Bruins Deal Kobasew to Minnesota

			2009/2010 Statistics		2010 Cap Hit
To Minnesota	Position	Age	GP	Points	Years	Per Year
Chuck Kobasew	Forward	27	7	1	2	$2.333 million
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To Boston	Position	Age	GP	Points	Years	Per Year
Craig Weller	Forward	28	0	0	1	$600,000
Alex Fallstrom	Forward	19	0	0	0	RFA
2011 2nd Round Pick

Well, there may not have been any hockey on Sunday, but that didn't really stop the news from coming down. The Bruins looked to have cleared cap space with a deal that sent Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota for a minor-leaguer, a 2009 draft pick and a future 2011 draft pick. There isn't a much to this deal, other than the Bruins get some futures for a player that was just turning out to be too expensive.

It's been a pretty quiet start for Chuck Kobasew, only picking up a single assist in the first seven games of the season. He does have some great speed and some good hands, but the depth in Boston has not been helping his numbers at all, making him a bit of a fantasy flop. The move to Minnesota should give him some better minutes, especially when their stars, Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora, are on and off the shelf with injuries.

Kobasew is a member of Box 22 on the Sheet and he was taken five times out of 41 teams. He has been a bit of a disappointment to those five teams, but that could easily improve with his return to the Northwest Division. It's a harder division, but he has had experience there with the Flames, so it won't be terribly foreign to him. The Wild are starting to up the tempo a little in their play, which is right up his alley. It could be a good fit.

Well, the Bruins were in a big salary cap hole this season and they had to ease the tension somehow. The move of Kobasew to the Wild does free up $2.333 million against the cap, not only this season but next. This does bring the Bruins total under the cap ceiling for this year and should free up space for next season as well. They are still in some cap trouble, as the Bruins are not far from the ceiling this year and they already have $38.7 million committed to 10 players next year.

I like this deal on both sides of the equation. Kobasew will get some more minutes in Minnesota, while the Bruins continue to grow their team from the minor leagues and outwards. The Bruins were in pretty big cap trouble this year and next, so they had to do something. With Kobasew only getting third line minutes, his $2.333 million does seem rather excessive. I will be interested to see how Kobasew does in Minny now.