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Bruins, Avalanche Swap Charlie Coyle, Casey Mittelstadt

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Predators Claim Jordan Oesterle From Bruins

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The Predators have claimed winger Jakub Vrána off waivers from the Capitals and defenseman Jordan Oesterle off waivers from the Bruins, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.

Meanwhile, Oesterle joins the seventh organization of his career from the waiver claim. The product of Western Michigan University had recently signed a two-year, $1.55MM agreement with Boston last summer. Similarly to Vrána, Oesterle had been a lightly called upon depth option on the Bruins’ blue line.

He’s likely to find a similar role in Nashville. Oesterle doesn’t appear better on paper than any of the Predators’ other options unless the team has not finished dealing from their defensive core. The 11-year veteran has registered one goal and six points in 22 games for the Bruins this season, averaging 17:36 of ice time. The pair of Nashville’s waiver claims were briefly teammates throughout their time with the Red Wings from 2021 to 2023.

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Bruins Sign Tyler Pitlick To Two-Way Deal

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The Bruins announced they’ve signed forward Tyler Pitlick to a two-way deal for the remainder of the season, carrying the league-minimum cap hit of $775K. He was previously on an AHL contract with their affiliate in Providence. He’ll presumably end up on waivers today to be assigned to the AHL on deadline day to make him eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs but will be a recall option for Boston down the stretch.

Pitlick, 33, was initially expected to head overseas last summer but ended up settling for a tryout with Providence in late September. His stock on the open market was the lowest it had been in quite some time after he cleared waivers the prior year with the Rangers and finished the season with just 3-4–7 in 22 games for AHL Hartford. As such, he was not extended NHL offers as an unrestricted free agent, and he stuck around in the minors.

The 10-year NHL veteran has looked rejuvenated with the P-Bruins, though. Boston was even considering a two-way deal for him at the beginning of the campaign, but ended up waiting until the trade deadline to get it done. The versatile 6’2″ forward is tied for fourth on the minor-league club in scoring with 16-17–33 in 43 games, leading Providence forwards with a +17 rating.

After trading away Trent Frederic earlier this week and a few more subtractions expected before tomorrow’s trade deadline, there will be increased opportunity for Bruins depth pieces down the stretch who’ve spent most of the year in Providence. Pitlick will be one of them as he looks to land an extension or a two-way deal elsewhere over the summer. If he’s waived today, he won’t count against the Bruins’ active roster or salary cap for today’s calculations.

Pitlick, who plays both center and wing (but mostly the latter), has 56-53–109 in 420 career NHL games with the Oilers, Stars, Flyers, Blues, Coyotes, Rangers, Flames, and Canadiens. The journeyman was selected by Edmonton with the first pick of the second round in the 2010 draft.

Waivers: 3/5/25

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Four players hit the waiver wire on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s trade deadline, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

F Christian Fischer (Red Wings) – Fischer, 27, has slipped down Detroit’s depth chart as the season’s progressed. He’s been a healthy scratch in four of their last eight games. His 11:09 ATOI is his lowest in five years, as are his 0.16 points per game (1-6–7 in 45 GP). On an expiring deal worth $1.125MM, he’ll cost $100K against the cap for Detroit if he clears and is sent to the minors. It’s unclear if it’s purely a performance-based demotion or if they’re waiving him to open up roster flexibility ahead of the deadline – likely a bit of both.

D Jordan Oesterle (Bruins) – Oesterle’s waiver placement comes after the 32-year-old scored his first goal since December 2022 in yesterday’s loss to the Predators. He’d been a healthy scratch in 10 straight games before re-entering the lineup for Ian Mitchell. The veteran depth piece has served as a bottom-pairing/depth option for a good chunk of the season with Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy missing significant time on the Boston blue line. He’s been rostered since late November, so today’s waiver placement is likely an effort to get him assigned to AHL Providence on deadline day to make him eligible for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

F Jesse Puljujärvi (Panthers) – Puljujärvi signed a tryout with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte last month after having his deal with the Penguins mutually terminated. Today’s waiver placement indicates he’s landed an NHL deal with the Panthers for the rest of the season. If he clears waivers and returns to Charlotte, he’ll now be a recall option down the stretch. It’s a two-way, league-minimum deal for the 2016 No. 4 overall pick, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. He has three assists in seven games with Charlotte after posting 3-6–9 in 26 showings with Pittsburgh earlier this season.

F Jakub Vrána (Capitals) – Vrána won’t necessarily be reassigned to AHL Hershey if he clears, at least not immediately. They’ll have a 30-day window to send him to the minors waiver-free to aid in salary cap flexibility around deadline moves, AP’s Stephen Whyno reports. Regardless, it’s been a tough year for the 29-year-old. He landed a PTO with Washington in camp and converted that into an NHL contract for his second stint with the Caps, who drafted him 13th overall in 2014. He’s been reasonably productive when dressed, posting 7-4–11 in 26 games despite seeing just 9:50 of ice time per game, but hasn’t found a regular role in Washington’s league-best offense. He’s suited up just three times since New Year’s, sitting almost exclusively as a healthy scratch. He’s on a one-way deal for 2024-25 worth the minimum $775K.

Bruins Recall Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri, Riley Tufte

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The Bruins announced they’ve recalled forwards Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri, and Riley Tufte from AHL Providence – the second of whom comes up under emergency conditions. Defenseman Ian Mitchell is also back with the team after a paper transaction meant he wasn’t rostered for yesterday’s loss to the Predators. The club reassigned forwards Georgii Merkulov and Jeffrey Viel to Providence in corresponding moves to keep their active roster at the 23-player maximum.

Only two needed to be sent down because Boston opened an additional roster spot yesterday by trading Trent Frederic to the Oilers. While he comes up under emergency conditions, likely related to captain Brad Marchand’s upper-body injury, Lettieri still counts against the roster limit. The Bruins only have to worry about their granular maneuvering until Friday’s deadline, after which the cap on roster sizes disappears.

Brown, 32, returns to the roster for the first time since January. The veteran of parts of nine NHL seasons has spent most of the year in Providence, only suiting up twice for Boston over a pair of recalls. He averaged 11:02 of ice time across those contests and posted a minus-one rating while going 2-for-5 on faceoffs and taking three shots on goal. The Michigan native will return to the lineup tomorrow against the Hurricanes as the Bs’ fourth-line center between John Beecher and Mark Kastelic, per Scott McLaughlin of WEEI. He’s served as the P-Bruins’ captain this season and is tied for second on the team in scoring with 16-28–44 through 52 games.

Ahead of Brown in AHL scoring is Lettieri, leading the club with 20-28–48 in 46 appearances. The 30-year-old made eight appearances for Boston in January, scoring twice while averaging 12:05 per game and recording 19 hits. The versatile 5’10” forward has been a decently productive depth piece when called upon for NHL minutes, posting 14-15–29 in 137 career games. He’ll get a shot in the top nine against Carolina on a line with Cole Koepke and youngster Matthew Poitras.

Tufte comes back up after being sent down in favor of Merkulov and Viel last week. The 6’6″ winger has also been reasonably productive for the P-Bruins this year, racking up 18-13–31 in 42 appearances. The 26-year-old former Stars first-rounder has averaged just 8:05 per game in five showings for Boston, though, posting no points and a minus-three rating with six hits. He’ll somewhat surprisingly get a shot in a second-line role with Charlie Coyle and Elias Lindholm, Marchand’s usual spot in the lineup.

Merkulov had been the one receiving Marchand’s minutes over the last few games, but no points and three shots on goal weren’t enough to keep him on the roster. The 5’11” natural center heads back to Providence, where he remains one of the club’s most effective per-game producers with 44 points in 47 outings.

The 6’2″ Viel had suited up in each of Boston’s last three games, averaging 7:29 per contest with a minus-one rating and eight hits. The depth power forward has 8-18–26 in 51 AHL games with a team-high 130 PIMs.

Bruins Open To Moving Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha

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For the first time in recent memory, the Bruins have made the call to sell at the trade deadline in earnest. After trading pending UFA forward Trent Frederic to the Oilers earlier today and following previous reports that defenseman Brandon Carlo and forward Morgan Geekie are available for the right price, they’re now open to hearing offers for centers Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

Their availability adds some depth to a relatively thin center market ahead of Friday’s deadline, although neither are rental pickups. Coyle is signed through 2026-27 at a $5.25MM cap hit and carries a full no-movement clause for the duration of his deal, per PuckPedia, so the Bruins’ options for moving him will be extremely limited. Meanwhile, Zacha is under contract through 2027-28 with a $4.75MM cap hit and has a 10-team no-trade list until July 1.

Neither has had a season to write home about, especially Coyle. Fresh off his 33rd birthday, the hometown kid has churned out just 14-7–21 through 62 games after recording a career-high 25 goals and 60 points last season. It’s not for a lack of usage – he’s averaging 17:39 per game, the second-highest mark of his career behind last year. He’s shooting at a strong 15.6% but not generating nearly as many chances. His 1.45 shots on goal per game mark the second-lowest rate of his 13-year run in the NHL, ahead of only his rookie season with the Wild 12 years ago. He’s also tracking to post a career-worst -13 rating.

That doesn’t paint a rosy picture in terms of the likelihood of a trade. He only has a three-team no-trade list if he waives his no-movement clause, but whether or not he’d even waive his NMC to depart his home city is uncertain, even as Boston enters sell-off mode. His $5.25MM cap hit is also immovable given his performance this season without retention, and it’s unlikely Boston would be willing to do so for a contract that runs past this season as they look to reload for 2025-26.

The 27-year-old Zacha is thus a far more intriguing candidate. His offensive totals have dropped too, but not as much. He’s still third on the team in scoring with 12-25–37 in 62 games, all while averaging 19:23 per game and serving as the Bs’ de facto No. 1 center for the second year in a row. He’s averaged 0.69 points per game in a Bruins uniform since they acquired him from the Devils in 2022 and wouldn’t command any retention to move. Limited trade protection also increases his market, and at his cap hit, he’s a better value proposition – especially with two years left on his deal – than most other centers out there.

The 6’3″ Zacha is also a full-time pivot with good faceoff numbers, more than what can be said about names like Ryan Donato or Scott Laughton. After spending most of his career below 50%, he’s won 54.2% of his draws since the beginning of 2023-24.

Moving either would represent a more aggressive retooling than most would have expected out of the Bruins. Still, their names floating into rumors at least signal an openness to moving out some of their lower-ceiling offensive talents in hopes of landing a top-six impact piece (or multiple) this summer.

Oilers Acquire Trent Frederic

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The Oilers are acquiring forward Trent Frederic from the Bruins in a trade that will also involve the Devils as a third team, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Winger Max Jones is also headed from Boston to Edmonton in the deal, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. The Devils announced they’ve acquired the rights to left-wing prospect Shane Lachance from the Oilers and will retain half of Frederic’s salary in the trade after the Bruins’ initial 50% retention, bringing his cap hit for Edmonton down to $575K from $2.3MM. New Jersey also dealt the signing rights to right-winger Petr Hauser to the Oilers to complete their involvement. Edmonton announced the full trade, which reads as follows:

Oilers receive: Frederic, Jones, signing rights to Hauser
Devils receive: Signing rights to Lachance
Bruins receive: D Maximus Wanner, the Blues’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Oilers’ 2026 fourth-round pick.

Frederic is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports there’s a possibility he won’t be cleared to play until the playoffs. In that case, the Oilers could place Frederic at his reduced cap hit on long-term injured reserve to open up additional spending flexibility for further moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Boston selected Frederic 29th overall in the 2016 draft, ahead of higher-ceiling forwards Alex DeBrincat and Jordan Kyrou who both went in the second round. After a brief but successful two-year collegiate stint at Wisconsin, the versatile depth piece took a couple of years to simmer in the minors, only emerging as a roster regular for the Bruins in the 2020-21 campaign.

Frederic spent a pair of seasons as a fourth-line fixture without much offensive pop, but the physical 6’3″ forward popped big time in Boston’s historic 65-win season in 2022-23. Skating primarily on the wing, he recorded 17-14–31 in 79 games despite averaging under 12 minutes per night, also finishing second among Bruins forwards with 105 hits.

In addition to spending more time down the middle, Frederic amped up his production last season. The Missouri native recorded a career-high 18-22–40 scoring line in 82 games, adding 204 hits while seeing a slight bump in his special teams deployment. But despite skating a career-high 13:55 per game in 2024-25, he hasn’t been able to keep up his scoring. Snakebit like the majority of his Boston teammates, Frederic has just 8-7–15 in 57 games with a career-worst -14 rating. His shooting percentage has regressed to 10.5% after hovering north of the 14% mark the prior two years.

While the drop in point totals is concerning, he’s established his floor as a high-end fourth-line piece with middle-six upside and will likely see an uptick in production depending on how he’s deployed amid a far more talented offensive group in Edmonton. His struggles this season, his expiring contract, and Boston’s slide down the standings made it almost a guarantee he’d be moved at the deadline. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer after finishing out the year with the Oilers.

Frederic has posted similar offensive numbers to the Oilers’ current pair of third-line wingers in Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark, so it’s unclear if he’ll unseat either for a top-nine role. While faceoffs aren’t his strong suit (a career average of 44.4%), his experience playing down the middle also addresses an immediate need for an Edmonton squad without a legitimate fourth-line center. He could slot in there once he’s ready to return, relieving natural wingers like Kasperi Kapanen who have had to step into the role lately.

They also pick up Jones, who amounts to a failed offseason pickup for Boston. He managed only seven appearances for the Bs after signing a two-year, $2MM deal last offseason, going without a point and averaging 10:01 per game. Selected a few spots ahead of Frederic by the Ducks in the 2016 draft, Jones will remain on his minor-league assignment after clearing waivers in November but now reports to the Oilers’ affiliate in Bakersfield. His $1MM cap hit is completely buriable in the minors and thus carries no cap impact for Edmonton. Before the move, he posted 13-8–21 with a plus-one rating in 38 games for the P-Bruins.

Rounding out Edmonton’s haul in the deal is Hauser, who New Jersey selected in the fifth round in 2022. The 21-year-old is amid a tumultuous campaign in his native Czechia, playing for three different squads across the top-level and second-tier professional leagues. He has 1-10–11 in 63 Czech Extraliga games dating back to his top-level debut in the 2022-23 season. While he has great size at 6’4″ and 207 lbs, he wasn’t considered a meaningful prospect in the Devils organization by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic in his January ranking. He’s a low-ceiling, low-floor option whose signing rights will expire in June 2026.

The Oilers give up a decently intriguing prospect in Lachance for the Devils’ additional salary retention. The son of ex-NHLer and Devils head scout Scott Lachance was the No. 6 prospect in an already-thin Edmonton system, per Wheeler. The 6’5″ winger has suited up for Boston University the past two seasons after Edmonton selected him in the sixth round in 2021, posting 23-29–52 in 72 games while also serving as captain this season. New Jersey will hold his signing rights until the Aug. 15 following his final collegiate season.

In what’s been a strong rental market, Boston landing what’s slated to be a mid-tier second-round pick is some decent work by general manager Don Sweeney. Edmonton previously acquired the second-rounder from St. Louis as compensation for signing defenseman Philip Broberg to an offer sheet last August. The Bruins didn’t have a second-rounder in this year’s draft before the trade – they traded theirs to the Capitals in the 2023 Dmitry Orlov three-team deal.

Wanner was also one of the Oilers’ more notable prospects, checking in at No. 10 in Wheeler’s rankings. The 6’3″ righty isn’t a legitimate needle-mover for a Bruins pool that lacks high-end talent, though. Now 21, he was a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft and projects as a likely No. 7/8 option on an NHL depth chart at his peak. He’s been limited to just two points in 22 games with Bakersfield this year after posting 7-10–17 in 68 games with a +13 rating in his first pro season last year. He’ll now report to Providence.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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