Craig Weller was a Phoenix Coyote in 2008.

AP / Paul Connors

PROVIDENCE –– Craig Weller wasn’t caught completely by surprise when he got the call two Sundays ago that he’d been dealt to Boston in the Chuck Kobasew trade.

“The management in Minnesota told me when they put me on waivers [late in training camp] that they might try to move me, give me an opportunity somewhere else. It just happened a little quicker than I thought it would,” said Weller.

For a player who is looking for another chance in the NHL, the Boston organization might turn out to be a good fit.

The Bruins haven’t hesitated over the last few seasons to find a place for veteran role players such as Shawn Thornton and Jeremy Reich.

“That’s encouraging to see. I’m just going to have to work hard and prove myself. I’m definitely going to try to make it back to the NHL,” said Weller, a right wing who has 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 career points with 127 penalty minutes in 95 NHL games with Phoenix and Minnesota.

Weller spent four seasons with Hartford before moving up to the NHL. At the time of the trade, he was with Minnesota’s AHL affiliate in Houston.

The 28-year-old brings size –– he’s 6-feet-4, 220 pounds –– and a physical presence. He knows what is expected of him.

“My role is to be a veteran guy playing with poise every night, somebody the coach can rely on in a bunch of different situations. To show leadership through hard work,” he said.

Providence coach Rob Murray is glad to have him.

Last weekend, Murray put Weller on a crash line with Drew Larman and Lane MacDermid, and the trio was Providence’s best line Saturday in a 2-0 loss at Manchester.

“I know what to expect from him,” Murray said. “He’s an intelligent guy, he understands. He asks the right questions. That’s probably one of the reasons he was captain in Hartford for a few years. His skating has improved from what I remember. He gets around better. And when he hits, he really catches guys.”

Fighting is also part of Weller’s game. He had seven fighting majors in the NHL last season, and 13 fights in both 2004-05 and 2005-06 while with Hartford.

According to Murray, Weller knows “when to try to change the momentum of a game. He’ll go out purposely to try to do that by getting in a fight. That speaks to his hockey IQ, because some guys don’t pick up on that, when the right time is to do that kind of thing.”

This loss hurts

Over a long season, there are losses and then there are losses.

For the P-Bruins, their 2-1 loss in Manchester on a penalty shot by Oscar Moller with 1:51 to go in regulation definitely left a mark.

Murray said that the call by referee Chris Cozzan –– Moller had a breakaway and was tripped by McQuaid –– probably was legitimate. But that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Penalty shots have become “the flavor of the month for referees” over the past couple of seasons, Murray said.

“Our argument was that one camera showed Adam got a stick on the puck before he trips him,” said Murray.

Murray conceded, though, that “if the situation is flip-flopped, we’d be expecting a penalty shot.”

Cleared to skate

They are a long way from being ready for game action, but Yannick Riendeau and Levi Nelson were cleared to start skating last Wednesday. They have been told not to do any puck-handling or shooting yet.

Skills coach Victor Teleguine skated them hard after Wednesday’s practice.

Murray said both players probably are at least a couple of months away.

Riendeau, who led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in scoring last season, had shoulder surgery over the summer. Second-year pro Nelson had surgery after breaking his collarbone during a rookie tournament in September.

Front and center

Former Harvard captain Jimmy Fraser was recalled from Reading on Friday.

Fraser, 22, was a late cut in Providence’s training camp. Not known as a scorer, the 5-11, 185-pound center had 15-39-54 totals in 118 career games at Harvard.

“I’m not necessarily looking for him to contribute offensively very much,” said Murray. “That’s not necessarily his game. But he skates well enough and he gets himself in position. Hopefully he can help in that aspect.

“He gives me another centerman. We’ve had three natural centermen in Larman, (Jamie) Arniel and (Zach) Hamill. Somewhere along the line you’re going to get a guy in the penalty box or hurt, and then there really wasn’t another potential centermen in the lineup,” said Murray.

Punched out

Doug Smith, the P-Bruins’ unofficial fight coach, paid his first visit of the season to practice the other day.

Smith, 45, is a police officer in Hanover, Mass. He was a minor-league enforcer before retiring in 1998.

Brett Clouthier, MacDermid, Guillaume Lefebvre and Weller took turns punching padded mitts held by Smith, first working on right-left combinations and then punching with one hand while holding Smith’s jersey with the other. At times, Smith, who is 6-2 and was 210 pounds in his playing days, grabbed a handful of the players’ jersey and tied them up.

Fight training is hard work. After only about 15 minutes, all four of the players were dripping with sweat and breathing hard.

mdivver@projo.com