Last season at the trade deadline, Boston Bruins general manager (GM) Don Sweeney made the right decision and went all-in to help position his team to win the Stanley Cup. After a historic regular season, the Bruins had a historic first-round exit from the playoffs, blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Florida Panthers and losing Game 7 on home ice in overtime.
Sweeney acquired Garnet Hathaway and Dmitri Orlov from the Washington Capitals and then Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings. He gave up draft capital, his 2024 first-round draft pick, to acquire Bertuzzi, which is Top 10 protected for this season, but it appears that Boston would not be drafting anywhere near the Top 10, which means the pick goes to the Red Wings. With limited draft capital and limited prospects he can use to swing a big trade, just how will the Bruins’ GM go about adding to his roster by March 8? That remains to be seen, but it’s time to rank their biggest needs for the remainder of the regular season and a potential postseason run.
3. Scoring Winger
The Bruins have been getting some good depth scoring this season after David Pastrnak’s team-leading 33 goals, but it seems like they are going into a drought of scoring and could use another goal-scoring winger at the deadline. As it will be with any deal for Sweeney, what the price is will be key to adding one.
Danton Heinen, James van Riemsdyk, Morgan Geekie, and Trent Frederic have been pleasant offensive surprises this season, but will they continue to keep that up the rest of the season and into the playoffs is the question that the front office needs to decide on. Vladimir Tarasenko of the Ottawa Senators is someone who will likely be on the move and available, but what would the asking price be for the veteran? Again, limited resources available to the Bruins GM could come into play.
2. Defenseman
Last season at the trade deadline, Boston got one of the top blueliners on the trade market in Orlov and this season it would be wise for Sweeney to gauge the trade market for a defenseman at the deadline.
Matt Grzelcyk fell out of the rotation last spring in the Florida series and how can he be counted on this postseason? Derek Forbort has been battling multiple injuries this season, but in the big picture, is Parker Wortherspoon and Kevin Shattenkirk a third-pairing in the playoffs the Bruins should feel comfortable with if an injury occurs to someone? Mason Lohrei is arguably one of their top-six defensemen, but he’s down in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Providence Bruins. Gauging the market for a defenseman needs to be done, whether an intriguing offer comes up or not.
Chris Tanev, who does have a 10-team no-trade clause, of the Flames and Sean Walker of the Philadelphia Flyers are names that could fill a need on defense for the Black and Gold. Both players would be rentals and free agents this upcoming summer.
1. Top-Six Center
For the longest time, all the chatter surrounding a center on the trade market was with Elias Lindholm of the Calgary Flames. The Bruins were a team often mentioned and linked to him, but the Flames decided to sell high on him long before the trade deadline, sending him to the Vancouver Canucks for an impressive return.
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In the big picture, seeing Sweeney give Calgary the return that they got for Lindholm was not going to happen. It would have likely required at least some combination of Jake DeBrusk and Matthew Poitras with draft picks and possibly other prospects. That was not going to happen. Sean Monahan was traded by the Montreal Canadiens to the Winnipeg Jets so you can make the case that the top two centers are off the board. Adam Henrique of the Anaheim Ducks is a center that would be available and Sweeney and Ducks’ GM Pat Verbeek have a trade history already.
This is going to be a fascinating month leading into the trade deadline to see what Sweeney does. He will have a lot of money this offseason for free agency to make some signings, but will be using some of that to sign someone he trades for? It’s going to be interesting to see what Boston does by March 8 and what the roster looks like after.
