Bruins send wakeup call, add to war chest with Kobasew trade

GM Peter Chiarelli did a few interesting things with tonight's Bruins' trade of winger Chuck Kobasew to the Minnesota Wild for current AHL right winger Craig Weller(notes), the rights to Harvard freshman forward Alex Fallstrom and a second-round pick in 2011.First, he cleared $2.3 million off the books for this season and, more importantly, for 2010-11, with Tuuka Rask (RFA), Blake Wheeler(notes) (RFA) and most notably Marc Savard(notes) (UFA) looking at new deals by next summer. But as WEEI's Joe Haggerty points out, it's also a multi-faceted move to give an underwhelming B's team (3-4-0) a kick in the rear: Not only is an underperforming (but much-appreciated) winger sent packing, but the financial flexibility Boston gains with this trade will encourage more competition in the lineup. From Haggs: Clearing Kobasew's $2.3 million off the books allows Chiarelli plenty of cap room to bring up extra bodies from Providence, and also allows B's coach Claude Ju...