Help me out here Gayle. I'm not sure what to think.

The B's basically tied up all their remaining cap space on a 34-year old goalie coming off knee surgery. He's a definite improvement over what they had in net before (who wouldn't be?) but this is a guy who's never mentioned amongst the league's elite regardless how good his GAA is. I'd have to say he's more a product of a defensive minded system than a great goalie.

I don't get it...do you?

Teddy,

The Bs didn't tie up the rest of their cap space with Fernandez... The cap was raised to $50.3 for the up coming season and the Bruins were at $39.5 before picking up Manny, now they are at roughly $43.8 so that means they still have roughly $7 mil left... with that said. I don't think the Bruins are going to go after any big names UNLESS they dump Glen Murray's $4 mil salary (which is rumored right now).

That would open up more cap space - but I honestly don't see Chiarelli going after Drury or Briere - who are looking for that $7 mil contract. They may be geared more towards picking up a cheaper but solid defenseman - such as Tom Poti (who I would take for cheap money).

As far as Fernandez's injury - he has already been cleared to play by Minnesota and will meet with Boston doctors. He may not be regarded as an elite - though in my opinion those are few and far between (Brodeur and Hasek are really the only elite players in their positions)... I think there are some really solid netminders out there like Giguere, Miller, Kiprusoff and a few others ... Fernandez is a solid goaltender and other than getting one of the five I listed above Manny will definitely give the Bs what they are lacking between the pipes.

Well forget about Poti he signed a four-year $3.5 mil contract with Washington.

You are correct, though according to SI.com, the reason the trade took so long to announce was because Manny's salaray would have pushed the Bruins over the cap, so they had to wait for it to be raised to make the deal official.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/hockey/nhl/07/01/bc.hkn.bruins.wildtrade.ap/index.html

So they now have about $6-mil to play with, a ton of holes to fill to even become anything but first-round fodder. Is Fernandez the answer 2-3 years from now when, with any luck or front office competence, the Bruins will be ready to contend for real?

I guess that's my real question. If you're going to spend 4.3 a year on a goalie, shouldn't it at least be one that's going to be part of the future?

Both Manny and Thomas are signed for two years and I think the Bs management's mindset is Rask will be ready by then. (We all hope).

The Bs needed to do something to solidify the position and I think getting a solid goaltender in here now to tandem with Thomas is a very smart move by the Bruins.

Last year Thomas was killed by the workload he had to endure and he is not that type of goalie. This season the Bs will now have Fernandez playing majority of the games (anywhere from 45-50) with Thomas picking up the other 30 or so games. Works for me. I'm actually very excited with this deal to be honest with you.

Since when do number one goaltenders get traded for minor league stiffs and fourth round draft choices. This is nothing but a salary dump for Minnesota. The Bruins are the toilet. How appropriate.

I agree this is a salary dump for Minnesota... because they have Backstrom locked up for $6.2 for the next two years and Josh Harding making his way up to the big club.

I don't think this was a bad move for the Bruins - if all they gave up was Kalus and a future fourth-rounder for a goalie with career stats of 2.47 GAA and .913 SV%; I'll take it.

Boston (AP) Boston Bruins announce the acquisition of goalie Manny Fernandez. The Bruins are hoping to land all those Latino Hockey Fans to pack the TD Banknorth Garden. The Jacobs family also announced to birth of the Manny Taquito to sell in the Concession stands during Hockey Games. "What Hockey Team?" Jeremy Jacobs responded....

I think Fernandez is pretty much a stiff. He's just about always been the least-talented member of a 2-man tandem. I think Roloson was the better goalie when both were with Minnesota and obviously Backstrom is more well thought of than Manny by Minnesota as well.

I really think they should have tried to make a play for Bryzgalov or at least someone younger than Fernandez. I agree it's not a high price to pay for him- I just don't see him as a huge upgrade over Thomas. I bet if Tim isn't playing every night he'll put up better numbers than Fernandez. I look at them as 2a and 2b options- neither one of them is a true #1.

Rumors around the Tsongas arena still reverberate as to how well the P-Bruins are doing; I'm assuming they'll be taking a look at the three netminders down there as potential backups during the season.

Cost is a relative thing. Sure, a 4th round draft pick and minor leaguer with no real future is nothing to give up for a mid-level #1 goalie, but $4.3-million in the salary cap era IS a lot to give up. If it wasn't, he would have cost you a 1st or 2nd round pick and more useful player.

Remember, the NHL cap isn't loosely defined like the NBA's. Unless I'm mistaken, it's even more rigid than the NFL's because it doesn't allow for tricky accounting with signing bonuses and 7-year deals that are really 2-year contracts. A $50-million dollar cap is a $50-million dollar cap.

Therefore, every dollar spent on Manny Fernandez is a dollar you can't spend elsewhere this year or next. And that's why even though he's an upgrade over what we've been seeing, it's probably not in the best long-term interests of a team so far away from a Stanley Cup.

I'm with DB...spend the money on a younger player who'll still be usefull 2-years from now. I honestly don't see us contending any time before that.