In today’s NHL rumors rundown, there was an offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs to acquire Mikko Rantanen, but despite it being a massive offer, it was still declined. Elsewhere, the Vancouver Canucks held onto Brock Boeser, but supposedly not for a lack of trying. Finally, Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs gave a vote of confidence for the management having to make difficult decisions at the trade deadline.
Maple Leafs Offered Minten, Cowen, Two 1sts for Rantanen
After the trade deadline had passed, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported that the Maple Leafs had made a sizeable offer for superstar winger Rantanen. The reported offer was Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten, and two first-round picks. It is believed that the reason the trade was declined was because the Carolina Hurricanes management was concerned that they may face the Maple Leafs in the playoffs and didn’t want to go up against Rantanen.
The offer from the Dallas Stars, which was accepted, was probably a bit of a better deal, but it was far from a low-ball offer from the Maple Leafs.
The Leafs, of course, opted to go with Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton, which cost them as much as they offered for Rantanen, except for Cowan. Overall, both the Leafs and Hurricanes got what they needed out of the trade deadline, and everybody can walk away happy.
Canucks Fail to Extend or Trade Boeser
One of the biggest anticipated moves of the deadline was waiting to see where Boeser would end up. It has been becoming even more clear that an extension is unlikely, and the Canucks are in no position to allow the winger to walk to free agency and not get an asset back for him.
The 3:00 pm deadline passed, and there was no word on a Boeser deal. Patrick Allvin spoke to the media, and had quite a few controversial quotes, including this one about Boeser:
“If I told you what I was offered for Brock Boeser, I think I would have to run out of here because you would not believe me.”
Considering players like Anthony Beauvillier and Brandon Tanev went for second-round picks, there was almost certainly a first-round pick on the table for Boeser, but Allvin wasn’t ready to accept it at that time, and could have gotten greedy looking for more. It isn’t rare for a general manager to fail to make an anticipated move, but again, considering the season the Canucks are having, this was a tough one not to do.
Bruins Management Gets Vote of Confidence from Jacobs
Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney had some incredibly difficult decisions to make at the trade deadline. The Bruins, historically, don’t admit to being bad. They don’t sell assets or anything. They try and try again. This year, trading key players Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, and Charlie Coyle, was not an easy thing to do. CEO Charlie Jacobs released the following statement, giving support, credit, and backing up the management team.
Statements from Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, and Don Sweeney: pic.twitter.com/30heHhPtQt
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 8, 2025
The returns for the players, collectively, were very good. Many were surprised by the return for Marchand, but it made up for it with great returns on Coyle and Carlo.
It recently came out from John Buccigross that the offer from the Bruins to keep Marchand was in the neighborhood of a two-year deal at $3 million. There was a big enough gap between that and what Marchand wanted that it wasn’t going to get done.
Seeing the Bruins in this kind of shape hasn’t happened in at least 15 years. It is a strange feeling for the 31 other fanbases to not be scared of the Bruins, but it is clear that the management team finally realize that it is the right thing to do.
