Boston Bruins make a phenomenal move trading for Ondrej Kase

The Boston Bruins have acquired Ondrej Kase from the Anaheim Ducks for a first-round pick, prospect Axel Andersson, and DavidBackes.

The Boston Bruins annual tradition of trading for a forward has occurred. Despite them being linked to Chris Kreider, it wasn’t him. Instead, the Bruins looked west for their target, trading for Anaheim Ducks forward Ondrej Kase.

Forward David Backes (with the Bruins retaining 25% of his contract), a 2020 first-round pick, and prospect Axel Andersson will be heading to the Ducks in the deal.

Marisa Ingemi of The Boston Herald was the first to report the major parts of the deal. NHL insider Pierre LeBrun added the inclusion of Andersson, as well as the retained salary.

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This is a great trade for the Bruins. They got a cost-effective player in Kase, who has a $2.6 million cap hit through the end of the 2020-21 season. That’s important because it makes Kase more than just a rental. If you’re going to trade a first-round pick, it’s better to do it for somebody with the potential to impact more than one postseason.

As an added bonus, the Bruins get David Backes’ contract mostly off the books, though they’ll be retaining $1.5 million per season through the end of the 2020-21 season. Still, that clears over $3 million of cap space per season, which gives the Bruins some much-needed breathing room financially.

In 198 NHL games with the Ducks, Kase has 43 goals and 53 assists for 96 points. At first glance, this doesn’t sound too impressive. However, considering Kase played third line minutes in Anaheim, that’s pretty impressive.

Among the 391 forwards with at least 1,000 5v5 minutes since the start of the 2017-18 season, Kase ranks 24th in 5v5 goals per hour (1.05), 144th in 5v5 assists per hour (1.02), 68th in 5v5 primary assists (0.75), and 64th in 5v5 points per hour (2.06).

Expect Kase to join the Bruins second forward line. Their scoring issues there aren’t a secret. Kase should give them a shooter on that line and gives them a nice secondary scoring boost. He’ll join David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk on that line. Though Kase likely won’t add much on the power play, that’s fine because he’ll help the Bruins improve their 5v5 scoring.

Now, there is a huge concern about Kase. The Ducks had a reason to get rid of him. He struggles to stay healthy. But when Kase is healthy, he has proven to be a very productive and useful player. His injuries, however, got a little bit too frequent for the Ducks.

The Bruins are taking a chance on Kase, but it’s a calculated risk. He’s a good player who has been cursed by injuries. If Kase can stay healthy, he should be a very productive player for the Bruins. They paid a bit of a premium for him, but part of that is because the Ducks took on Backes’ contract.

Between clearing over $3 million of cap space this season and next season, and adding Kase, a first-round pick and a decent prospect is a perfectly reasonable price to pay. It’s likely a lot cheaper than the return Kreider will get for the New York Rangers, too.

The Bruins had to do something to answer the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking extremely good. Moreover, the Lightning got Blake Coleman, who is a vastly underrated player, so the Bruins had to match that. Kase is a nice addition and hopefully, he’ll stay healthy.