Bruins acquire Paille from Buffalo for picks

The Bruins are wheeling and dealing again, this time the Bruins acquired forward Daniel Paille from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a third-round pick in 2010 and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2010.

Paille has played in two games for the Sabres this year, with one assist. That being said, Paille is a guy who will most likely provide depth for the Bruins. This does not mean that Vladimir Sobotka or Brad Marchand will lose out on a roster spot. The Bruins are not carrying an extra forward at the moment, so Paille could fill that spot.

I'm sure the Bruins will discuss Paille's role in more detail tomorrow.

REPORT: Lefebvre reassigned to Providence

Joe Haggerty is reporting that, forward Guillaume Lefebvre was reassigned to the Providence Bruins on Monday night after playing in one game for the Bruins over the weekend.

The move will put the Bruins back at the bear minimum of forwards. This means that both Vladimir Sobotka and Brad Marchand will be in the lineup Wednesday night against Nashville.

Lucic surgery successful, will miss 4-6 weeks

Peter Chiarelli announced today that Bruins forward Milan Lucic underwent successful surgery to repair a broken right index finger. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Claude Julien expressed his displeasure with losing Lucic for up to six weeks when addressing the media today.

"Any time you lose a guy like Looch, one of those players that usually has a pretty good impact on the game when he's on top of it, it's certainly going to hurt," coach Claude Julien said.

"I think we saw him more like the player we wanted him to be in Dallas. It's going to hurt, but it's going to give somebody else an opportunity to step up, and we've always been a team in the past that has responded well to those by everybody picking up the slack."

The move to Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) is retroactive to October 16. The first game Lucic would be eligible to return from LTIR is November 10, against Pittsburgh. However, it does not appear that Lucic would be available to come back that early.

Kobasew's reaction to the trade; Milbury speculates on possible Ference trade

Chuck Kobasew has spoken with the Minnesota media after being traded to the Wild Sunday night. Kobasew was asked how he felt about the trade, and if he was surprised by it.

“I was a bit surprised, but in Boston we were not playing that well and when the team’s not playing up to expectations and you’re not playing up to expectations, these things can happen.”

Kobasew was a good guy, but he just wasn't cutting it here in Boston; especially for the salary.

Another buzz has been started (although I have heard these rumblings for months) from former Boston Bruin and current NESN analyst, Mike Milbury.

Milbury is speculating that the Bruins may be looking to ship Andrew Ference out of town. He sites the NHLPA drama as a major reason for this.

"There’s been a lot of heated debate in the Bruins locker room and some chatter about them even trying to move Ference at this point."

I know that Peter Chiarelli has never been a major fan of Ference, so after the trade of Kobasew today we may see another chip fall soon.

If you want to hear the interview with NHL Live! on XM Radio than click the link.

Bruins ship Kobasew to Wild; Lucic to LTIR

A lot of news coming out tonight folks. The Bruins have made two big announcements and here they are, courtesy of their official website.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has acquired a second round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the rights to unsigned draft choice Alexander Fallstrom and forward Craig Weller from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Chuck Kobasew.

BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has recalled forwards Guillaume Lefebvre, Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka from the Providence Bruins and placed forward Milan Lucic on Long Term Injured Reserve. Lefebvre’s recall is on an emergency basis.

My take ~

Call me a psychic, but I saw this Kobasew trade coming. Kobasew has only one point in seven games this season, and has been always known as a streaky player. Peter Chiarelli has always liked consistency, and Kobasew couldn't seem to find any.

Another big factor with Kobasew was his salary. Kobasew makes, $2.33 million a season, and with the production he has been giving, is being severely overpaid.

The Bruins put Milan Lucic on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) and with the rules of LTIR, Lucic will not be able to return until at least the November 12 game against Florida.

With Kobasew now gone, and Milan Lucic out for the next month, Boston has called up Lefebvre, Marchand and Sobotka to the varsity. Brad Marchand has been great for Providence so far this season, so I would expect Marchand to take Kobasew's spot on the third line.

Sobotka, of course has the most NHL experience with Boston and will likely get a look on the fourth line. Lefebvre played 11 minutes on the fourth line in Saturday night's loss against Phoenix, but isn't as good a player as Sobotka and Marchand.

One thing that may help Lefebvre is that he is a bruiser, and with Milan Lucic out, he may be needed to help Shawn Thornton in dropping the gloves.

One final note is that sources have told me that Dennis Wideman will be back in the Boston lineup for Wednesday's tilt against Nashville.

So, while one Bruin is out via trade, and another with an injury, it looks like one will be back in Wideman.

I'll try to get more tomorrow night, as I'm sure Peter Chiarelli will address the media tomorrow.

Lucic has broken finger, Thomas to start against Phoenix

Milan Lucic will miss tonight's game, as reported earlier. However, now we know why. Lucic has a broken right index finger, suffered in last night's win over Dallas.

As I speculated earlier, Byron Bitz will slide up to the second line with Lefebvre taking the right wing spot on the fourth line. Shawn Thornton moves to the left side on the fourth line.

There is no timetable set for Lucic's return.

As for the question of who will start in goal for Boston, that has been answered as well. Tim Thomas will get the nod between the pipes for the second straight night. Thomas of course is coming off of his best outing of the season, stopping 27 shots and shutting out Dallas.

Bruins downing of Dallas a season changer, again?

Did it happen again? Last season, the Boston Bruins seemed to turn their season around on Nov. 1, after a game with the Dallas Stars.

This season, have the Bruins done the same thing with a Oct. 16 W, against Dallas?

Boston certainly looked good last night in their 3-0 triumph over the Stars. The defense finally showed the ability to lock down their opponent and Tim Thomas showed why he is the reigning Vezina trophy winner, making 27 saves and shutting out Dallas.

The offense looked pretty good in their own right, especially the newly formed first line. Marc Savard scored two goals, with his second being the highlight.

On the goal, Michael Ryder carried the puck into the Dallas zone and put the puck in a perfect spot for Savard, who had opened up and one timed the pass, past Marty Turco.

The win puts the Bruins back at .500 (3-3) going into their Saturday night showdown in Phoenix.

Speaking of tonight's game, it has been reported that Milan Lucic will not be apart of it. Lucic has an undisclosed injury and Guillaume Lefebvre will be called up from Providence to take Lucic's spot on the roster.

There have not been any indications of what the lines will look like tonight. The first line will stay the same, but it is unknown who will take Lucic's spot at left wing on the second line.

Lefebvre is a bruiser who accrues more penalty minutes than any one man should. The bet tonight should be +/- three penalty minutes for Lefebvre tonight. I'll go with the over.

Tonight's game note is that Derek Morris will play in his 800th NHL game tonight. Morris, of course was a part of the Coyotes at the beginning of last season before being shipped to the Rangers at the trade deadline.

Check back later for lines and for who will start between the pipes for Boston tonight.

Bruins and Stars preview

Happy almost weekend Bruins nation, and a happy one more day until some puck.

The biggest news out of Wilmington today was that Dennis Wideman has been officially ruled out of game action for both Friday and Saturday night's tilts.

Wideman, of course hurt his left shoulder when he fell into the board Saturday night against the Islanders. Johnny Boychuk will start in Wideman's place.

After listening to the coach, it looks as if Wideman will be ready to go Wednesday night against Nashville.

OTT & MODANO OUT FRIDAY
To take a little bit of steam out of Friday night's match up, Steve Ott will be missing the game. Ott has an oblique muscle injury that he suffered Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

Ott was the villain in last year's Nov. 1 tilt at the Garden and now with Ott out for Friday night, revenge will no longer be an option of the Bruins.
Mike Modano is also likely out for Friday nights game with a rib injury. Dallas is coming off of a, 6-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

LINE SWAP
Tomorrow night, we will be seeing a change on the Bruins top two lines. Milan Lucic and Michael Ryder will be switching lines to try and provide a spark. The lines will be as follows.

Sturm - Savard - Ryder

Lucic - Krejci - Wheeler

Recchi - Bergeron - Kobasew

Bitz - Begin - Thornton

These were the lines that I selected during the pre-season. The move puts Marco Sturm back on his strong side which should help, as well as puts a shooter with Marc Savard.

Lucic, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler will now form a young gun line, that should hold a lot of energy. Krejci and Wheeler are both 23, while Lucic is still, just 21.

GOALIE CONTROVERSY?
Finally, it has not been decided who will start in goal tomorrow night. The odds are that Tim Thomas will be back between the pipes, but is there more behind Tuukka Rask starting back-to-back games?

We'll find out tomorrow.