The Boston Bruins finally made their first move of the 2020 Trade Deadline.
On Friday afternoon, the Bruins sent David Backes, their 2020 first-round pick and prospect Axel Andersson to the Anaheim Ducks for forward Ondrej Kase.
In the deal, the Bruins will retain 25 percent of Backes’ contract. According to Pierre LeBrun, the Ducks will only pay about $3 million real dollars next season towards Backes.
Kase comes into Boston with seven goals and 16 assists on the season in 49 games. Those 23 points would currently rank ninth on the Bruins. His 54.99 corsi-for percentage led the Ducks this season.
The only clear issue with the 24-year-old winger is his injury history. He was limited to 30 games last season after tearing his labrum and needing shoulder surgery.
The Bruins have been rumored to be interested in adding a winger for a month or so now and though this doesn’t fully solidify their need, Kase will fit well into the lineup. If the Bruins don’t make another move, he’d fit well next to fellow Czech David Krejci on the second line.
But the feeling is that with this extra cap space from dealing away Backes and the need for a more proven scorer, the Bruins will make another move and Kase would then probably fit best on Charlie Coyle’s right side.
Kase carries a cap-hit of $2.6 million and has an extra year of control, as he won’t be a restricted free agent until after the 2020-21 season.
Another interesting thing to note is Kase and David Pastrnak were teammates on the Czech National Team back in the 2014 and 2015 World Juniors.
As for Backes, the Bruins waived him back on Jan. 17 and have been looking for a suitor for him. The cost of getting a team to take most, if not all, of Backes’ contract would never come cheap and it certainly didn’t here, although Don Sweeney didn’t just dump him for nothing.
