It’s the dog days of the NHL offseason. The time of year when the void of news is filled with speculation simply for the sake of entertainment and conjecture, and it seems the sweltering heat is getting to people’s heads even more than usual.

One of the more popular rumors that’s floating around this summer is that the Boston Bruins are supposedly shopping forwards Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt on the NHL trade market.

Now, I’m not here to tell you whether that’s true or not. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney could very well be on the phone right now, trying to make one last splashy move before the season begins.

Regardless, the idea makes little sense.

The Bruins are a team that’s already starved of scoring depth, and trading away two top-six players isn’t going to help with that fact. And although their moves earlier in the offseason suggest otherwise, the Bruins expect to compete for a playoff spot this season. They can’t do that without Zacha or Mittelstadt.

To trade either one now would also be doing so while their trade stock is low.

After scoring 21 goals in each of his previous two seasons, Zacha netted just 14 in 2024-25. As for Mittelstadt, he’s on his third team in the last three seasons, traded twice in that span. The Bruins believe he has the potential to be productive, play making pivot in the middle of their lineup. He’s yet to prove it, registering six points with four goals in the limited sample size of 18 games with Boston last year.

Even still, there are teams reportedly interested in the two.

The always volatile Vancouver Canucks are hoping to maximize their competitive window and convince their captain, Quinn Hughes, to stick around for the long-term. They need a second-line center. Both Zacha and Mittelstadt fit that mold.

Perhaps Sweeney can leverage his trade chips and take advantage of a desperate team. But there’s a better time to do that.

Not Now, But Not Never:

The Bruins would essentially be waiving the white flag before the season even began if they were to trade away Zacha and Mittelstadt now.

After last year ended in such misery, they cannot afford to give an already frustrated fan base anymore reasons to tune out, at least not yet.

But say that the Bruins are once again outside the playoff picture once the NHL trade deadline rolls around in early March. That would be the ideal time to send Zacha and Mittelstadt out the door.

Prices always skyrocket near the deadline. GMs will give up just about everything and anything to give their team an extra edge heading into the playoffs.

The Bruins took advantage of that as sellers last year when they received Mittelstadt, prospect Will Zellers, and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft, which they used to select defenseman Liam Pettersson, all so that the Colorado Avalanche could have Charlie Coyle for 19 games.

There’s also a chance, a thin one, but a chance nonetheless, that the Bruins are in position to make the playoffs late into the season. By then, they’ll want to have Zacha and Mittelstadt on the roster, either to carry with them into the postseason or to use in a deal that upgrades their lineup.

Either way, Zacha and Mittelstadt are too valuable to the Bruins to trade away now.

Check back in March to see if that’s still the case.

FOLLOW ANDREW FANTUCCHIO ON 𝕏: @A_FANTUCCHIO
FOLLOW BOSTON HOCKEY NOW ON 𝕏 AND FACEBOOK