I barely had time to type that last post before Boston put Patrick Eaves on waivers with the intention of buying him out.
Let me get this straight.
Lacking depth on the blue line, we traded a veteran defenseman who was a leader in the locker room...
... for a near-worthless draft pick and an underachieving forward we didn't need...
... who we then put on waivers to either be scooped up elsewhere or bought out...
... so we will now carry another buyout hit in addition to those which caused this cap crunch to begin with.
And Chiarelli couldn't find a better deal elsewhere? What would be wrong with simply trading Ward straight-up for a draft pick? Why take on a useless cap hit in the process of a salary dump???
Deep in my brain there's a rational explanation slowly forming around the idea of re-signing Kessel or moving him to a team that could give us a two-fer. But that idea simply doesn't align with the sheer stupidity of taking on a contract which will be nothing but an empty cap hit for the next several years. It's like eating a whole carrot cake as part of your diet, because carrots are healthy.
Of course, Kessel is worth this painful trade. If he scores 40 this year, Chiarelli will be hailed as a genius. But it's hard to understand how this is the best deal available for a team already struggling with a serious cap crunch... and needing every bit of breathing room for Savard, Lucic and Wheeler next summer.
5 comments:
Don't forget about Rask next summer...
Just what im saying! great post. It doesnt make sense! Im 100% sure that their is a team in the national hockey league who would take on a veteran penalty killing defensive leader especially if the team they were trading with didnt want a player back just a draft pick. And i dont quite get chiarelli sometimes I'm sure they didnt have to put alberts on a team with his concussor hartnell, why put ward on walkers team. just doesnt make any sense
Good news is I forgot about the age-based buyout differential. Since Eaves is under 26, the buyout is 1/3 the contract value instead of the standard 2/3. This means the cap hit will only be ~250K over the next four seasons. Slightly more palatable...
Ward wants to retire after next season,and has a home anf family there so the b's did a classy thing and it allows them to sin phil and Zibov and move a foward via a trade.
mannarie, I'm not sure this trade would allow Boston to do all of that unless there are numerous other moves coming down the pipeline. Kessel and Zubov would combine for a $6-8m cap hit, depending on where their minds are, and this hasn't cleared anything close to that kind of space.
Bastahd, I just don't understand why they'd take any cap hit if it could be avoided. This move really seems designed to accomodate interests outside of building the best team possible. And that makes me really, really nervous.
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