NHL Fantasy: Boston Bruins Gearing Up for a Long Playoff Run, Good for Owners

The Toronto Maple Leafs have given up on the playoffs and now have 11 draft picks in the upcoming entry draft and are finally doing the rebuild correctly.  Their division rival Boston Bruins have been busy adding pieces and are making a strong case to be Cup contenders.  Many experts predict that Boston is built for a long playoff run and now more will predict an even deeper run.

TRADE:

Boston Bruins traded Joe Colborne, first-round draft pick 2011 and conditional second-round draft pick 2012 to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Tomas Kaberle.  

With the long-term injury to Marc Savard (concussion), the Bruins lost one of their power-play quarterbacks.  Adding Kaberle will instantly make their power play better and all of their offensive players will benefit from his presence. 

Kaberle is on pace for his eighth 40+ point season. He had his two best seasons between 2005 and 2007, where he scored 67 and 58 points.  This deal will hurt Dennis Seidenberg owners, as his power-play time will be reduced. 

TRADE:

Boston traded Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to the Atlanta Thrashers for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik.

The Bruins needed to clear up cap space to acquire Kaberle, which was the focus of this deal.  This deal wasn’t merely a money dump, as Peverley will bring a strong two-way playmaking forward who can play center or right wing.  He is on pace for another 20-goal season and will line up on the third line. 

Valabik is a big, physical defenseman who is still developing and is very excited to play on the same team as fellow Slovak Zdeno Chara.  Valabik has no fantasy value, but if he develops into a top shutdown defenseman while playing with Chara, look out NHL.  Just imagine these two giants on the blue line together, with Chara at 6-9 and Valabik at 6-7. 

TRADE:

Boston Bruins traded a second-round draft pick in 2011 to the Ottawa Senators for Chris Kelly.

Kelly is a checking forward who has averaged 30 points for the Senators over the last five seasons.  Kelly is a versatile forward who can play any forward position.  He won’t have a big fantasy impact, but his value will be during the playoffs where checkers play vital roles.  Kelly has the potential to be the Bruins version of Tomas Holmstrom.

Looking back on the Stanley Cup runs of the Detroit Red Wings, they got timely scoring from their checking line. The additions of Kelly and Peverley to their third line could give the Bruins the same thing.

If your fantasy pool uses the NHL playoffs as your league playoffs, don’t waste all your assets to acquire Kaberle. Go after other Bruins. 

Pursue players like Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Michael Ryder or even Mark Recchi, as they will be cheaper, and their offense will improve once Kaberle gets comfortable in a Boston uniform.