Why a 1-6 Team With Shallow Prospect Depth Gave Up a 2nd Round Pick

By Nate Wells

Chuck Fletcher's trade of AHLer Craig Weller, prospect Alexander Fallstrom and a second-round pick in 2011 for Boston Bruins forward Chuck Kobasew is an interesting trade from a Minnesota standpoint. While Boston's benefits are more obvious and straight-forward - the B's get cap help and more future assets to parlay into something down the line - Minnesota's benefits and success will depend upon what else Fletcher does later this season and next off-season.

At first glance, it appears that this was a disappointing trade for the Wild as they overpaid for a twenty-goal scorer due to desperation from injuries, a 1-6 record and forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard being out longer than originally assumed. While some of that is true and Kobasew can stop some of the initial bleeding the Wild have suffered, this is a move designed for the long-term. Minnesota's new GM has been saddled with a lot of bad contracts and players who aren't set up to play head coach Todd Richards' brand of hockey. Thankfully for him, there are eight UFAs this season and one or two should fetch a good price at the deadline provided Chuck Fletcher has better asset management than Doug Risebrough. It's hard to remedy that with one player, especially when there's little prospect depth to begin with, but this is a start and will help the Wild out some in the short-term. There's no one "answer" to Minnesota's problems as Richards still has a lot of problems to get through, injuries notwithstanding.

Kobasew is a player who I believe will fit in well with Minnesota, as they need scoring now with four "top-six" players hurt and he actually has a shoot-first attitude and a good work ethic [all things the Wild need right now]. That said, he can't do everything by himself; if that's the case and he was brought in as a stop-gap, then this trade is a coup for Boston. Kobasew needs to be surrounded by more players who fit into the new vision Fletcher and Richards have for the team. It'll be interesting to see what happens next season as the team is shaped into something new and more assets are attained [it wouldn't be surprising if there are a few players who could be on their way out], but for now Bruins fans have to be very happy with the return they received for an expendable piece.