I’ve gotta give props to Allan Muir over at SI.com for his great analysis of the Bruins’ trade of Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota. In addition to rehashing all the explanations I and other reporters have given you on the deal, Muir came up with one more reason for the Bruins to provide the Wild with a 20-goal scorer that should help their offense-deficient team.
Every game the lowly Wild win over the next several months could keep them from falling behind Toronto in the overall NHL standings, Muir writes. So that Leafs first-round pick that now belongs to the Bruins has a better chance of being closer to the top of the draft if Kobasew helps the Wild. Genius!
So while the Bruins will probably be rooting for Kobasew and the Wild (except Nov. 25 when Boston visits St. Paul), feel free to jump on that bandwagon as well.
Unless Kessel can play defense or goal, he’s not going to help the Leafs a whole lot.
no, we havent forgotten, we just know he wont make that big of an impact. with they way Toronto goaltending is looking, kessel will need to score 3 goals per game starting his first game back to get them into the playoffs. obv thats a bit of a stretch but Kessel is not gonna turn the whole team around himself.
If Kobasew’s stats going forward are the same, it’s hard to see how that helps Minnesota. In addition, everyone seems to be forgetting that Kessel has yet to suit up for the Leafs.