Capitals Acquire Tomas Kundratek From Rangers for Francois Bouchard

[Thrillhouse]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals acquired defenseman Tomas Kundratek (TAW-mahsh, kuhn-DRAT-ehk) from the New York Rangers in exchange for right wing Francois Bouchard, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. Kundratek will report to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) and will be available for their home game on Wednesday, Nov. 9 versus Binghamton.

Kundratek, 21, has recorded two assists in seven games with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL this season. The 6’2”, 200-pound defenseman registered 35 points (two goals, 33 assists), 62 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 65 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the 2009-10 season. In addition, he led Medicine Hat defensemen in playoff points (six) and assists (five), and tied for third overall on the team in playoff assists.

Kundratek made his professional debut for the Hartford Wolf Pack on April 23, 2009 in Game Five of 2009 Atlantic Division Finals versus Worcester. The native of Prerov, Czech Republic, was drafted by the Rangers in the third round (90th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Bouchard registered eight penalty minutes in nine games with Hershey this season. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native was originally drafted by the Capitals in the second round (35th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

[nyrpack]

dont really know either guy !!

[straka91]

Originally Posted by nyrpack

dont really know either guy !!

AHL move, Bouchard is a decent AHL forward with some skill, soft as hell though. Couldnt say much about the other guy though.

[4thLineGoon]

Kundratek is fairly gritty for a Czech, having played juniors in the WHL, but he's pretty well buried on the Rags defensive depth chart. I could care less about another soft AHL "skill" player, the Whale need to add grit and here they are reducing it more.

[FPS_KILLERR]

Kundratek has plenty of all-around upside, but still far from a finished product. Still, he's a good gamble for the Caps at this time.

Bouchard was a tremendous scorer in junior hockey but that hasn't totally translated to the pro ranks (yet). Maybe a change of scenery will serve him well. The Rangers need more overall scoring, so this may help.