The Anaheim Ducks have traded forward Ondrej Kase to the Boston Bruins. The 24-year old had scored seven goals and 23 points through 49 games in early February. The seventh-round pick from the 2014 Draft has been a fine player but has not developed into a consistent enough threat for Anaheim.
TSN’s Frank Servalli said that the Ducks will get David Backes, prospect Axel Andersson and a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Hearing Ondrej Kase being traded to Boston
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 21, 2020
Ducks Trade Ondrej Kase
Kase’s new team will get a player capable of scoring 20 goals if his numbers rebound. He is shooting an abysmal 5.0 percent on 120 shots. His goals would be almost double what they are if he was shooting around his 9.6 percent career average. He is averaging more ice time per game than in any other season, so bad luck has hit the young Czech in a big way this season.
His new team should expect a decent top-nine scorer but they should also be wary of his injury history. He has been hurt multiple times over the past two seasons. Kase hasn’t played in more than 66 games in any of his four seasons to this point. That could obviously change this year but his new organization will certainly monitor his health moving forward.
What This Means for the Future
The Ducks will shave $2.6 million off their projected 2020-21 cap hit assuming the re-sign every other pending free agent still rostered. They are going on a major rebuild but will still have the money to chase a premier free agent should the front office go that direction. There are still some pieces to sell, so Anaheim could have even more free money to burn this off-season.
Kase will try to prove he is worth a new contract and pay raise after next season. His 20 goals in 66 games in 2017-18 indicate he is a quality scoring option but he needs to stay healthy and rebound from a terrible first half of 2019-20. His new linemates will hopefully help correct some of his current shooting woes.
The Bruins were able to dump Backes’ salary on the Ducks, but had to pay the price in dealing Andersson and a first-round selection.
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