafs have reached an agreement with the Bruins to acquire Phil Kessel, pending a contract be worked out. They are apparently negotiating a deal now. I’m sure they must have known the ballpark figure and term length Kessel was looking for beforehand, so I’m sure a deal won’t take too long.
No other details were provide. We’ll update here when they come through.
Update: Phil Kessel for 2010 1st and 2nd round pick, and a 2011 1st round pick. The Leafs then signed Kessel to a 5 year, $27 million contract. The salary cap hit is $5.4 million.
Upate 2: Burke will probably make an official announcement after the Leaf game.
Boston attempted to re-sign Kessel in July to a deal reportedly for 4 years around $16 million. Some reports say he then asked to be traded, his agent denies.
The Preds Tabled an Offer for Kessel
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Rumors on September 18th, 2009
The Nashville Predators have reportedly put forth an offer to the Boston Bruins for Phil Kessel. According to NESN.com, the Preds have offered a 1st round pick, the rights to Alexander Radulov, and a top defensive prospect. It’s hard to rate this potential trade considering we don’t know who the defensive prospect is. Obviously if it’s their best defensive prospect, then it’s a better deal than their 2nd or 3rd best prospect. Trading for Radulov is also risky as who knows if/when he’ll be coming back to the NHL, but when he was here, he showed great offensive talents. I’m sure there is a clause in the offer that says Kessel has to sign a contract for the deal to become final. By the sounds of it, Kessel would rather sign in Toronto over Nashville.
The same article says the the Leafs may also throw in a prospect/player to go along with the 2 1sts and 2nd round pick. It’s also mentioned that the Burke might be considering an offer sheet if the Bruins don’t accept an offer this weekend. If an offer sheet was matched, the Bruins would have to move out some salary quickly; Chuck Kobasew, Andrew Ference, and maybe Tuukka Rask (back the minors), would have to be moved out. If an offer sheet was matched, I bet the salary cap implications would be a lot trickier for future years, especially if the cap is going to drop $4-7 million next year.
Minnesota has signed Petr Sykora so they are most likely not interested in trading for Kessel anymore. The NY Rangers are reportedly out as well.
Kessel and the Coyotes Situation
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on September 17th, 2009
- It sounds like the Phil Kessel trade rumors could come to end by next week. October 1st is a key date, as each team much be under the salary cap by then. The Bruins are supposedly around $1.7 under the cap. The longer the Bruins late to trade him, the difficulty they may face is someone puts in an offer sheet a day or 2 before Oct. 1st. If the Bruins followed up with their statement of matching any offer for Kessel, they would have to dump other salary in a short period of time to get under the cap. Minnesota has joined the Leafs, Predators, and Rangers in showing interest in acquiring Kessel. The Leafs and Preds have made the best offers.
- The City of Glendale appears to be siding with the NHL’s bid for the Coyotes, even with Balsillie ponying up $50 million for the city to let him take the team to Hamilton. If the NHL wins the bid, I doubt they will find a buyer who would want to keep the team there, and the Coyotes will be gone after this season. Balsillie is hell bent on moving the team this season, but it might be too late for that if he wins the auction. So either way it seems this will be the last season of NHL hockey in Phoenix. I’m wondering if the city of Glendale is siding with the NHL as they feel that they might be able to get more than the $50 million for having the lease broken a year from now? About 2,000 fans crammed into the Jobing.com arena last night to watch their first pre-season game.
- The San Jose Sharks are close to signing Manny Malhotra.
Kessel Rumor Update
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Rumors on September 15th, 2009
The Boston Globe reported that the Leafs have offered 2 1st round picks and a 2nd rounder for the Keseel and a 3rd rounder. Prior mention of a similar deal did not include the 3rd round pick coming Toronto’s way.
The inclusion of 2 1st rounders has many Toronto fans wondering if they would be giving up too much. For a team ‘rebuilding’ , trading away 1st round picks may be a questionable thing to do. But the inclusion of the 3rd round pick that may be coming Toronto’s way, makes it a little easier to swallow. Kessel was the 5th overall pick, and is only 21 years old. If Kessel helps the Leafs make the playoffs or get real close this year and next, would it be worth it? Is a guaranteed, solid young player worth the potential of a say 2 #13 picks?
Kessel’s Agent Adds Fuel to the Fire
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Rumors on September 14th, 2009
The Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs rumors were kicked up a notch yesterday as Kessel’s agent, Wade Arnott, was seen chatting it up with assistant GM, Dave Nonis, at the Leafs practice facility. The Leafs appear to be the front runners in landing the Bruins forward, ahead of the New York Rangers and Nashville Predators.
Burke has reportedly offered up as much as 2 1st round picks and 2nd round pick, though that hasn’t been confirmed. The Bruins would prefer to trade him out of their division, but they may not get a better offer. Also, the team that acquires him would want to talk contract before they trade for him. If Kessel refuses to talk to other teams or over values himself, it may not leave GM Peter Chiarelli much choice but to send him to the Leafs
Burke Speaks About Kessel
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on September 8th, 2009
In an interesting development over the weekend, the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke made a move to re-acquire their 2010 second round draft choice from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for their 2011 third round choice and a 2011 second round pick previously acquired from the Calgary Flames.
Although it seems like a loss, the reality is that this gives Burke his picks in the first 3 rounds in the upcoming draft next summer, which is also the prerequisite for a team to submit an offer sheet to another teams restricted free agent.
This possibility has, of course, caused all kinds of speculation regarding Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins. The 21 year old sniper is coming off a strong season in which he scored 36 goals and had 60 points, both career highs while only playing in 70 games for the Bruins. The Bruins are in a tight spot for available cap space, by most accounts about $1.6 million remains to sign Kessel, with their current roster anyway.
Boston Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli stated on am640 radio in Toronto that “What we have here in Phil Kessel is a player that is unsigned that we are trying to sign,” Chiarelli told Dreger on AM640. “Obviously in this business now with the (salary) cap there is the possibility of offer sheets. It’s something that we in the management group in Boston are fully aware of. It’s part of the trade now”.(source-TSN)
As for Brian Burke, he stated that he doesn’t contemplate an offer sheet for Kessel at this time. Right. He then went on to down play his previous disdain for the process when Kevin Lowe of the Oilers did it to him while he was with the Anaheim Ducks, extending an offer sheet to Dustin Penner in 2007.
“My objection was that I got blindsided by it at a time I thought was inappropriate,” Burke stated. “This entire process has involved dialogue with (Bruins GM) Peter Chiarelli. I told him about reacquiring the pick, telling him the night before I got the pick that I intended to get the pick back. There has been no blindside or back door like Kevin Lowe did.”
Burke also made it clear that he does not in fact object to the notion of the offer sheet which some have suggested.
“They are part of the CBA (collective bargaining agreement),” Burke stated. “And the team utilizes that tool to get better. It’s not an issue to me and it wasn’t an issue to me. So on that basis I don’t believe that they are parallel circumstances at all.”
Interesting logic from Mr. Burke to say the least. It kind of feels like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and now he’s splitting hairs to justify contradicting what he once deemed as “unethical”. What happened in 2007 with the Penner situation more or less educated the media and fans about potential moves like this and there was no way Burke was going to re-acquire this all important pick and fly under the radar to offer Kessel a contract without the media outing him before he could get it done. With that in mind it seems irrelevant to announce that he told Peter Chiarelli in advance about the pick and it’s possible implications, when everyone knows Chiarelli would’ve read it in advance anyway.
It is going to be difficult for Burke to operate incognito in Toronto like he was able to do in Anaheim. I don’t want to state the obvious but this is what everyone is talking about when they mention how difficult it is to make moves and trades with all the media attention surrounding the Leafs.
I realize Burke is just posturing when he says he isn’t considering an offer sheet to someone, likely Kessel, and he’s trying not to tip his hand. Is there any other logical reason to trade a second and a third round pick for a single second round pick?
Bruins Sign Morris
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News on July 26th, 2009
The Boston Bruins have signed defenceman Derek Morris to a 1 year deal worth 3.3 million. After trading Aaron Ward to Carolina to free up some cap space, the speculation was that the Bruins were making room to sign RFA Phil Kessel. This signing comes as a surprise and you have to figure there will be more movement in Boston to accommodate Kessel’s contract, or trading Kessel himself is becoming more of an option by the day.
In 75 games last season split between New York and Phoenix, the 30-year old Morris had five goals and 15 assists.
Morris was originally a first round pick, 13th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.(source-TSN)
The Boston Bruins Free Up Some Cap Space
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Rumors, NHL Trades on July 24th, 2009
In a move to free up some cap space, the Boston Bruins have sent defenceman Aaron Ward to the Carolina Hurricanes for Patrick Eaves and a 2010 4th round pick. Ward returns to Carolina where he helped them win the cup in 2006. Eaves has already been waived by the Bruins and will be bought out.
This move was done by the Bruins to shed some cap space so they can try to re-sign Phil Kessel. Even with the trading of Ward, the buying out of Eaves, and the potential adding Kessel’s contract, the Bruins will be really close the cap. Ward has a cap hit of $2.5. Eaves was scheduled to make $1.4 million this year and $1.7 million next year. Eaves cap number after being bought out will now be just over $500,000 ($3.1 million times 2/3, divided by 4 years).
The Bruins still might have to move another player, and Chuck Kobasew might be the guy if someone would take the $2.333 cap hit ($2.5 million in each of the next to seasons).
Hunwick Re-Ups, Kessel Not yet
Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on July 20th, 2009
- The Boston Bruins locked up one restricted free agent today. Matt Huntwick signed a 2 year contract extension. Hunwick showed promise this past season recording 27 points (6 goals and 21 assists) in 53 games. He probably would have had more points had I not picked him up for my fantasy team.
- The Bruins are having trouble coming to terms with Phil Kessel, they are talking but not really getting anywhere. Kessel was originally offered something along the lines of a David Krejci deal (3 years, $11.25 million), but he’s apparently looking for a lot more. I think I remember reading over a month ago that the 21 year old was looking for over $5 million, that’s way too much for kid that young. Sure he potted 36 goals last season, but there’s not many players who’ve only been in the NHL for a couple years that deserve more than $5 million, and Kessel isn’t one of them. Nothing new to report on Kessel heading to the Leafs for Thomas Kaberle
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