Trade 1
July 24, 2009
acquires
D - Aaron Ward
acquires
F - Patrick Eaves
2010 4th Round Draft Pick (97th Overall, F - Craig Cunningham)
Carolina brings back Aaron Ward who was a solid defenseman in the '06 cup run. Ward played 61 games with the Hurricanes where he recorded a total 11 points before he was flipped at the deadline to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltender, Justin Pogge and a 2010 4th Round pick that the Hurricanes used to select forward, Justin Shugg. Justin Pogge, 23 at the time, looked like a solid young goalie prospect but continued to post average numbers in the minor leagues and never made the jump up to the Hurricanes roster before exiting in the 2011 off-season as a free agent (signed by Phoenix). Now he's still kicking around in the European leagues posting meh numbers. Justin Shugg played in the minors for a few years where he played only decently, and got in 3 games in the 2014-15 season for the Hurricanes. After the 2015-16 season, Shugg signed in the KHL and has played in Europe ever since.
Boston acquires Patrick Eaves, but they immediately bought out the final two years of his contract. This allowed Eaves to leave to free agency where he was signed by Detroit. Boston also received a 4th round pick in the 2010 draft, and they used that pick to select over-ager forward Craig Cunningham from Vancouver in the WHL. Cunningham played one more season in the WHL before hopping into AHL action where he posted a total of 82 points in 151 regular season games over his first two seasons. In the 2013-14 season, Cunningham got 2 games of NHL action, but spent the rest of the season in the minors. In 2014-15 however, Cunningham played 32 NHL games with the Bruins, recording 2 goals and a total of 3 points before he was claimed on waivers by Arizona.
Altogether, the Hurricanes received 61 games from a solid bottom 4 defenseman in Aaron Ward, 2 seasons of a young AHL goalie that never made the big jump to the Hurricanes with Justin Pogge, and 5 seasons of a serviceable AHL forward with 3 NHL games sprinkled in there from Justin Shugg. The Bruins received a cheap buyout that didn't really change anything, and 3 seasons in the AHL plus 35 NHL games from a 4th line/extra forward in Craig Cunningham. In the end, I think the Hurricanes got the better out of this trade.
7/26/22