Maple Leafs Acquire Brandon Carlo In Three-Team Trade With Bruins, Penguins
7:15 PM: The Bruins announced their portion of the trade, confirming that they received Minten, a 2026 first-round pick (top-five protected), and a 2025 fourth-round selection for Carlo.
2:11 PM: The Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Bruins, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The Leafs are sending center prospect Fraser Minten to the Bruins, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff adds it’s a three-team deal with the Penguins, who are receiving defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Connor Dewar from Toronto. The Leafs are sending a first-round pick to Boston in the deal as well, per Seravalli. Pittsburgh is sending a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Leafs in exchange for Timmins and Dewar, per the Maple Leafs. Additionally, Boston has retained 15 percent of Carlo’s $4.1MM salary, shares Joshua Kloke of The Athletic.
Through the mix of a three-team deal and hurdles over the cap space, Toronto lands an impactful shutdown defenseman in Carlo. He’s six-foot-five, 220
pounds and offers an invaluable right-hand shot. Those traits helped Carlo stamp out a daily lineup role almost immediately upon entering the league in 2016-17. Boston drafted Carlo in the second-round of the 2015 NHL Draft and promoted him to the pros at the end of the following season. He recorded just one assist in his first seven AHL games, but performed well enough at Boston’s following training camp to ditch the minor leagues entirely.
Carlo made the Bruins roster out of camp in the 2016-17 season. The team attempted to ease him into a lineup role, but one assist and a plus-five in 17 minutes of his NHL debut quickly showed Carlo’s impact would translate to the top flight. He was playing upwards of 24 minutes a night in just his third NHL game – and hung on to a top-pair role next to Bruins legend Zdeno Chara for the rest of his rookie season. Carlo managed 16 points, 59 penalty minutes, and a plus-nine while playing in all 82 games of his rookie year.
The top-pair conditioning continued to pay off through the next three seasons. Carlo never posted much scoring – netting his career-high of 19 points in 2019-20 – but he continued to average at least 20 minutes of ice time, on the pack of an imposing defensive presence. His role has dwindled in the years since, but his impact remains impressively consistent. Even through this season, the 28-year-old Carlo has managed nine points, 24 PIMs, and a plus-two in 63 games.
Toronto could confidently turn towards Carlo for top-pair minutes for the remainder of the season. He’ll be a shining replacement for the injured Chris Tanev, who Toronto placed on injured reserve on March 2nd. When Tanev returns, Toronto will boast a pair of high-impact, low-scoring defensive-defenseman on the right side – complimenting the more offensively-geared Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the left.
Carlo is notably signed through the end of the 2026-27 season at a manageable $3.485MM cap hit after Boston’s retention.
While the Leafs sort of their sudden heap of defensive talent, Boston will relish in the addition of a clear top prospect in Fraser Minten. Minten made the Maple Leafs roster out of camp to start the season, and recorded four points – split evenly – across the first 15 games of his NHL career.
Minten was assigned to the AHL to start the season but quickly made Toronto second-guess their decision. He was called up to the NHL in mid-November after posting four points in five games to start the AHL season. Minten continued the hot scoring into his first taste of NHL action, netting four points across his first five NHL games of the season. His scoring dried up after that – with no scoring in his last 10 NHL games – but Minten has stayed productive in the minor leagues, where he has 13 points in 26 games.
This is Minten’s first season of professional hockey. He spent the last four seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and, briefly, Saskatoon Blades. Minten totaled 188 points in 187 career games in the WHL, including 55 points in 67 games of the 2021-22 campaign. That was enough to earn him a second-round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft – a divisive pick at the time. Minten also earned the honor of captaining Team Canada at the 2024 World Junior Championships, where he scored three points in five games. It was his first time representing Canada internationally.
Minten is still working on figuring out his pro footing but he’ll offer tantalizing upside once he’s level. He’s an impactful two-way centerman who is strong on the faceoff dot and smart with his positioning. Those traits could be tailor-made for a Bruins organization that’s already developed Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle into strong, top-six options.
The deal is rounded out by Toronto sending depth skaters Dewar and Timmins to the Penguins as a cap dump. That addition frees up $2.28MM in cap space for the Leafs, which will effectively be their only cap space for the remainder of the year. Both Dewar and Timmins could find a path to routine minutes for Pittsburgh, where they’ll play under former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas.
Dewar has served as Toronto’s fourth-line center for much of the year but has been fairly low-event. He has just three assists, five penalty minutes, and a minus-three through 31 appearances. That’s a far step down from the 19 points, 28 PIMs, and minus-eight he totaled in 74 games last season, split between time with the Minnesota Wild and Maple Leafs. He’s found a groove as a gritty, hard-nosed bottom-line option – which should fit right in with the makeup of Pittsburgh’s current fourth line. Dewar will challenge Blake Lizotte for routine ice time, but could be pushed to the flanks to challenge Bokondji Imama or Noel Acciari should Pittsburgh prefer to keep Lizotte in.
Timmins has landed in a similar rut. He’s been a bottom-pair option for the Leafs, with eight points, 24 PIMs, and a plus-two in 51 games this season. That is also a downtick in scoring form the 10 points Timmins managed in 25 games last year, and the 14 points he posted in 25 games of 2022-23. Pittsburgh has been searching for more defense depth after trading away Marcus Pettersson. Timmins could find a way into the vacant role, though he’ll first compete with Ryan Graves and newcomer Vladislav Kolyachonok for minutes.
Both Dewar and Timmins are set to enter restricted free agency this summer.
Panthers Acquire Brad Marchand From Bruins
The Bruins are shipping out captain Brad Marchand to the Panthers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports the trade is happening, pending league call. Boston is receiving a 2027 second-round pick that will upgrade to a 2028 first-round pick if conditions are met, per John Buccigross of ESPN. The Bruins will retain 50 percent of Marchand’s $6.125MM cap hit, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, alleviating any cap concerns Florida would have.
Both sides have made the deal official. The conditional second-round pick will upgrade to a first-round pick if Florida wins two rounds of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Marchand appears in at least half of the team’s playoff games.
Marchand is currently injured. He is expected to miss the next “couple of weeks” with an upper-body injury, Panthers general manager Bill Zito told media including David Dwork of The Hockey News. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney told Connor Ryan of the Boston Globe that Marchand should miss three-to-four weeks.
Just days after swapping top young goaltender Spencer Knight for top-four defenseman Seth Jones, the Florida Panthers are taking another swing at landing the blockbuster deal of the Trade Deadline. They’re able to take on Marchand’s reduced $3.0625MM cap hit after placing star winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve. Tkachuk is expected to likely miss the remaining regular season after suffering a lower-body injury at the 4-Nations Face-Off.
Marchand will fill Tkachuks’ role of getting under opponents’ skin perfectly. Tenacious forechecking and high scoring have been the defining attributes of Marchand’s 16-year career with the Bruins. He ranks fourth in Bruins franchise history in goals (422), games played (1,090), and penalty minutes (1,113). Marchand also ranks fifth in all-time points (976). Those are impressive records for a career-long player on an Original Six club, and they shape Marchand’s standing as one of the best Bruins of the 2010s.
Marchand’s legacy in Boston runs deep. The Bruins originally drafted him in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft and awarded him with his NHL debut four years later. Marchand didn’t break out in 20 regular season games to start his career, but did explode as a high-
impact, top-six forward as Boston entered the 2011 postseason. He recorded 11 goals, 19 points, 40 penalty minutes, and a plus-12 in 25 games of Boston’s playoff run, ultimately supporting the team to their first Stanley Cup win since 1972.
That postseason performance stapled Marchand to Boston’s top-six, and he didn’t give the team a chance to second-guess. He scored 21 goals and 41 points in 77 games in his first full NHL season. He went on to average 23.2 goals and 45.4 points each season through the first five years of his career. But Marchand had plenty more in store. He broke out with 37 goals and 61 points in the 2015-16 season, the start of seven-year streak of rivaling or breaking the 30-goal mark. Along the way, Marchand posted a career-high 100 points in the 2018-19 season – on the back of a dangerous duo with Boston’s David Pastrnak.
Marchand continues to produce into this season. He has 21 goals and 47 points on the year, good for second on the Bruins in goals and points – and an 82-game pace of 28 goals and 63 points. But his eight-year contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Boston has opted to net assets for him while they can rather than let him walk in free agency.
The headache of playing against Marchand could only get worse for his opponents around the Atlantic Division. This move sends him to the reigning Stanley Cup champions, where the role of a top-line grinder and scorer is clearly carved out. The Panthers rank second in the Eastern Conference with a 39-21-3 record this season. They also rank eighth in the NHL with a 3.25 goals-per-game average – just over 1.5 goals more than Boston has averaged this season.
Moving to an improved offense, and likely set to fill a role next to superstar Aleksander Barkov, should give Marchand a major scoring boost. He managed 29 goals and 67 points last season, and could quickly rediscover those totals as the Panthers look for a hard-nosed finisher in front of the net.
While the Panthers work to make the most out of Marchand’s first move away from Boston, the Bruins will work to find a reasonable top-line replacement. Boston acquired forward Casey Mittelstadt from the Colorado Avalanche earlier on Deadline day, which could open up a chance for Elias Lindholm or Matthew Poitras to push for the top left-wing role. If not a converted center, Boston will likely need to turn towards spot scorers like Morgan Geekie or Riley Tufte.
The Bruins could also use this as a golden chance to recall top prospect Fabian Lysell. Lysell ranks third among active Providence Bruins in scoring with 30 points in 46 games this season. He received his NHL debut earlier this season, but was reassigned after one outing without any scoring. Many fans have yearned for Lysell’s call-up throughout most of the last two seasons – though it seems Boston is still wanting him to find another gear before they promote him full-time. Lysell scored 50 points in 56 AHL games last year – good for fourth on Providence in scoring.
Marchand took over Boston’s captaincy after star Patrice Bergeron retired in 2023. Dealing him away will be a monumental shift for the Bruins lineup, that will likely take years to fully heal from. The potential for a 2028 first-round pick will support that process, though Boston could still end up a top name in buyer’s markets to come as they look to redefine their future. Meanwhile, Florida will inherent Marchand’s expiring contract. The 36-year-old winger could reasonably sign a short-term deal this summer to round out the end of his career, but that interest could be gauged by how long of a postseason run Florida is able to achieve. The Panthers added two top-of-the-lineup pieces in Marchand and Jones, bolstering a roster that was already ranked near the top of the NHL. They’ll be a formidable foe as the postseason rolls around.
Bruins To Paper Down Khusnutdinov, Lettieri, Brown, Mitchell, Tufte, Poitras
- According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have reassigned defenseman Riley Stillman to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Stillman filled in for Dmitry Orlov in last night’s contest but didn’t make it through the full game due to getting his face cut by a skate. He finished last night’s contest against the Boston Bruins with zero points after skating in 18 seconds of the game’s action.
- In a major boost to their playoff chances, the AHL’s Providence Bruins will have several players available for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs. Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports the Boston Bruins have papered down Marat Khusnutdinov, Vinni Lettieri, Patrick Brown, Ian Mitchell, Riley Tufte, and Matthew Poitras to the AHL for their postseason eligibility. All six players are expected back on the Bruins roster by this evening or tomorrow morning.
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Bruins, Devils Swap Daniil Misyul, Marc McLaughlin
The Bruins announced they’ve acquired minor-league defenseman Daniil Misyul from the Devils for AHL-bound forward Marc McLaughlin.
McLaughlin has been in and out of the Bruins lineup this season, working into a career-high 12 games along the way. He has just two points, both goals, in that span while adding a minus-one. He’s been a tad more productive in the minor leagues, where he’s totaled 14 points in 34 games. That mark matches his scoring from 68 AHL games last year. Both seasons stand as a down year from McLaughlin’s career-high 30 points set in 66 AHL games in 2022-23. He’s served as a de facto call-up for the Bruins all the while, ultimately totaling six points – interestingly, all goals – in 26 career appearances dating back to 2021-22. He was signed as an undrafted free agent that season, joining the Bruins organization after four years at Boston College. McLaughlin grew up just outside of Boston and, save for AHL stints in Providence, will make his first move out of Massachusetts since he played USHL hockey in Cedar Rapids thanks to this trade.
In return, the Bruins land six-foot-three defenseman Misyul, who has eight assists, 33 penalty minutes, and a minus-eight in 47 AHL games this season. Misyul also made his NHL debut earlier in the year, but managed no scoring and a minus-one. He has also seen a knock in his minor league production after netting 14 points in 44 games last year. Prior to that, Misyul spent five seasons with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of Russia’s KHL. He wasn’t much of a scorer overseas either, tallying just 21 points across 183 games in the KHL. He will slot in as a depth defenseman for the Providence Bruins.
Both McLaughlin and Misyul are set for restricted free agency this summer.
Bruins Acquire Henri Jokiharju From Sabres
The Bruins have acquired defenseman Henri Jokiharju from the Sabres in exchange for the Oilers’ 2026 fourth-round pick, both teams announced. Darren Dreger of TSN was first to report the trade, which wasn’t certain to go through ahead of the deadline.
Boston’s buzzer-beater acquisition of Jokiharju will help fill in after they traded stout defensive defenseman Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Carlo’s absence leaves nearly 19 minutes of ice time every night up for grabs. The bulk of those minutes will likely go to Andrew Peeke, but it will be a battle between Ian Mitchell and Jokiharju for a role on the team’s second pair.
Jokiharju has filled a minimal role in Buffalo this season, with just six points, 12 penalty minutes, and a plus-six in 42 games. He has also scored three goals – exactly the same amount that he’s scored in each of the last five seasons. Jokiharju’s downward trend in scoring this year comes after a career performance last season, when he totaled a career-high 20 points and fought his way into a second-pair role through 74 games. He even rivaled top-pair utilization in 2021-22 and 2022-23, averaging over 21 minutes a night through 120 games between the pair of years.
Jokiharju, 25, is still finding his footing in the NHL after breaking into the league at age-19. He was a first-round selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Draft – and recorded 12 assists in 38 games with the team as a rookie in 2018-19. Chicago traded Jokiharju to the Sabres in exchange for Alex Nylander in the following summer, setting him up for an extended run as part of Buffalo’s desolate blue-line. Over six years in Buffalo, Jokiharju totaled 81 points in 351 games – just enough to earn a spot on Team Finland at 2025’s 4-Nations Face-Off, where he scored one goal in three games.
Jokiharju is signed at a $3.1MM cap hit through the end of the season. He will slot into Boston’s bottom-four and look to find a groove on the new-look Bruins, after six years with a struggling Sabres squad.
Bruins Place Tyler Pitlick On Waivers
F Tyler Pitlick (Bruins) – Pitlick signed with the Boston Bruins this morning, requiring waivers for reassignment. [Article Link]
Bruins, Avalanche Swap Charlie Coyle, Casey Mittelstadt
The Avalanche are acquiring center Charlie Coyle from the Bruins, Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic reports. Center Casey Mittelstadt is headed from Colorado to Boston in the deal, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. The Bruins are also receiving forward prospect Will Zellers and a second-round pick in the deal, according to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff. LeBrun adds the Avs are receiving a 2026 fifth-rounder along with Coyle, while the second-round pick heading to Boston is in this year’s draft.
The deal swaps middle-six centers heading in completely opposite directions. Coyle, fresh off his 33rd birthday, posted a career-high 60 points in Boston last season but has scored just 15-7–22 in 64 games this year with a career-worst -14 rating. He’s signed through next season at a $5.25MM cap hit, a big risk for the Avs if there’s no salary retention and his play can’t rebound in what’s sure to be a reduced role behind Nathan MacKinnon and yesterday’s pickup Brock Nelson down the middle.
Coyle does bring an upgrade to Colorado’s third line in terms of overall experience and past performance, which is what the Avs are banking on despite his poor showing on a thin Bruins offense this year. He also brings some slight cap savings down the line – he costs $500K less against the cap than Mittelstadt and is signed for one less season. It’s worth noting he’s been quite the playoff performer in his career, posting 25-27–52 in 119 postseason games. He’s yet to miss the playoffs, going in six straight years with Minnesota and then another six with Boston. He’ll extend it to 13 years in a row in Denver.
Boston lands a much younger pivot in Mittelstadt, who hasn’t quite reached Coyle’s 60-point pinnacle but did reach 59 and 57 points the last two seasons. He hasn’t taken nearly as large a step back as Coyle this season, but it’s still been quite the difficult season. Mittelstadt has 11-23–34 through 63 games for the Avs, who acquired him at last year’s deadline in a major swap with the Sabres for Bowen Byram. Only 25 of those points have come at even strength, he’s won just 42.4% of his faceoffs, and his relative possession impacts are the worst they’ve been in five years. He wasn’t the reliable second-line center Colorado hoped they were getting last year, so they opted to acquire the veteran Nelson and Coyle while flipping Mittelstadt less than a year after signing him to a three-year, $17.25MM deal.
The mismatch in futures heading to the Bruins from the Avs is still surprising. Mittelstadt is seven years younger than Coyle and still has 60-point potential, and he’s a skilled sniper with a nearly 12% shooting rate. While a less reliable two-way presence than Coyle, who landed Selke Trophy votes for the first time last season, his age and contract align better with Boston’s now clear plan to retool their roster over the coming years. With Trent Frederic already out the door, Mittelstadt should easily fit into a top-six role for Boston down the stretch, although his poor faceoff showings may necessitate a shift to the wing to get him that ice time.
Boston picks up a fairly intriguing prospect in the 18-year-old Zellers. Selected in the third round of last year’s draft by the Avs out of prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s, the 5’11” center/winger jumped to the United States Hockey League for major junior play this year and hasn’t disappointed. In 40 games with the Green Bay Gamblers, the speedy forward leads the team in scoring with 37-21–58. He’s the high-energy, high-scoring type of prospect sorely missing from the Bruins’ system, even if he’ll be a long-term project developmentally.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Wild Acquire Justin Brazeau
According to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, the Minnesota Wild are acquiring winger Justin Brazeau from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick. Minnesota has made the deal official.
With Boston shifting into a seller’s mindset over the last week, Brazeau became an obvious trade chip. The New Liskeard, Ontario native was in the final year of a two-year, $1.55MM contract and was one of the few pending unrestricted free agents of value on the Bruins’ roster.
Brazeau is in his first full NHL season after splitting last year between the Boston and Providence Bruins. He has 20 points, split evenly, in 57 games this season and ranks seventh on the team with 89 hits. Minnesota was drawn to Brazeau’s lofty six-foot-six, 227-pound frame – and his right-hand shot – shares Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Brazeau’s pro career began on an ECHL contract with the Newfoundland Growlers in the 2019-20 season. He broke into the pros with 55 points in 57 games, enough to earn a mid-season call-up to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and an everyday role with the squad in the following year. Brazeau’s AHL start was slow-going in the shortened 2020-21 season, backed by just five points in his first 22 AHL games. The Marlies opted to move on from Brazeau in the following summer, setting him up for a move to the Bruins organization. On the back of cold scoring, he returned to the ECHL for the start of the 2021-22 campaign. But Brazeau quickly earned another call-up after netting 20 points in 18 games. He didn’t let his second chance slip, netting 31 points in 51 games in his first season in Providence. He doubled down with 45 points in 67 games of the 2022-23 campaign, and 37 points in 49 AHL games last year – hot enough scoring to earn the lumbering winger his first NHL call-up.
The Bruins have kept Brazeau on the NHL roster since his first recall in February of 2024. He’s totaled 15 goals and 27 points in 76 career NHL games – and seems to be finding better footing as a third-line role specialist this year. He’ll bring a strong net-front presence to a Wild roster that only has one player – fringe defenseman David Jiricek – taller than six-foot-three.
In exchange for Brazeau, the Wild give up a pair of depth forwards. Lauko has served as one of
the team’s top physical presences when he’s healthy, though routine games have come few and far between. Lauko has six points, 27 penalty minutes, and a minus-five in 38 games this season, while tying for fourth on the team with 69 hits. He’s missed 24 games with various lower-body injuries, including a dismal stretch at the end of 2024 where Lauko missed two weeks with one injury, made his return, then got reinjured in his first game back and missed an additional month. He returned briefly before landing back on injured reserve for 20 days of February.
Lauko was in his first season with the Wild after spending the last two years – the first two seasons of his NHL career – with the Bruins. He’ll return to Boston looking to spur his never-ending string of bad health.
Khusnutdinov will join Lauko in the move out East. The 22-year-old has played in 73 games as Minnesota’s fourth-line center over the last two seasons but managed only three goals and 11 points. Khusnutdinov was far more productive over a four-year career in Russia’s KHL, where he suited up for SKA St. Petersburg and their farm club, HC Sochi. Khusnutdinov totaled 22 goals and 75 points across 162 KHL games before he even turned 21. That includes a single-season high of 11 goals and 41 points in 63 games of the 2022-23 season. He moved to Minnesota after Sochi’s 2023-24 campaign came to an end, and has so far struggled to find his footing in North American pros. He’ll slot in as a young and capable depth centerman for a needy Bruins club – and boasts an interesting amount of upside given his secondary inclusion in this deal. How Boston taps into that upside could go a long way towards tailoring their long-term plan, while Brazeau brings a towering addition to a Wild club looking for short-term success.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Trade Deadline Notes: Marchand, Leafs, Nelson, Devils
The Trade Deadline is mere hours away, and despite a quiet build up, multiple major headlines have started to boil to the surface – all captured by TSN’s latest Insider Trading. The deadline could be headlined by the Boston Bruins parting ways with team captain Brad Marchand, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic during the Insider Trading segment.
A Marchand trade would be era-defining for the Bruins. He has been in Boston for the entirety of his 16-year, 1,090-game NHL career. Cracking franchise record books is a tough feat on an Original Six club but Marchand nonetheless ranks fourth in Boston history in career goals (422), games played (1,090), and penalty minutes (1,113). He also ranks fifth on Boston’s all-time points leaderboard.
Nearly two decades after his first introduction to the team, Marchand now stands as Boston’s last connection to days past. Where Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, and David Krejci have retired – Marchand has continued on. He took on the Bruins captaincy last season and has continued strong production into his age-36 season. Marchand ranks second on the Bruins with 21 goals and 47 points in 61 games this season – only behind David Pastrnak‘s dazzling 32 goals and 77 points. Getting Boston to part ways with their captain, their rink rat, and their second-ranked scorer would take a monumental effort, but the right mix of future structure could convince the middling Bruins. Marchand has emphasized his preference to stay in Boston.
More from TSN’s Insider Trading:
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to seek out centermen and defensemen on the trade market per TSN’s Darren Dreger. They’re exploring multiple options, including Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen and St. Louis’ Brayden Schenn. Both players are entering the golden years of their careers. Schenn is in his age-33 season. He’s captained the Blues since Ryan O’Reilly left in 2023. Like fellow captain Marchand, Schenn has held to his typical style in recent years. He has 12 goals and 38 points in 63 games this season, while offering stout two-way play and a 50.3 percent faceoff win-rate. Ristolainen, 30, has seen his scoring dwindle as he’s entered his 30s. He has just 19 points in 59 games this season, but does boast a plus-five – the first positive plus-minus of his 12-year NHL career. He’s rounded out his defense and offers a hardy physical presence. On a Leafs team looking for the additions to match big moves by the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, either veteran could bring impactful depth.
- The New York Islanders will likely wait until the last minute before they make a decision on extending or trading veteran forward Brock Nelson, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Buzz around Nelson’s deadline availability has ebbed and flowed over the last few months, mixed between reports of total availability and looming extension. The 33-year-old Nelson has 20 goals and 43 points in 61 games this season. He’s one of three players, alongside Anders Lee and Bo Horvat, tied for New York’s lead in scoring. Nelson is set to enter unrestricted free agency this summer and carries a 16-team no-trade clause, which will limit the places the career-Islander is able to go. The New Jersey Devils are among interested teams as they look to bank on accrued cap space after Jack Hughes‘ season-ending injury.
Bruins Taking Calls On Brad Marchand
Despite Bruins captain Brad Marchand‘s desire to stay with the team past the deadline even if they don’t have an extension in hand, the Boston front office has other plans. They’re now listening to calls on trade inquiries for the star winger while continuing extension dialogue, according to Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
Moving Marchand would mark a seismic shift in Boston’s organizational identity in myriad ways. A post-4 Nations break skid and injuries to top defenders Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy had the Bruins resigned as deadline sellers for the first time in a decade. Naturally, the assumption was they’d take a cautious approach to retooling their roster and move out some of their depth pending free agents. They already accomplished a deal for one of them, sending Trent Frederic to Edmonton earlier this week.
That’s not the case. Reports over the past week indicate they’re also open to moving players with term, namely top-six forwards Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha and top-four defenseman Brandon Carlo. Shipping out their captain, though, even as a pending UFA, removes the Bruins’ longest-tenured player and only remaining member from their 2011 Stanley Cup championship and indicates something closer to a rebuild than a retool as they consider their offseason plans.
While the Bruins are only three points out of a playoff spot, they have negative games in hand and are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games. That has their playoff odds down to 5% amid a crowded Eastern playoff picture, per MoneyPuck, and the likelihood of a surge up the standings is limited significantly by an upper-body injury to Marchand himself. He’s listed as week-to-week after he was on the receiving end of a huge hit from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph last weekend, so he wouldn’t be able to play for a new team immediately after a trade.
The possibility of a Marchand move is only starting to spike in real-time. He was left off The Fourth Period’s most recent trade board entirely, and Johnston had Marchand listed as the 37th and final player on the board he released just this morning.
But given this year’s market for rental pieces, it’s clear to see why Bruins general manager Don Sweeney would at least listen to offers. Boston could very well land multiple first-round picks or similarly-valued assets for his services, even without an extension agreed to. They still have two retention slots remaining and could slash his already palatable $6.125MM cap hit in half to make a trade to a cap-strapped contender easier. For a team with one of the worst prospect pools in the league, it’s an appealing thought for their odds of being championship contenders again by the end of the decade.