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Bruins Rumors

Boston Bruins Acquire Taylor Hall

April 12, 2021 at 7:00 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 36 Comments

7:00 AM: The Bruins have officially announced the trade.

10:59 PM: The most talked-about rental this season has finally found a home, as the Boston Bruins turned around from their 8-1 loss this evening and will acquire Taylor Hall from the Buffalo Sabres according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. John Buccigross of ESPN was the first to suggest a deal was coming on Twitter (in quite entertaining fashion). Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the deal will be Hall and injured forward Curtis Lazar for Anders Bjork and a second-round pick. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Sabres have retained 50% of Hall’s $8MM cap hit through the end of this season.

Hall had full control of this process, given he held a no-movement clause and could block a trade to any team in the league. He decided to waive that clause to go to Boston. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period notes that the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals were also in the running earlier today. The fact that the Sabres were unable to secure a first-round pick for Hall will be the takeaway for Buffalo fans, but Hall is in the midst of a brutal season. While you can’t forget that he was the league MVP in 2018, you also can’t ignore the fact that he scored just two goals in 37 games for the Sabres this year.

Still, giving up just a second and Bjork, who has just two goals of his own this season, is a no-brainer for the Bruins, with their eyes set on postseason contention. If Hall can find any semblance of his past self in Boston he can be a difference-maker on the second line, giving the team some secondary scoring that they’ve been lacking for so long.

Bjork has established himself as an NHL player with good defensive abilities but will turn 25 later this summer and has just 39 points in 138 career regular season games. One important factor here is that he’s under contract through the 2022-23 season at a reasonable $1.6MM, but it’s not like he is going to provide a huge impact for the rebuilding Sabres. In fact, one could argue that Lazar can provide about the same value when healthy and is under contract through next season for just $800K. Moving Bjork at tomorrow’s deadline doesn’t seem out of the question if the Sabres can find an interested party.

The Bruins are also taking on $4MM in cap, which is much higher than some of the other names that have been moved around recently. The fact that they can absorb that hit is why Hall’s price is so low, as they did not need to involve another team, which would have meant giving up another asset. Even without going into long-term injured reserve, the Bruins should have just enough room to fit Hall in after sending Bjork the other way.

At the end of the day, this deal will mean nothing for Boston if Hall can’t find his form. The team has taken swings on high profile wingers before and had them struggle down the stretch, but Hall will certainly be surrounded by more talent in his new locker room. In all likelihood, the 29-year-old winger will get just his third chance at the postseason this year, though it isn’t even a guarantee at this point. Boston is now just four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers for fourth place in the East Division (though they do have two games in hand), meaning Hall will need to start contributing right away if he wants to get another taste of the playoffs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Curtis Lazar| Newsstand| Taylor Hall| Transactions

36 comments

Bruins Acquire Mike Reilly

April 11, 2021 at 9:32 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

The Bruins have added some depth to their back end as they’ve acquired Mike Reilly from Ottawa in exchange for a 2022 third-round draft pick.  Both teams have announced the trade.

Reilly was highly coveted coming out of college after opting to not sign with Columbus who drafted him back in the fourth round in 2011.  However, he never really established himself as a regular with Minnesota who signed him in free agency and things didn’t change after he was flipped to Montreal in 2018.  That resulted in Ottawa picking him up for a fifth-rounder last season and while he still isn’t quite established yet as a key piece, he has taken some steps towards that.

This season, the 27-year-old has played in 40 games and while he has yet to score a goal, he has a career-best 19 assists, one behind Thomas Chabot for the team lead while the 19 points are also a career high.  That performance was enough to get Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion to try to work out a short-term contract extension this weekend, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, but those talks clearly didn’t result in a new deal although they were able to get a two-round upgrade on what they paid to get him a year ago which is still nice.

As for Boston, they have been hit hard by the injury bug this season with Charlie McAvoy, John Moore, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk all currently out of the lineup with Kevan Miller requiring some rest after missing all of last season so there was a clear need for depth.  They also didn’t replace Torey Krug when he left for St. Louis in free agency so Reilly’s playmaking will certainly be beneficial.  A good showing with Boston would certainly bolster his value heading into the open market but could also create an opportunity for him to stick around.

Reilly is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $1.5MM salary and cap hit which still leaves GM Don Sweeney some space to work with before Monday’s trade deadline.  They could still stand to add defensive depth in light of the injuries but they could also turn to try to add up front and add some secondary scoring, an element they’ve frequently coveted in recent deadlines.

Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette was the first to report the trade.

Boston Bruins| Mike Reilly| Ottawa Senators| Transactions

5 comments

Charlie McAvoy Scratched With An Upper-Body Injury

April 6, 2021 at 7:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Bruins got some more bad news on the injury front as just prior to their game against Philadelphia, the team announced (Twitter link) that Charlie McAvoy was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury.  The 23-year-old has been a key cog on their back end this season, leading the way offensively with 22 points in 35 games while averaging a team-high 24:23 in ice time.  For context, he’s the only regular Boston blueliner averaging more than 20 minutes a night.  Adding help on the back end has seemingly been a goal for the Bruins dating back to last offseason and if McAvoy is going to miss any extended period of time, that need will only intensify.

Boston Bruins| Charlie McAvoy| Injury| Mats Zuccarello| Minnesota Wild| New Jersey Devils| Nick Bjugstad| Nico Hischier| Philadelphia Flyers| Robert Hagg| Zach Parise

0 comments

College Notes: Galajda, Pelton-Byce, Becker

April 5, 2021 at 6:59 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

When the Ivy League announced that they would not allow winter sports competition this year, college hockey lost out on one its best goaltenders and Matthew Galajda lost out on his fourth and final season at Cornell University. As Ivy League schools do not permit graduate student-athletes, the senior netminder knew he would have to depart Cornell to continue his NCAA career. This worked out to the benefit of Notre Dame University though, who announced today that Galajda has decided to join the Fighting Irish next season. While a year away from the game has quieted the buzz around Galajda’s game, there is no arguing that he has been one of the NCAA’s very best goaltenders in recent years. In three seasons at Cornell, Galadja was consistently outstanding. The 23-year-old has a stunning .930 save percentage and 1.60 GAA in his NCAA career to go along with a 60-15-9 record. With those numbers, Galajda will likely take on a workhorse role for Notre Dame and should be an upgrade to the departing Dylan St. Cyr. If the 2019-20 Mike Richter Award finalist can return to that same level of play after a year off and facing a more difficult Big Ten schedule, he will have plenty of NHL suitors this time next year.

  • Ty Pelton-Byce of the University of Wisconsin was expected to be one of the top college free agents available to NHL teams this spring, but the Winnipeg Jets have been able to secure the talented forward on a minor league deal. The Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, have announced that Pelton-Byce has signed an AHL contract for the 2021-22 season and will join the club on an amateur tryout agreement for the remainder of the year. The 23-year-old forward, who split his college career between the Badgers and the Harvard Crimson, is coming off a career year in which he recorded 31 points in 24 games. He helped to lead Wisconsin to the Big Ten regular season title and to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament this year. With good size and a well-developed game, Pelton-Byce should adjust well to the pro game and could be pushing for an NHL deal in no time.
  • It was expected that Boston Bruins prospect Jack Becker would return to school for a somewhat unprecedented fifth season of college hockey and now the move is official. Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reports that Becker has committed as a graduate transfer to Arizona State University. The Sun Devils add an experienced two-way forward who captained the University of Michigan this season and has 124 NCAA games under his belt. Whether Becker will try to turn pro – and whether the Bruins will still want him – after a fifth college season remains to be seen. The 2015 draft pick will turn 25 years old before the 2022-23 season begins.

AHL| Boston Bruins| NCAA| Winnipeg Jets

0 comments

Jaroslav Halak Enters COVID Protocol

April 5, 2021 at 11:15 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

After Jake Debrusk came off the COVID Protocol Related Absences list yesterday, the Boston Bruins had a clean slate and everyone available to them. No more, as according to Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com, Jaroslav Halak has tested positive for coronavirus. That will put him into the protocol whether or not it is determined to be a false positive down the line, meaning he won’t be available tonight. As Benjamin points out, Dan Vladar was expected to start anyway, but will now likely have Jeremy Swayman backing up.

Halak, 35, has been his dependable self this season, posting a .910 save percentage in 17 appearances. That’s actually more work and better results than Tuukka Rask, who has been dealing with various injuries almost the whole year. Halak has been one of the most reliable goaltenders in the league for his whole career, only posting a season save percentage under .908 once since his rookie year in 2006-07. You can’t ask much more from a backup goaltender.

That, in addition to the fact that Rask is still unavailable, makes this absence concerning for the Bruins. If Halak misses substantial time, Boston will have to hope that Vladar can hold the fort. Benjamin reports that Rask will not play tonight or tomorrow but is expected to travel with the team on the three-game road trip.

Boston Bruins| Coronavirus| COVID Protocol Related Absence| Dan Vladar| Jaroslav Halak

0 comments

Brandon Carlo Out Week-To-Week

April 3, 2021 at 2:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Bruins will be without defenseman Brandon Carlo for a little while.  The team announced today that Carlo will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis due to an upper-body injury sustained on Thursday against Pittsburgh.  It was just his second game back in the lineup after returning from a concussion but this injury isn’t related to that and is instead below the neck.  Carlo is a big part of Boston’s back end, averaging more than 20 minutes per game over his five-year career in a predominantly shutdown role and would likely be at that average this season had it not been for the two games he was injured early.

Aleksander Barkov| Alexandre Carrier| Boston Bruins| Brandon Carlo| Colorado Avalanche| Florida Panthers| Injury| Mark Borowiecki| Nashville Predators| Patric Hornqvist

0 comments

Snapshots: Johnson, Holloway, Becker

March 28, 2021 at 12:48 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

Any team looking to add some ability and NHL experience to their minor league depth ahead of the trade deadline now has a new option on the market that won’t cost any trade capital. Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Adam Johnson has unexpectedly left the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks and returned to North America, the team announced. The remainder of Johnson’s contract was terminated, allowing him to sign in the NHL immediately, but judging by the club’s press release the decision hardly seemed “mutual”. Johnson signed with Malmo in December and with 12 points in 21 games, he has been one of their most productive per-game scorers alongside the SHL’s own version of the Sedin twins, brothers Pathrik and Ponthus Westerholm. Now, with the Redhawks battling for a playoff spot in the stretch run, they have lost one of their best forwards. GM Patrik Sylvegard stated that Johnson no longer wanted to be in Malmo and he felt the team deserved to only have those committed to the playoff hunt on the roster, leading to the split despite the negative impact it may have on their on-ice results. This kind of sudden departure could imply that Johnson has interest waiting for him back in North America, but that remains to be seen. As for his viability as an actual asset to an NHL contender this season, Johnson is a big played in 13 games with the Penguins over the past two seasons, recording four points despite very limited minutes, and has been a force in the AHL with 108 points in 185 games in three seasons. Johnson initially signed with Pittsburgh after just two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a highly sought-after college free agent and could still have supporters in front offices across the league. His hometown Minnesota Wild could be a candidate to keep an eye on; the team has a recent history of using local products in depth roles.

  • While the impact of Wisconsin’s early exit from the NCAA Tournament has already been felt at the NHL level with the Montreal Canadiens’ speedy signing of top prospect Cole Caufield, it means that the Edmonton Oilers have their own top prospect to make a decision on. However, it may not be so straightforward for 2020 first-rounder Dylan Holloway and his pro club. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Holloway suffered a broken thumb back in the semifinals of the Big Ten conference tournament and played through the injury for two more games before the Badgers were upset by Bemidji State. Now, the team and the prospect are awaiting the results of  X-rays scheduled for Monday before making their next move. If Holloway is unlikely to be able to play again this season, then he will not be signed to an entry-level contract, at least not one that begins with the 2020-21 season. Holloway could still turn pro and begin his career next year, but if he does not sign now and burn his first season then he could be tempted to return for his junior year at Wisconsin. Holloway missed some time out of his NCAA season this year due to his participation with Team Canada at the World Juniors and the preceding training camp, but still managed to produce one of the better stat lines in college hockey with 35 points in 24 games. Edmonton would surely like to have the dynamic winger in their lineup as soon as possible, but Holloway may opt to return to Wisconsin for one last run with a roster that will return much of its talent from this year and will add some elite recruits as well. Of course, if it is determined that Holloway can continue to play this season then he is far more likely to follow Caufield to the NHL as soon as possible.
  • Boston Bruins prospect Jack Becker might be heading toward the record amount of time between being drafted and making his pro debut. The 2015 seventh-round pick is leaning towards returning for a fifth NCAA season as a graduate student, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. Becker, who is already 23, has played four full seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, but has been granted a fifth season of eligibility due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 policy. It’s worth wondering what Becker has left to gain from the college game. After being drafted in 2015, the two-way forward spent two more seasons in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede before joining Michigan. He was nothing if not consistent as a bottom-six forward who contributed decent offense and strong defensive play over four seasons, eventually taking over the captainship of the program this past year and leading a decorated Wolverines team. Becker may not have tremendous NHL upside, but has developed a mature, two-way game and leadership abilities and could be a nice minor league asset with the possibility of a fourth-line role in the NHL. Becker is unlikely to magically develop the scoring ability to be a top offensive weapon for Michigan or even if he were to transfer to a program with less NHL talent, so a fifth season seemingly serves no purpose. If Becker returns for another college season, he will be 25 before his potential first full pro season in 2022-23. At that point will Boston – or anyone – really care to commit to an entry-level contract? Should Becker reverse course, the Bruins can offer him the chance to join one of the AHL’s best rosters in Providence, a team that has turned more than its fair share of unheralded prospects into capable NHL depth players over the years.

Adam Johnson| Boston Bruins| Edmonton Oilers| Elliotte Friedman| Injury| NCAA| Pittsburgh Penguins| SHL| Snapshots

2 comments

Brad Marchand Added To COVID Protocol

March 27, 2021 at 11:21 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

The Bruins will be without their leading scorer for today’s game against Buffalo as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Brad Marchand has been added to the NHL’s COVID-Protocol Related Absences list.  He joins Jake DeBrusk and Sean Kuraly as Boston forwards that are currently unavailable.

The 32-year-old has had a strong first half to his season, notching 34 points in 29 games, marking the fifth straight year that he has produced over a point-per-game rate while giving him an eight-point lead on David Pastrnak for the team lead.  Marchand was only one of five players who had played in every game this season as Boston has been hit hard by injuries and COVID.

Jack Studnicka is expected to be recalled from the taxi squad to play in Marchand’s absence.  While he has been shuffled back and forth frequently this year, he still has played in 16 games for the Bruins, picking up a goal and two assists.

It’s always important to note in these situations that just because Marchand is on the CPRA list, it doesn’t mean that he has contracted the virus.  Subsequent testing over the next couple of days will determine whether he will be on the list for a while or if it’s a case of a false positive which would allow him to return soon.

Boston Bruins| Brad Marchand| COVID Protocol Related Absence

6 comments

John Moore Out For The Season

March 27, 2021 at 10:39 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

After Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated earlier this week that John Moore had undergone surgery, the nature of the procedure and recovery time weren’t specified.  That has now been revealed as the team announced that the defenseman elected to undergo hip arthroscopy and labral repair with an expected recovery time of five to six months.

The 30-year-old has been limited to just five games this season due to the injury and his time as a healthy scratch.  Moore simply hasn’t fit in with Boston since signing with them in 2018, notching just 18 points over 90 games in his three seasons with the team.  That’s hardly the type of return they were hoping for when they handed him a five-year, $13.75MM contract.

One small silver lining for Boston is that Moore’s $2.75MM AAV is now eligible to be placed on LTIR.  It’s a move that they don’t need to make now as they can currently add someone making just over $4.4MM per CapFriendly so transferring Moore to LTIR now wouldn’t accomplish anything.  However, if they make a deal that brings in someone making close to $4.4MM, they could then transfer Moore to LTIR, giving them the flexibility to make another acquisition of someone making under his $2.75MM AAV.

On the other hand, this announcement makes any potential offseason buyout trickier as Moore won’t be fully recovered by the time the buyout window opens up in July.  Players need to be healthy in order to be bought out so if this was an avenue that GM Don Sweeney was intending to pursue, he will have to wait.  The Bruins do have the potential for a second buyout window later in the summer with multiple arbitration-eligible restricted free agents and by then, Moore will be within the recovery window where a buyout could become possible.

Boston Bruins| Injury| John Moore

1 comment

John Moore Undergoes Surgery

March 23, 2021 at 7:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Bruins defenseman John Moore last suited up on February 26th and it appears that will be the last game he plays for a while.  Head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed to reporters, including Matt Porter of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), that Moore recently underwent surgery.  The nature of the injury nor the timeline for a return were specified.  It’s the latest in what has been a series of frustrations since he inked a five-year, $13.75MM contract back in the 2018 offseason.  Since then, Moore has held a limited role in the lineup, spending time as a healthy scratch.

With how much time he has missed and now the news that he has had surgery, the Bruins are eligible to transfer Moore to LTIR.  It’s a move that they don’t need to make for now as they’ve had ample cap space to recall a short-term replacement but if it happened to be a season-ending injury, it would give GM Don Sweeney a bit more flexibility heading into next month’s trade deadline.  For now though, Moore is one of four Boston blueliners currently on IR, joining Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kevan Miller.

Antti Raanta| Arizona Coyotes| Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Injury| John Moore| Kyle Okposo| Niklas Hjalmarsson

2 comments
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