With the trade deadline fast approaching, we continue our look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? As we continue previewing the Atlantic Division, here is a look at the Boston Bruins.
Heading into the season, the Bruins were regarded as one of the top teams in the Atlantic Division along with Tampa Bay and Toronto. They’ve done nothing to really change that but at the same time, they’ve done nothing to address their needs thus far. If Boston wants to really move into true contender territory, GM Don Sweeney is probably going to need to be active on the trade front over the next couple of weeks.
Record
31-17-8, third in the Atlantic Division
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$19.578MM in a full-season cap hit, 1/3 used salary cap retention slots, 44/50 contracts per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2019: BOS 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 3rd, NYR 4th, BOS 5th, BOS 6th, NYR 7th
2020: BOS 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 3rd, BOS 4th, BOS 5th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th
Trade Chips
Teams that are selling are often looking for cheap, controllable talent coming the other way and those with some NHL experience are coveted in particular. The Bruins have that in abundance, particularly up front. Wingers Danton Heinen, Peter Cehlarik, and Ryan Donato as well as center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson have all spent time with the big club this season with varying degrees of success. (Winger Anders Bjork is part of this group as well but he’s out for the season with a shoulder injury.) They all have shown they have legitimate NHL upside but aside from Heinen, none of them have been able to lock down a full-time spot just yet. They all would be coveted as young, NHL-ready players and will be asked about in virtually every trade conversation Sweeney has between now and February 25th.
On the back end, there has been a sense that Boston could afford to part with one of their defenders. The one that seems to be getting a lot of attention is Matt Grzelcyk. The 25-year-old has established himself as a regular this season and is logging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game. With a $1.4MM cap hit through next season, he’s an affordable top-four option for pretty much anyone. With Torey Krug and John Moore already signed, Urho Vaakanainen looking like he’s close to being NHL ready, and the possible return of Zdeno Chara for another year, it could be deemed that Grzelcyk is expendable but the asking price would understandably be high.
Five Players To Watch For: F Peter Cehlarik, F Ryan Donato, D Matt Grzelcyk, F Danton Heinen, F Jack Studnicka
Team Needs
1) Top Six Winger: This has been an area that Boston has been looking to fill since last season when they ultimately traded for Rick Nash just before the trade deadline. They’ve tried to fill that spot internally but the consistency just hasn’t been there enough for them to trust one of those youngsters in that role heading into the postseason. Finding someone for the right wing was already high on the priority list but with David Pastrnak’s surgery, that vacancy becomes just a little more important.
2) Third Line Center: When Riley Nash left to sign with Columbus in the summer (a move that has not worked out well for the Blue Jackets), the hope was that his spot could also be filled internally. Their youngsters haven’t locked down that spot and asking David Backes to play down the middle hasn’t worked as well as they hoped either. Top contenders have quality depth at center and while the Bruins have a strong top two in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, finding an impact player to play a third line role would really bolster their attack.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I’d argue Bjork is the most likely to be moved. Mostly because I think he goes to the Rangers as part of a package for Hayes and/or Zuccarello. He and Studnicka with Vaakaneinen would make a lot of sense. Add some non first rounders if you have to. But that’s a package that’s near NHL ready which would seem to fit the Rangers MO at the moment. I’m not sure they want a drawn out tanking rebuild. Near NHL ready prospects should be their focus, and the Bruins have plenty.
If the Bruins are trading with the Rangers, they need to be targeting Kreider. The Bruins have had little success with rentals. They need to stop trading multiple assets for a few months of a player. They’ve been burned on that far too much.
Nyquist
Hayes and Zucc should be able to get resigned at reasonable prices you’d think. It’d take them out of the running for Panarin, but he might get too rich of a contract for them anyways.
Maybe, but Zucc has indicated a desire to stay in New York. If he gets traded at the deadline, he could just go back to the Rangers in the off-season. Hayes is making $5.175 million this season & having a very good year. He’ll probably command $6.5 million a season. That’s fine, but the Bruins are hindered by Backes’ contract being on the books. I like Kreider because he’s under contract for next season at a reasonable cap hit of $4.625 million. Sure it will cost more to get him because of that, but it would be worth it. Then, the Bruins could buy out the last year of Backes’ contract after next season & re-sign Kreider. I’m not sure if Sweeney thinks that way, but he did say last month that he is reluctant to give up a lot for rentals. We will see if he actually meant that
Studnicka is borderline untouchable.
Don’t trade either Vaak or Gryz. Those two, with McAvoy, Carlo, Krug, are the core going forward.
Kreider makes sense for sure. I wasn’t sure what the deal with Burakovsky was, I was wondering if there was a swap to be made there with another overpaid forward for Backes and a 2nd rounder or something, but he’s an RFA so that doesn’t work without term on Burakovsky.
This is the time when Bruins fans curl up in a ball in the corner, shaking and sobbing, because they know Don Sweeney is going to give up way too much for disappointing short-time rentals. The B’s have gotten fortunate that a lot of the talent that has walked in the past year or so has mostly failed elsewhere (Eriksson, Soderberg, Riley Nash, Colin Miller, Spooner, Khudobin, Subban) but now we’re getting to the roster spots of team-controlled guys with potential, so mistakes will be magnified. I would love Panarin, but I would also like Wayne Simmonds in black&gold.
You’re not getting Panarin. So curl up in your ball and hope the extension talks fail with Simmonds because you may not get him either.