Rangers, Caps Swap Prospects

Rangers, Caps Complete Minor Prospect Swap

To Washington: Tomas Kundratek To New York: Francois Bouchard

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This is a lot more interesting than most minor trades, and although the average fan might overlook it, both teams will find some real usefulness from this move. The Capitals acquired twenty-one year old Tomas Kundratek, who stands tall at 6-foot-2, 201 pounds. He was a third-round pick back in the 2008 NHL draft and is currently playing in his 2nd pro-season. He has very nice upside as a potential all-around 2nd pairing defenseman. With two more seasons in the American Hockey League he should be ready to play full-time in the NHL. The player that the Caps sent to acquire Kundratek, was Francois Bouchard. The twenty-three year old Bouchard, was the Capitals second-round pick in 2006 and is the younger brother of Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Bouchard's play has been rapidly declining since his career year in 2009-10. During that season he had 52 points in 77 games, but in 2010-11 he had that point total cut in half. He ended the year with only 24 points and so far this season, things have gotten even worse. He has yet to record a point this season and is currently a minus-4. His place in the Capitals depth chart has been steadily lowered and it finally forced a trade. Luckily for the Capitals, they were able to get a pretty good prospect in-return. The Rangers are hoping that Bouchard will be able to recapture his success from 2009-10, but as of now it definitely looks as though the Capitals got the better end of this deal.