Nine days remain before the NHL trade deadline. When this happens, no more trades can be sent in for the remainder of a team’s season. Many teams who are in good standing to make a run at the playoffs will beef up their rosters, while the bottom of the barrel will sell off parts that don’t fit their timeline.
The Boston Bruins have been in both of these positions in the last few years. The 2022-23 season saw the Bruins finish with the best record ever and they’d accordingly ship two of their first-round picks at the deadline to acquire Dmitri Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi for a cup run.
The ensuing playoffs ended up being one of the worst endings to a team’s season ever, blowing a 3-1 series lead to the eight-seed Florida Panthers and making their accomplishments almost entirely pointless. Both players left in free agency, and captain Patrice Bergeron retired, leaving the Bruins in a bad spot for the future.
The Bruins did make the playoffs the following year but fell yet again to the Panthers, this time in the second round.
Last year was a total change of pace from the success they were not far removed from. Linus Ullmark was traded prior to the year due to cap reasons and head coach Jim Montgomery was fired a quarter of the way in. The deadline was a fire sale, with Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo as two notable names moved. Just two years after trading away two firsts at the deadline, Boston was the team coming away with two firsts.
The polarizing recent history of the Bruins has continued on this year. The team sits fifth in the Atlantic and seventh in the East, but they are a victim of their conference. While the top five of the league has three western teams, the top ten contains seven east teams, with the Bruins at tenth.
The gap between the Bruins and those directly above them is not large, but they have ground on those behind them. The general sentiment surrounding their plans is that they’ll be set to buy. With their recent history of playoff failures, this likely will be a lot less aggressive in terms of rentals and instead focused around long-term solutions.
The Bruins rank in the top ten in terms of goals scored but sit just outside the bottom ten of goals against. While some of this has come from starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman struggling and Joonas Korpisalo struggling even more, the defense has also been an issue and will likely be the focus of the deadline.
One of the obvious suitors in a trade would be the New York Rangers. The Rangers are expected to sell at this deadline, and they hold the most valuable piece at this year’s deadline in center Vincent Trocheck. With three years left on his deal after this season, Trocheck would fit well as a second-line center who can provide defense and scoring for years to come.
The Rangers also have blueliner Braden Schneider. Schneider is a right-handed defenseman, a position that New York already has a surplus of and may be in line to draft more of in June. Schneider is young and plays as a more defensive player, and with years of control left, he would also fit into this Bruins team.
The trade for these two would come at a large cost. Trading seventh overall pick James Hagens would be a drastic move for Boston, but something would have to give. Fraser Minten and Matt Poitras could be options alongside a plethora of draft capital.
Philadelphia Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen is seen as another option on the blue line. With another year under contract after this year Ristolainen works with the timeline and would cost less than Schneider.
The Chicago Blackhawks could look to shed the contract of Ryan Donato, who signed a four-year deal after a breakout season with the team but has since fallen back to earth.
The St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks hold two long-term big-time center options in Robert Thomas and Elias Pettersson. Both have clauses that they’d need to waive to facilitate a trade but could lock down the center role for the long-term.
Justin Faulk is another Blue who could be an option. Lackluster play makes him an option on the cheaper side but would also provide only a small upgrade from Andrew Peeke.
The Bruins will have many options at this year’s deadline to bolster their backend. The worry to not overspend still exists, but the drive to win a cup with Pastrnak complicates that. The Bruins will likely buy more supplementary than go all-in, but they remain a team to watch for a big splash.