![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.prohockeyrumors.com\/files\/2025\/01\/charlie-mcavoy-boston.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRecord<\/p>\n
32-20-5, 5th in the Atlantic (61% playoff probability<\/a>)<\/p>\n Deadline Status<\/p>\n Conservative Buyer<\/p>\n Deadline Cap Space<\/p>\n $3.98MM on deadline day, 1\/3 retention slots used, 44\/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Upcoming Draft Picks<\/p>\n 2026: BOS 1st, TOR 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 3rd, BOS 4th, PHI 4th, TB 4th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th Trade Chips<\/p>\n The Bruins\u2019 best trade chips at the moment are the four first-round picks they hold in the next two entry drafts. Those picks, should Boston opt to move any of them, would be a significant piece of a package for an impact player at the deadline. It remains to be seen whether Sweeney has the stomach to do that this year, but the option is available.<\/p>\n Aside from the picks, Boston doesn\u2019t have a deep prospect system, and they are unlikely to move their best prospect, James Hagens<\/a>, whom they drafted last June with the seventh overall pick. The 19-year-old profiles as a center, and the Bruins have a good amount of long-term depth down the middle, so it\u2019s possible they could consider a move. However, Hagens has seen a good amount of usage on the wing this year at Boston College, which means the Bruins have options when it comes to their top prospect.<\/p>\n Beyond Hagens, there is a major drop-off in talent throughout the Bruins\u2019 prospect system, with some of their top players already having graduated to the NHL. Fraser Minten<\/a> is one of those former prospects who is now a full-time NHLer at 21, and another young player Boston probably has no interest in trading. Minten has posted 14 goals and 15 assists in 57 games this season while providing a steady physical presence. The Bruins have decent center depth throughout the system, but it\u2019s hard to imagine them trading a young center who is just scratching the surface of his potential.<\/p>\n Sticking with young forwards, Fabian Lysell<\/a> is the Bruins\u2019 2021 first-round pick (21st overall). He had a cup of coffee in the NHL last season, playing 12 games and recording one goal and two assists. The winger returned to the AHL this season, where he is having the most productive offensive season of his career, with 15 goals and 21 assists in 42 games. At 23, Lysell is on the older side for a prospect, but he\u2019s shown enough offense in the AHL to be viewed as a decent trade piece. Lysell is an excellent skater with good vision through traffic, which should help him when he gets to the NHL full-time and is looking to provide support and opportunities for his teammates. Lysell won\u2019t net the Bruins a top piece via trade, but he could be packaged with other picks and prospects to acquire top-end talent.<\/p>\n Dans Locmelis <\/a>was a fourth-round pick in 2022 (119th overall) and is another center in the Bruins system, though he doesn\u2019t have the same shine as some of his more well-known peers. Locmelis began his pro career last year, appearing in six AHL games and recording three goals and nine assists. While he hasn\u2019t maintained the same scoring pace this season, Locmelis has remained productive with 28 points in 43 games and an appearance at the Olympics, where he played for Latvia and scored a couple of goals in four games. The Bruins are high on the 22-year-old, and there is a possibility he breaks the NHL roster this season. The Bruins could dangle Locmelis as a potential trade candidate, but given that he isn\u2019t a well-known name and his play has been largely understated, they might not get enough value to entice them to move on from him.<\/p>\n Team Needs<\/p>\n A Right Shot Defenseman:\u00a0The Bruins made a great move last year, trading defenseman Brandon Carlo<\/a> to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The move has turned out to be a huge win; however, the Bruins have never actually replaced Carlo, leaving a big hole on the right side of their defense. There are plenty of options available in Boston that should meet just about any price point, and it will be interesting to see whether they go the rental route or make a move for a player with some term remaining on their contract, such as Justin Faulk<\/a> of the St. Louis Blues. While Faulk has been a solid pro for a long time, he would be a downgrade from some other options the Bruins were considering, such as Rasmus Andersson<\/a>, who was traded a few weeks ago to the Vegas Golden Knights. Boston was reportedly in on the Andersson sweepstakes and went as far as negotiating an extension with the soon-to-be UFA (as per Elliotte Friedman<\/a>).<\/p>\n Top Six Forward Help:\u00a0The Bruins are dealing with a few injuries at the moment, which isn\u2019t the worst timing, given the extended break for the Olympics. Centers Elias Lindholm<\/a> and Pavel Zacha<\/a> should be back in the lineup when NHL play resumes, and their injuries have pushed other forwards in Boston into other roles in the team\u2019s hierarchy. Despite the team getting healthy in time for a playoff push, it is clear that Boston needs to add to its top six if it wants any chance of a playoff run. This would allow a player such as Casey Mittelstadt<\/a> to push down the depth chart and play in a role that better suits his skill set. The Bruins might not want to pay premium prices for a forward, but given that they didn\u2019t send any assets out the door for Andersson, they likely have some options to facilitate a trade for forward help.<\/p>\n Photo by Sergei Belski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Olympic break upon us, the trade deadline is under a month away. Where does each team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,54005,5,4,697],"class_list":{"0":"post-468782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-bruins","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bostonbruins","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-deadline-primer-2026","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116122359523212824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2027: BOS 1st, FLA 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 4th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th<\/p>\n