Bruins deal Alberts

Defenseman was slowed by injury

WILMINGTON - He started practice yesterday as usual at Ristuccia Arena, wearing the black jersey of a Bruins defenseman. But approximately 30 minutes into the session, Andrew Alberts skated off the ice and into the dressing room for the final time as a Boston employee.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 218-pound defenseman, a healthy scratch for the first two games of the 2008-09 season, was traded to Philadelphia for minor league forward Ned Lukacevic and a conditional 2009 fourth-round pick, which would become a third-rounder if Alberts re-signs with the Flyers.

By trading Alberts, the Bruins get $1.25 million of cap relief. According to general manager Peter Chiarelli, Alberts, in the final season of a two-year, $2.5 million contract, probably would not have been extended by the Bruins.

"We'd seen Albie play some solid games," said coach Claude Julien. "We'd seen other games where he struggled with his confidence."

Alberts, who starred at Boston College for four seasons, was selected 179th overall by the Bruins in the 2001 draft. After 2006-07, when Alberts recorded 10 assists and 124 penalty minutes in 76 games, the Bruins re-signed the rugged defenseman to the two-year deal.

But Alberts had a train wreck of a 2007-08 season, appearing in only 35 games and recording two assists. He suffered from head and neck injuries most likely caused by a dirty hit Nov. 26, 2007, by Philadelphia forward Scott Hartnell, a man he'll now be calling a teammate. Alberts complained of headaches that lasted into the summer.

"There were stretches where he was coming along pretty nicely before he got hurt," Chiarelli said. "After that, in camp and in the preseason, he couldn't get it back. I won't say he won't get it back with Philly. But we wanted to create some spots for some younger guys."

Alberts was considered fully healed heading into training camp. But most likely because of a lack of confidence and over-thinking, he couldn't reclaim any consistency to his thump-heavy game. During the preseason finale against Washington, Alberts lost an edge and coughed up the puck in front of his net, a turnover that led to an Alex Ovechkin goal.

"We saw a lot of good things from Albie," Julien said. "The positive was, there was a time where he made a few mistakes, and that would push him out for the rest of the game; I thought he was doing a real good job of bouncing back and finishing strong. That was a positive.

"Sometimes guys are different. Sometimes they put a lot of pressure on themselves. That doesn't help."

The Flyers made a play for Alberts because of a blue line rattled by injuries. Randy Jones (hip) and Ryan Parent (shoulder) are both on long-term injured reserve after having surgery. Alberts should be an immediate fix for Philadelphia's defense.

For Boston, the move spells cap relief for a club bumping up against the $56.7 million ceiling. The Bruins were without a fourth-round pick in next year's draft because they traded it to Minnesota along with prospect Petr Kalus for Manny Fernandez July 1, 2007.

Lukacevic, 22, is from Podgorica, Serbia. The 6-foot, 185-pound forward was selected 110th overall by Los Angeles in the 2004 draft. Lukacevic was traded to Philadelphia July 1 with Patrik Hersley for Denis Gauthier and the Flyers' 2010 second-round pick.

Lukacevic played last season for Reading of the ECHL, collecting 17 goals and 19 assists in 61 games. Lukacevic will report to Providence. He has never played in an NHL game.

"He was disappointed," Chiarelli said of Alberts. "I told him that sometimes we've got to do things now that we don't like doing. I like him as a player. I like the way he competes. But the way the system is now, we have to be a little more proactive. He was a casualty of that."

The Bruins will be without Chuck Kobasew (fractured right ankle) for the rest of the month. Julien said Kobasew will miss approximately three weeks from the time he was injured last Thursday during the 5-4 win over Colorado. Kobasew will be placed on injured reserve, allowing the Bruins to replace him on the 23-man roster. Kobasew's $2.333 million cap hit, however, will continue to count against Boston's number . . . Shawn Thornton confirmed that Minnesota heavyweight Derek Boogaard, one of the NHL's most feared fighters, asked him to go on Saturday after the Bruins had taken a 1-0 lead. Thornton declined. Later in the game, after the Wild had claimed a 4-1 advantage, Thornton asked Boogaard to fight. This time, the Wild tough guy said no.