OK, so now what?

I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll take it from the top, and we’ll try to make sense of it all. I have questions that need answers, each one more diabolical than the last. Not really, I’ve just always wanted to start a post that way.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting down for pizza at the usual Friday spot, when my cell phone exploded. Three people texted me to let me know Boston traded Aaron Ward to Carolina for a fourth round draft pick, and Patrick Eaves. Eaves was waived with the purpose of buying him out, which I am confused about, but I will get to that. This deal made little sense, but everyone decided it had to be a do me a favor deal as in, hey Boston, we need defense badly we’ll trade you Eaves for Ward. Or, it could have gone the other way as in, Hey Carolina. We need to clear cap space; can we interest you in Aaron Ward? He lives in Carolina after all. Either way, it looks like it’s a deal to free up space, as the Bruins signed Derek Morris last night to a 1 year deal at $3.3 million.

So, our suspicions were correct about it being a precursor to something else. I thought they were trying to free up money to sign Phil Kessel, and they may very well still be. This Morris signing is interesting. A lot of blogs and places that report on NHL rumors had Morris all but in a Bruins uniform last season at the trade deadline. Truthfully, I know very little about him, but I know he’s young, and can play a little bit.

Here’s where I get super confused. Why waive Eaves with the purpose of buying him out? Can Boston buy him out and sign him at a reduced rate now? I thought once a player was bought out, he was free to sign with any other team, except the one that bought him out. The thinking being that a team like the Islanders who bought out Alexi Yashin’s albatross contract couldn’t have bought him out, then turned around and signed him to a more sensible offer. Which if they could do that, they might want to think about buying out Rick DiPietro. I may be way off, but I am almost positive one can’t be bought out and resigned by the same team. I’m thinking Boston wanted no part of Eaves in the first place, and was doing Carolina a favor by getting him off their books.

How does this affect the one Boston owes Carolina? Scott Walker needs to answer the bell for the sucker he threw at Aaron Ward in the playoffs last year. Now that they are team mates (Ward and Walker that is) is the debt null and void? TKO says Boston owes Walker one for the goal he scored to win the series anyway. While I agree, I’d like to beat him up for that; it’s not how the code works. In my mind, Walker is still owed for the punch. He slighted a member of the team, and must pay. Having said that, does Ward now have to do something in defense of his new teammate should Thornton, or Lucic, or anyone go after him when the season starts? I think he does. It’s also part of the code. This is either going to be the start of a nasty rivalry with someone going after Walker, Wardo having to answer, and so on and so forth, or nothing at all will happen because of this trade, and we’ll all move on. Either way, I am looking forward to October now more than ever.

Hey Scott, Wanna room on the road with me? No?