Bruins Trade for Manny Fernandez, sign Shawn Thornton

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2922238


I really like this move. It makes the Bruins instantly better and fills the whole in net. Manny is a much better goalie than Thomas and has a proven record to back that up. He has a career GAA of 2.47 and a S% of .913. Last year he posted numbers of 2.55 and .911 in 44 games.

Hopefully he will be given the chance to carry the load as the number one starter, as that is what he wanted in leaving Minnesota. I think that he wants to prove that he is a clear number 1 goalie and that may take his play to new heights in Boston.

This move seems to mean that either Tim Thomas or Hannu Toivonen will be traded. I hope Thomas is traded because his salary is higher than Hannu's and I still believe Hannu has a bright future.

However, Hannu has more trade value and would not be served well by sitting on the bench as Manny's backup. I would not be against a trade involving Hannu if we were to get a top line forward in return. The team desperately needs some scoring. Also, trading Hannu doesn't hurt the future of the team because of the presence of Rask, who by nearly all accounts, is the best goalie prospect around.

The Bruins signed only one free agent on this crazy Sunday, Shawn Thornton. Thornton is a big winger who will likely make his home on the checking line. This isn't a very big signing, but the Boston Herald is reporting that Thornton will make 500k, close to the league minimum of 475k. Its a multi year deal, I can't seem to find the length anywhere. If I were to venture a guess I would say 3 years.

Also, while not Bruins related, Buffalo lost both Briere and Drury, any weakening of our division helps us, so that's a good thing to see.

There very many big names left on the market so I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruins didn't make anymore moves. Some of the worst contracts are given to the mid level guys out of desperation and those mistakes are the hardest to get out from under (well those and the Islanders 10 yr contract to Yashin an 15 yr deal for DiPietro). I'd look towards a trade unless the Bruins shed some salary, most likely in the form of Glenn Murray.