The Boston Bruins have traded veteran defender Adam McQuaid to the New York Rangers in exchange for Steve Kampfer, a fourth-round draft pick in 2019 as well as a conditional seventh-round pick in 2019. This ends a nine-season stint with the Bruins for McQuaid who made his NHL debut back in 2009-10 with the club.
#NHLBruins trade Adam McQuaid to N.Y. Rangers in exchange for Steven Kampfer, 2019 4th-round pick and 2019 conditional 7th-round pick: https://t.co/6PdnUM2TFX
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 11, 2018
In 462 games, McQuaid would score only 13 goals and 66 points with his career-high in goals and points coming in 2010-11 when he would score three goals and 15 points before winning the Stanley Cup. While McQuaid wasn’t ever going to light up the score sheet or make an impact on the offensive side of the puck, it was his hard work, leadership and all-around warrior-mentality that made him such an integral part of the Bruins team.
McQuaid’s Role was Key for the Bruins
It’s easy to look at the modern-day NHL and say that there’s no room for grit, ferocity, fighting or the like. While there’s a legitimate case to be made about moving towards skill and leaving the old-style of hockey behind, there’s still something to be said about the enforcer role and how it can impact a game. With McQuaid in the fold, players on opposing teams would often think twice about potentially laying out a dirty hit or taking a certain liberty with anyone on the Bruins’ roster.
Related: McQuaid Trade Would Benefit Bruins
A fan-favorite in Boston, McQuaid was also an incredibly popular guy in the locker room – battling through multiple injuries in his career and making a living for himself as a defensive-defender who would use all of his 6-foot-4, 212-pound frame to his advantage. While the Bruins will miss McQuaid for everything he brought to the team, the fact that Kevan Miller remains under contract for another two seasons, the Bruins already had seven NHL-caliber defenders with one ultimately making McQuaid’s role redundant.
It was hard to envision the Bruins running with eight NHL defenders on the roster, especially when that would amount to north of $3-4 million in healthy scratches on the backend on a nightly basis. The Bruins also have a bevy of defenders who are looking to make the jump to the NHL roster in the near future, including high draft picks in Urho Vaakanainen, Jeremy Lauzon and Jakub Zboril. With those players knocking on the door and the Bruins already having seven other defenders in the mix as well as Mark Fayne in camp on a PTO, something had to give. While it was possible that the Bruins could have made a deal with the Edmonton Oilers to capitalize on their injury situation, the Bruins would ultimately send the veteran to New York.
Defensive Help in New York
For the Rangers, McQuaid will bring the same level of intensity each and every night and he’ll fill an enforcer role with the team that will help with so many new, young faces joining the lineup. With that said, McQuaid is also a capable defender in his own right and has experience killing penalties on the right side. While he may not be a top-four player, his ability to contribute makes him a definite starter on the right side in New York this season, even if it’s in a bottom-pairing capacity.
To acquire McQuaid, the Rangers are paying a decent amount of capital with a fourth-round selection, a conditional seventh and even a former Bruins-defender in Kampfer. The 29-year-old Kampfer has only played in 32 games over the last two seasons, however, and has scored 10 goals and 26 points in 166 career NHL games. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bruins use Kampfer in an AHL role and using him as the first call-up option if an injury occurs on the main roster.
This is the third trade between the Rangers and Bruins in recent memory with the two teams making two separate deals at the 2018 trade deadline. The first trade involved Nick Holden being sent to the Bruins in exchange for Rob O’Gara and a 2018 third-round draft pick. The second was more significant as it would involve Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Lindgren as well as a first and seventh round draft selection being sent to the Rangers in exchange for Rick Nash.