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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Sturm traded to L.A. (officially?)

Looks like it.



The is a case of prid-pro-quo-- this for that-- the Bruins get Sturm off the books and are cap compliant, which saves Peter Chiarelli from having to do anything drastic to potentially upset team chemistry, and Kings GM Dean Lombardi's payoff is that he gets the player at a reduced rate. And, if Sturm is healthy enough when he comes off IR in another week or so, make no mistake- he *will* help that team up front.

Well, at the end of the day, it's about keeping this current Bruins team intact, and Sturm hasn't been in the mix since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semi-final series when he went down and David Krejci soon followed (along with Boston's Stanley Cup dreams).

All the best to Sturm, but this really was for the best. As a result of the botched deal almost two weeks ago, things were awwwkwarrrddd for him in Boston. He gets to turn the page and get his mind right for the next challenge. So do the Bruins.

Speaking of challenges, the Philadelphia Flyers are in town tonight...puck drops in about 20.

UPDATE: Peter Chiarelli has weighed in-- It's official, but the Bruins get "nothing" for Sturm (thanks to my Bruins colleagues on Twitter)-- other than the cap space the team is now no longer obligated for. Nice deal for Lombardi; he gets a passionate, proven goal scorer (albeit a streaky one) with a history for netting some big ones. Bruins get bupkus other than the fact that they now no longer have to cut assets at bargain rates just to get under the cushion.

I guess that's what made the Hunwick-for-Cohen trade interesting for me. Had Colorado GM Greg Sherman pushed it, he likely could have held Chiarelli over the same kind of barrel and simply refused to part with any kind of asset. Makes you wonder-- was it a mistake borne out of inexperience, or was Sherman simply making an addition by subtraction by moving Cohen out of the Avalanche organization? I guess time will tell.


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