Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

How the Bruins trade with the Ducks impacts the Bruins roster

February 22, 2020, 11:35 AM ET [16 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
On Friday the Bruins shipped David Backes, prospect Axel Andersson and their 2020 first-round draft pick to the Anaheim Ducks for 24-year old Ondrej Kase. The Bruins will retain 25% of Backes’ salary.

Injuries have been a key factor in Kase’s development in three plus seasons with the Ducks, but the Czech Republic native still has a respectable 96 points in 198 career NHL games.

Kase has not played since February 7th after taking a big hit from Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin, but the right winger returned to practice earlier this week and will join his new teammates in Boston on Monday.

“The obvious question that people are going to ask is Ondrej’s health, and he’s been back on the ice. He will join the team back here in Boston and not in Vancouver [Saturday] or Calgary,” general manager Don Sweeney said in a conference call Friday afternoon.

“It’s a quick turnaround for him to go and do that, he was on the ice at practice yesterday. But he’ll have today [Friday] off, he’ll travel. We’ll get him in, he’ll be on ice with us fully on Monday. And then we’ll make an evaluation as to how comfortable he is in getting back to playing.”

No, he doesn’t bring the top-six punch that a Chris Kreider, Tyler Toffoli or Kyle Palmieri does, but Sweeney and company ultimately decided they were not going to pay the steep price for one of the bigger available fish.

Instead, Sweeney gets Kase who brings much of what the Bruins were looking for. He’s a right shot winger, has speed to his game, is a young forward and most importantly, he’s under contract beyond the 2019-20 season.

Kase is locked in through 2021 with a respectable cap hit of $2.6 million. He will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2021, keeping Kase under the Bruins control for years to come.

His seven goals in 49 games with the Ducks won’t jump out at you, but Kase is very effective five-on-five. According to Natural Stat Trick, among forwards with at least 500 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Kase ranks 31st in Corsi For Percentage at 54.66%. Kase’s Corsi For Percentage only trails Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak among Bruins forwards.

“His expected goals are generally at the top of his grouping. A lot of that is five-on-five. He has played some power play, secondary power-play units. But he does drive puck possession, positive impact at both ends of the ice in five-on-five situations,” Sweeney added. “He’s been a player that’s been in the top of his categories in five-on-five production over the last three years per 60 minutes.”

It’s expected that Kase will be given an opportunity to secure a top-six role, playing to the right of Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci. His shoot-first mentality should work well with Krejci who will be able to get him the puck and DeBrusk who likes to get himself to the net for tips and to clean up loose pucks.

Five-on-five Kase is averaging 10.38 shots per 60 minutes, that would only trail David Pastrnak (10.67) among Bruins forwards.

Thanks to his recovery from shoulder surgery and concussions issues, Kase was limited to just 30 games last season after setting career highs in goals, (20) assists (18) and points (38) the year prior.

“The last couple years he’s shown he can score in this league,” Krejci said. “He has great skills and good speed. He needs to learn the system quickly and get on the same page. Everything’s going to be new to him, not just whatever line he’s on.”

With Kase expected to slide into the second line, Karson Kuhlman should now see more minutes on the third line with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle. That’s where Kuhlman found himself in Friday’s wild 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

The line was the Bruins’ best Friday night. In 10:51 of five-on-five ice time together, the trio had a Corsi For Percentage of 70%, a Scoring Chances For Percentage of 87.50%, landed six shots on goal and it was Bjork and Kuhlman who set Coyle up for his first period goal.

After Bjork blocked a Flames shot in the defensive zone, he found a loose puck and made the smart play, tapping a pass to Kuhlman as several Flames forwards approached him. Kuhlman sent a long-distance tape-to-tape pass to Coyle who finished the play with his third goal in four games.

“I really like Karson. I really like his game,” said Coyle. “I don’t know how tall he is, but he works on the boards. I was really impressed last year when I first came over. I didn’t really know that much about him. But just seeing how hard he works in the battles and coming out with the puck for a guy his size, I really like playing with him. It’s nice to click and get one the first game.”

With Kase in the fold, competition for playing time is going to become more intense. With one more game (Saturday night in Vancouver) before Kase arrives in Boston, Kuhlman will get another chance to show that he deserves to be in the lineup every night and deserves to ne next to Bjork and Coyle.

“I thought they were arguably our best line in terms of puck possession. How they were able to control the tempo of the game, stay out of trouble in their own end,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.

“I thought they did a good job, showed some good chemistry. I think that’s the type of game Kuhlie [Kuhlman] will excel in a little more, where there’s a puck-possession guy down low and he can just get to the open spots and create some turnovers on the forecheck.”

Despite no longer being on the Bruins roster, being able to move Backes and his cap hit will have a major effect on the Bruins roster. Instead of carrying $4.9 million of Backes’ dead weight, Backes will account for just $1.5 million in cap space.

With Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara and Jaroslav Halak all unrestricted free agents after this season and Anders Bjork, Jake DeBrusk, Kuhlman and Matt Grzelcyk all in need of new contracts as restricted free agents, the Bruins need every bit of cap space they can get.

After the Toronto Maple Leafs sent Patrick Marleau’s unwanted contract along with a conditional first-round pick in 2020 and a 2020 seventh-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes this past June, moving Backes and his $6 million cap hit became more difficult after the Leafs set the bar pretty high.

Hats off to Sweeney for unloading Backes and the attached first-round pick and getting much more value in return than the 2020 sixth-round pick Toronto got for Marleau.

On the surface, the trade reads Backes, Andersson and a 1st for Kase, but the cap relief the Bruins now have adds much more value to the trade.

According to Cap Friendly the Bruins currently have nearly $19 million in cap space for next season.

As for what’s next for the Bruins, I don’t believe they’re done yet. I think another move or two for some added depth is in the works.

“We’ll continue to make calls and look at different opportunities that may exist,” Sweeny said. “As far as the next trade, that’s between the two teams that make it, honestly. Obviously, our past history and current precedent that sort of set the parameters, but it always comes down to the supply and demand of the two teams involved.”

The door is open, open for more depth.
Join the Discussion: » 16 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Anthony Travalgia
» The End of an Era?
» Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman in Game 7?
» Home Not So Sweet Home
» Bruins Depth On Full Display In Sunrise Sweep
» Bruins Drop Game 2 After Ugly Performance