The Boston Bruins acquired long-time Maple Leaf Tomas Kaberle from the Toronto Maple Leafs today, sending a 2nd round pick and last year's first-round pick (Joe Colborne) to Toronto. In order to make the salary work, Boston sent Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to Atlanta for Rich Peverly and Boris Valabik.
While the Bruins will surely miss Blake Wheeler and they will likely miss Joe Colborne down the line, Boston just became very, very scary. They have been hanging round in 3rd place in the East, but many people aren't convinced they are for real. This is probably because of previous perceptions of offensive weakness or the correct assessment that Tim Thomas is playing better than even he should be expected to.
But Boston ranks fifth in goals per game with 3.10. Without Marc Savard - who is out for the year with a concussion - the Bruins needed somebody to fill-in up the middle. Rich Peverly does just that, and adds more offense than Blake Wheeler does. Consider the offense upgraded.
Then, Boston knew they had to upgrade the defense since they were giving up 33.5 shots against per game, 4th most in the NHL. So they go get Tomas Kaberle, which will surely improve the defense. Now, Boston has Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, and Kaberle in the top-4. That's a top-4 which should rival the Flyers for best top-4 in the East, at the minimum.
And since the Bruins have been the second-best team in our own Power Rankings for over a month, the Flyers should take notice. Despite the Penguins' injuries or the Lightning's perceived lack of defensive depth, the Flyers should fear multiple teams in their conference, and Boston more than any other team in the East.