Three additional thoughts on Bruins’ trade for Ondrej Kase

There’s still plenty to unpack from Boston’s deal for Ondrej Kase — a move with multiple moving parts and implications for the Bruins as they look to put themselves over the top ahead of the playoffs. 

Following Don Sweeney’s conference call on Friday afternoon, here are three additional takeaways from the first domino to drop for the B’s ahead of Monday’s trade deadline: 

Bruins may not be done ahead of Monday’s deadline: 

With Boston parting ways with arguably its top trade chip in its 2020 first-round pick, it remains to be seen just how much ammo Sweeney has to work with when it comes to fishing for some of the top targets remaining on the market — headlined by Chris Kreider and Kyle Palmieri. 

Perhaps Boston could remain in the hunt for those top-six options by wagering future quality draft capital, young, cost-controlled NHLers like Anders Bjork and valued prospects such as Trent Frederic. 

But even if Boston is out of the running for those forwards, there are plenty of additional targets that may not require such a steep cost — such as Columbus’ Josh Anderson or Montreal’s Ilya Kovalchuk. While acquiring a player like Anderson may not require a first-round pick, scooping up an RFA just a year removed from a 27-goal campaign would still cost at least a couple of picks or prospects. 

While there is no guarantee that the Bruins will pull the trigger on another deal ahead of the deadline, it seems as though Boston’s GM is leaving all options open. 

“I don’t know what will be or can be done,” Sweeney said. “We’ll continue to make calls and look at different opportunities that may exist. For us, I’d like to pay attention to Ondrej and the potential he brings to our hockey club. As I said before, we did see his scoring abilities, his versatility, his own game, ability to probably play either with Krejci or Coyle on that right side, he’s a right shot.

“Adds to the speed and offensive ability to our hockey club. For us, we’ve addressed what we think we need and also doesn’t take away from any of the players we have on our current roster and the players that have been pushing from down below from a depth perspective to continue to have our club hopefully staying healthy throughout our last twenty games and into the playoffs.”

Bruins view Kase as a versatile weapon up front: 

While Kase’s ultimate place in this Bruins’ lineup might hinge on whether or not Sweeney scoops up another top-six winger ahead of the deadline, the Czech forward’s ability to drive 5v5 offense and pepper the net make him a solid fit with either Krejci or Coyle going forward. 

Kase’s underlying numbers fit the profile of a winger that could see his scoring totals spike in the right system and with the proper playmaking talent around him, but Sweeney noted that Kase checks off plenty of other boxes in terms of what the Bruins are looking for in a mid-season pickup. 

“Looking at his history, obviously playing with another team so there’s some contextual things you’ve got to try and balance there,” Sweeney said of Kase’s play style. “ He’s played in different roles, whether it’s playing higher in the lineup so to speak with a (Ryan) Getzlaf type, he has finished. His expected goals are generally at the top of his grouping. A lot of that is five-on-five. He has played some power play, secondary power-play units. But he does drive puck possession, positive impact at both ends of the ice in five-on-five situations. He’s been a player that’s been in the top of his categories in five-on-five production over the last three years per 60 minutes. 

“Shooting percentage is down a little bit than previous years, so we wondered if there’s some puck luck that’s gone against him this year. But he’s a volume shooter. You look at his shot metrics in that he’s increased his shooting volume over the years, it’s continued to go up. It depends on the role that players are put in. With the likes of Getzlaf, he’s a shooter. With the likes of (Adam) Henrique, he’s a playmaker. With the likes of (Sam) Steel, he has the ability to stabilize because he’s a responsible, versatile player. 

“He’s playing with a younger center despite the fact that he’s fairly young. I think we’ve tried to look at it from every angle. Ultimately, you’ve got to put him on your own team to see how he fits in. We believe that he can complement, we have centers, we have guys that have played on opposite sides of the ice. At times, Bruce (Cassidy) is satisfied, other times he’s frustrated. So I think the more we can add to our group, which is what we’ve tried to do – add to our group – and allow the depth of our hockey club to hopefully be a strength, that’s what we worked to adjust with adding Ondrej.”

Bruins are going to take it slow with Kase out the gate:

If there are any potential drawbacks in Kase’s game, it is his injury history, which is quite extensive for a player just four seasons into his NHL career. Along with a few concussions, Kase missed most of last season due to a torn labrum — and has not appeared in a game since getting flattened by Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin back on Feb. 7. 

Kase had been back on the ice with the Ducks prior to getting dealt — but he won’t suit up until Tuesday at the earliest. 

“The obvious question that people are going to ask is Ondrej’s health, and he’s been back on the ice,” Sweeney said. “He will join the team back here in Boston and not in Vancouver or Calgary. We’ll move forward from there, but we have an understanding of where Ondrej’s health is at and we look forward to having him on our team.”

Even with the injury concerns, Kase’s extended absence since that hit from Muzzin was also compounded by an illness that sidelined him beyond his expected return.

Boston will make sure Kase is back up to speed before integrating him into the lineup, but with that illness being the primary concern in the short term — it would seem likely that the B’s new winger should be cleared very soon. 

“He’ll have today off, he’ll travel,” Sweeney said. “We’ll get him in, he’ll be on ice with us fully on Monday. And then we’ll make an evaluation as to how comfortable he is in getting back to playing. The injuries are what they are; he’s had shoulder surgery; he’s had a concussion in the past. So, we’re just going to make sure he feels good and ready to go. Like I said, he’s excited, happy to join our team. Knows players on our team and speaking with him today, he’ll be ready to go on ice. But we’ll just make sure he’s one hundred percent before he is. That’s the benefit of having our current team where they’re at right now, hopefully, it stays that way from a health perspective.”