The three-year Boston College star was on his honeymoon with wife Katie in Bora Bora. He was still a member of the Hurricanes, who had acquired him from Ottawa with Joe Corvo for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman on Feb. 11, 2008. In May, Eaves and the Hurricanes had upset the Bruins in the second round of the 2008-09 playoffs.

But in Raleigh and in Boston, events were unfolding that would eventually lead to Bill Zito, Eaves’s agent, somehow tracking down his client to inform him with the honeymoon-upsetting news: He’d been traded from the Hurricanes to the Bruins, along with a 2010 fourth-round pick, in a deal that would send Aaron Ward back to his former club.

“Not a good one,’’ Eaves said of that fateful day. “Not a good one.’’

There was more. Zito told Eaves that Boston would place the wing on unconditional waivers. If Eaves cleared waivers by noon the next day, the Bruins would buy out the two years and $3.1 million remaining on his contract.

In 2003, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was a member of the Ottawa front office when the Senators selected Eaves with the 29th overall pick. In 2005-06, as a first-year pro (Eaves left BC after his junior season), the ex-Eagle scored 20 goals in 58 games for Ottawa.

But this time, Chiarelli had no intention of keeping Eaves, a bottom-six NHL forward, on the Black-and-Gold roster because of his price tag. By trading Ward and buying out Eaves (at one-third of his annual cap hit because he was younger than 26), the Bruins cleared enough space to sign Derek Morris July 25 to a one-year, $3.3 million contract. Eaves cleared waivers, was bought out, and became an unrestricted free agent.

“I didn’t see that coming,’’ Eaves said of the trade and buyout.

On Aug. 4, after talking to several clubs, Eaves signed a one-year, $500,000 contract with the Red Wings. Last night, Eaves was Detroit’s No. 3 right wing, skating with Kris Draper and Darren Helm. In 13:04 of ice time, Eaves put three pucks on Tim Thomas and landed a team-high five hits. Eaves has one goal and one assist in seven games.

Meanwhile, the Bruins will be carrying Eaves’s $258,333 buyout number on their books through 2012-13 (because of his age, Boston will receive a $41,667 cap credit next season).

“It all worked out for the best,’’ Eaves said. “I’m happy here.’’

“They have great sticks,’’ Dennis Wideman, who worked the point with Morris on the first unit, said of the Wings. “It’s no excuse. We know they have great sticks going into it.’’

The only time the Bruins moved the puck well on the power play was in the third period when Todd Bertuzzi was caught for holding. The No. 1 unit zipped the puck around and got some looks on Chris Osgood, but couldn’t click.

“We had some shots and we had some scoring chances,’’ said Wideman. “I had that one in the slot to [David Krejci]. But it took a bad little hop. That’s just the kind of stuff that’s going on right now.’’

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