The Boston Bruins have made the first move in the trade frenzy ahead of the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline, which will take place next Monday, February 24. The Bruins have acquired forward Ondrej Kase in exchange for David Backes, Axel Andersson, and the 2020 first-round draft pick from the Anaheim Ducks.
The Bruins have accomplished two important steps in a trade on Friday. Firstly, they have shed Backes´ contract. Boston still retains 25% of his salary-cap hit, which is not the worst thing to imagine. What does this mean for the Bruins?
With $4.5 million for Backes gone, and with $2.6 million paid to Kase until July 2021, the Bruins should have approximately $22.5 million in the salary-cap space this summer. Will that be enough to re-sign Torey Krug, Matt Grzelcyk, Jaroslav Halak, Jake DeBrusk, or Zdeno Chara? It´s more likely than with Backes still on board. If the Ducks buy Backes out in the summer, the Bruins will save an additional $0.5 million for the 2020-21 season.
Secondly, the Bruins acquired a promising right-winger in Kase. Kase has seven goals and 23 points this year, which doesn’t appear fabulous on first look. However, Kase is still young, fits the Bruins system, can form a nice duo with his fellow countryman David Krejci. Besides, the Bruins possess his rights as he will become a restricted free agent in 2021.
Giving up a first-round draft choice, and Axel Andersson is not the best news for Boston. Nevertheless, you can never receive without offering something in return. The Bruins were not getting Kase for Backes straight. Toronto traded Patrick Marleau´s final year of his contract to Carolina for a first-round pick.
Backes´ deal had the 2019-20 season included, and the Bruins received Kase. Andersson is a promising prospect. Although his skills, look at Jeremy Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, or Connor Clifton. The Bruins´ defensive prospects pool is loaded.
Are the Bruins done after Friday? Definitely not. They have no more first-round draft picks for this year´s NHL Entry Draft to give up. However, a player like Kyle Palmieri would come in handy. As per The Athletic, the asking price for Palmieri could be the same as what the Bruins paid to get Charlie Coyle from Minnesota.
Perhaps Danton Heinen and a fourth-round draft pick going the Devils´ way? The Bruins traded Ryan Donato and a fifth-round pick for Coyle. Don´t expect the Bruins to be done. However, it doesn’t have to be a massive trade. The Kase-Backes trade was massive enough. Chris Kreider is not coming to Boston unless some top-class roster player goes the Rangers´ direction.
