It appears that Bruins' general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't done wheeling and dealing. The Bruins acquired winger Daniel Paille from Buffalo for a 2010 3rd round draft pick and a conditional 2010 4th round draft pick. This was the first trade between these two teams. (Official release.)

It seems a little odd to acquire another player when the line-up seemed set after two practices since Chuck Kobasew was traded. Paille almost seems like a replacement for Kobasew.

With Vladimir Sobotka practically locked in on a line with Blake Wheeler and David Krejci, and Brad Marchand skating with Patrice Bergeron and Michael Ryder, Sobotka and Marchand should stay in Boston regardless of the new acquisition.

One Bruin who has missed the last two practices was Shawn Thornton. Marc Savard missed practice yesterday, but returned today. If Thornton is injured, then maybe there's nothing to read into. However, I am always one to read into things.

We'll see how this all plays out over the next few days. The Bruins host the Nashville Predators tomorrow and then play in Philadelphia on Thursday.

So I was at Kohl's finding some cool Bruins ornaments that I've never seen before. (Bruins stuff is hard for things like ornaments and other things, while the Red Sox and Patriots stuff is never hard to come by.)

I was checking Twitter after checking out and as I was closing Tweetie 2 on my iPhone I saw the words, "Kobasew" "trade" and "Wild." I said out loud to nobody in particular, "did I just read what I think I read?"

I sure did. I expected Chuck Kobasew to be traded after James Murphy (of Inside Hockey and NESN) tweeted during the Dallas game that the Wild and Bruins were talking about Kobasew.

The Bruins acquired the Wild's 2011 second-round pick, the rights to forward Alexander Fallstrom, and forward Craig Weller.

Weller, a fifth round selection of the St. Louis Blues in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (167th overall), has played in 95 NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes and Minnesota Wild and has 4-10=14 totals with 127 penalty minutes. This season, Weller has played five games for the Houston Aeros (AHL) and has one assist and seven penalty minutes. Last season, Weller played in 36 games for the Wild and earned 1-2=3 totals and 47 PIM's. - press release

There is no doubt Kobasew had a slow start to the season and draft picks are valuable nowadays. I am a little surprised about the return Bruins' general manager Peter Chiarelli got in the trade. But that does show what the value of Kobasew was to another team and it all evens out.

In other news, the Bruins recalled forwards Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka from Providence. Guillaume Lefebvre was loaned to Providence and recalled again. Milan Lucic has been placed on the long-term injured reserve with a broken thumb.

As a fan of Kobasew, I can't say I am happy about the trade. However, since it makes room for a player like Marchand when there is barely any room, I'm all for it. Wish Kobasew the best in Minnesota and hopefully this will kick the Bruins a kick in their pants.

News started trickling out a couple of hours ago that Phil Kessel, holdout and king of this summer's Bruins saga, was going to be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs were the front runners again, taking the spot from the Nashville Predators.

The Bruins traded Kessel for what appears to be two first round draft picks and a second round draft pick. The draft picks break down like this: 2010 first round pick and 2010 second round pick, and 2011 first round pick.

Kessel reportedly signed with the Leafs at $27 million for five years. That means Phil the Thrill will be pocketing some $5.4 million per season.

The Bruins couldn't afford that and while GM Peter Chiarelli said time and time again he would make room under the salary cap for the sniper, it never seemed like it was going to happen. Kessel doesn't fit in the direction the Bruins want to go. The Bruins wants grit and toughness, something Kessel never really showed he was.

The Kessel saga has finally come to an official close.

The Bruins have their first preseason game at the TD Garden tomorrow at 4 against the New York Rangers.

The Boston Bruins traded defenseman Aaron Ward to the Carolina Hurricanes this morning for winger Patrick Eaves and a fourth round draft pick. Ward, who still has a home in North Carolina in the off-season, will be returning to his old team. Ward won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006. The Hurricanes also have former Bruins' defenseman Andrew Alberts on their blue line.

"I knew right off the bat," Ward said. "It's never good when your general manager calls you in the summer. He told me I was traded. I was pretty happy with the news that I'd get to go back to Carolina. He conveyed to me that he wasn't going to trade me anywhere else but Carolina. It worked out well."

Eaves didn't stay a Bruin for very long either. General manager Peter Chiarelli announced Eaves was placed on waivers with the intentions of buying him out. The trade seems more like a salary dump to make cap space to re-sign winger Phil Kessel.

You may be wondering why the Bruins made the trade at all instead of buying out Ward's contract. Eaves had a $1.4 cap hit and two years left on the contract. That means the Bruins have the buyout hit over the course of four seasons. Ward's contract has one year left for $2.5 million. In the long run, it was cheaper to trade for Eaves and buy him out rather than buy Ward out.

“Because the contract is structured with escalating salaries, we actually get a positive credit to our cap next year in the amount of $41,000,” said Chiarelli, who noted that because Eaves is younger than 26, the buyout is for one-third the value of the deal.

I guess that's why when you're a general manager of a NHL, you need to have superb math skills. Or someone within the organization to figure all of this math out.

The trade thins out the defense a bit, but we knew somebody would have to go to make cap space for Kessel or another defenseman. Chiarelli has said he would do whatever needed to be done to get Kessel re-signed. This was the first move. There might be more moves coming.

The Boston Bruins have acquired Mark Recchi from Tampa Bay. What goes the other way will be announced.

The Lightning acquire defenseman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums from the Bruins. The Bruins also picked up a 2010 2nd round draft pick from the Lightning.

Recchi, 41, will bring a little more depth up front.

"I have no idea," Recchi told TSN when asked what kind of role he'd play. "When I get there, the coaching staff will fill me in. I don't really care, to be honest. I'll do whatever role they ask."

Recchi has 45 points this season. In the last five games he's played between 15 to 18 minutes. He had five assists in Sunday's game against Calgary. He has played in 140 playoff games and won a Cup in Carolina with Aaron Ward.