Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Furball’s Sports Page is proud to bring to you it’s newest edition of it world famous This and That column! This is a very busy week in the world of sports so there is going to be a lot to talk about. I needed to get the latest out of the way so I don’t get back logged. So here we go.
Nothing Good Bruin Here—The Boston Bruins did the right thing and broke up their goalie tandem when they traded Linus Ullmark to Ottawa for what was the Bruins first round pick, forward Mark Kastelic, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. The pick is number 25 in this years first round, Kastelic is a 4th line center, and Korpisalo is a terrible goaltender with 4 years left under contract. To sum it up, I hate this trade.
While having a 1st rounder this year is a good thing, and possibly the best part of the trade, it does not help the team this season. The chances whoever they pick will make the roster are extremely slim. 5 years from now we could be celebrating this pick. Next year, it’s a non-entity.
The last thing the Bruins need is more bottom 6 forwards. They need top 6 guys, badly. Kastelic is not an offensive player. He has been in the league for 3 years and has 14 goals and 11 assists TOTAL. He did have 101 penalty minutes in 22/23 so he throws his weight around and he is very good on faceoffs. I am sure he will be a perfectly fine 4th line center and even someone they can put out there to take big faceoffs in the 3rd period. But again, that wasn’t the biggest need on the roster.
That brings us to Korpisalo. Last season he was last in the league in goals against and save percentage. Clearly had the worst season of any goalie in the league. He is going to be the Bruins back up (and for the love of Bobby Orr I hope it’s not a rotation) this season. With the Bruins system and Goalie Bob, I am sure he will play better than he did on a horrendous Ottawa team last season. He has had some good seasons in his career, so the potential is there. The big problem I have is his contract. The whole point of trading Ullmark was to get his money off the books so they could invest it in forwards, preferably goal scorers. Korpisalo is going to count as 3 mil on the cap. Ullmark was 5 mil. With the raise that Swayman is going to get, the Bruins will actually be spending more on goaltending this season than they did last season. They went in the opposite direction. The point was supposed to be trading Ullmark and using Bussi at $775,000 as the backup and use the 4 million elsewhere. I don’t get it. Was it worth 2 mil in cap space to get back their first rounder? Not for this year. Obviously, we will see what the rest of the offseason brings for the Spoked B. The draft starts Friday. Hopefully Sweeney will get us more than “secondary scoring”. So far, I think they are off to a bad start.
No Drafts In Here—Speaking of drafts, the Celtics have the 30th pick in this years NBA draft which begins tonight. As a Celtics fan, I probably won’t even flip over to see when they are on the clock. My guess is that they will not use the pick. They will either trade back or trade out. The Reigning, Defending NBA Champions are over the second tax apron and paying a first rounder is going to be really expensive. Seeing as there is as good of a chance of that pick playing for the Celtics next year is the same as me playing for the Celtics next season, there is really no reason to spend the money. Picks in this draft for the Celtics will be guys they can either send to Maine or keep in Europe and develop them. Probably never to be heard from again. This is just the way the team is set up. Their rotation is set. Which is good because being over the second apron means they really can’t improve their team. Luckily, they don’t have to. Hopefully they will be able to resign their bench bigs and just run it back next season. So for Celtics fans, this is going to be a very boring offseason.
From Hunter to Hunted—The New York Knicks pulled off a major trade in acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Nets for a boat load of unprotected first round draft picks. This is a move made with the purpose of competing with the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are all about wings and perimeter players. The Knicks are clearly trying to combat this. The trade is going to hard cap the Knicks so it will probably cost them their ability to resign Hartenstein, there very good back up center, assuming they resign OG Anunoby. While Hartenstein is good, if the idea is to match up against the Celtics, you do not need to pay two big guys as the Celtics usually only play one big at a time and all of their bigs, aside from Kornet, play on the perimeter. Basically, trading a good big for a vey good wing is the type of move you make if your goal is to beat the Celtics (and to collect as many Villanova alumni as possible. Hey, I think Ed Pinkney has nothing to do these days). Most of last season I told anyone who would listen, and some who wouldn’t, that if they could get healthy, the Knicks were the second-best team in the East and could give the Celtics a run for their money. Luckily, they never got healthy and never got the chance to try to derail the Celtics championship run. I think the Knickerbockers have used this move to solidify themselves as the number two team in the East and a true challenger to the Celtics and the rest of the league. Now, the offseason has just started so other teams can make moves to put them ahead of the Knicks or even the Celtics. But for now, if they are healthy (and with Thibodeau as coach, the odds aren’t good), the Knicks are real contenders for the East and the NBA crown.
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