Ward shipped to Hurricanes

Report: Morris signed by Bruins

July 25, 2009|Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff

(Page 3 of 3)

“It gives us a little bit of freedom,’’ said Chiarelli of Eaves’s cap credit in 2010-11, the year Marc Savard will become an unrestricted free agent and Milan Lucic, Blake Wheeler, and Tuukka Rask will reach RFA status. “It’s not much, but it’s a little bit. Certainly that was part of the reason we did it.’’

Yesterday, Chiarelli delivered the news to Ward while the defenseman was on the seventh hole of a North Carolina golf course. Ward will join former teammates such as Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, Rod Brind’Amour, and Cam Ward. He will also become teammates with Walker, the forward who dropped him with a right fist in Game 5 of the playoffs. Ward said the incident was water under the bridge, although he joked he would get Walker back in practice.

“This came as a complete surprise,’’ Ward said, noting that agent Larry Kelly didn’t anticipate the trade either. “I was preparing myself to be with the Boston Bruins next season. You look at the picture as a whole, and it was a team that won the Eastern Conference and finished the highest it did in a long time. In your own evaluation, you think you’re a key component of that success. I had no thought process or inkling that I was moving on.’’

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.

READER COMMENTS »

View reader comments » Comment on this story »