We are a week away from the NHL trade deadline and the Bruins are in a curious spot.<\/p>\n
They hold the second wild card spot but, even with their victory over the Columbus that created a six-point game between them and the Blue Jackets, they are guaranteed nothing. The Blue Jackets have two more games against the B\u2019s, both in Columbus, while the Capitals went into their game Friday against Vegas just four points behind the B\u2019s (though they will have played three more games than the B\u2019s after Friday).<\/p>\n
GM Don Sweeney could stand pat and it would not be an unwise choice. In an interview with NESN on Thursday, Sweeney said he didn\u2019t expect to be as \u201caggressive\u201d as he\u2019s been in recent years, but did say he\u2019d like to add to the group.<\/p>\n
But if Sweeney wants to swing for an impact player, he can do it. Considering what he tried to last month, it wouldn\u2019t be a shock, either.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also got four first-round draft over the next two drafts (with conditions on two of them), a good prospect that they can\u2019t seem to find room for in Matt Poitras and a left defense prospect in Frederic Brunet who could make moving someone on the back end less painful. Dean Letourneau\u2019s outstanding sophomore season at Boston College has undoubtedly put him on sellers\u2019 radars, regardless of whether the B\u2019s have any interest in moving him.<\/p>\n
Sweeney had already tried to make a sizable move once this year, putting together a package that, according to various reports, was believed to have include some combination of a 2027 first-rounder, Mason Lohrei and\/or Matt Poitras for right-shot defenseman Rasmus Andersson. That was apparently scuttled when the UFA-to-be refused to agree to a contract extension and he landed in Vegas.<\/p>\n
While that attempt would indicate that Sweeney is not looking for any big-name short-term rentals \u2014 and wisely so, considering the B\u2019s are still in rebuild mode \u2013 it also showed he\u2019d be interested in making a move that could accelerate the remodel job.<\/p>\n
A story in Daily Faceoff linked the B\u2019s to a number of teams and their various trade baits \u2013 the Calgary Flames and right shot defenseman Mackenzie Weegar, as well as center Nazem Kadri, the Philadelphia Flyers and right shot defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and wing Owen Tippett.<\/p>\n
Sweeney usually does his due diligence, so it\u2019s a safe bet the B\u2019s will be linked to a few more teams before Friday rolls around. Elsewhere, there has even been speculation that they could have a second-time-around with Vancouver\u2019s Jake DeBrusk or New Jersey\u2019s Dougie Hamilton, both of which seems unlikely.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the team that may hold the most promise as a trade partner would be the St. Louis Blues. They\u2019ve got two interesting right shot defensemen, though they\u2019re both older. Justin Faulk, who has another year left at $6.5 million, is 33, while big thumper Colton Parayko (four more years at $6.5 million) is 32. The name of center Brady Schenn, for whom the B\u2019s once had eyes for, was also thrown around. But he\u2019s now 34 and, though he has two more years on his deal at $6 million, he wouldn\u2019t be part of a long-term fix.<\/p>\n
The prize in St. Louis would be right-shot center Robert Thomas, currently on a leave of absence from the Blue for personal reasons. Injuries have slowed the pivot this year to just 11-22-33 in 42 games but he had back-to-back 80-plus point seasons. At 26, he\u2019s got four more years at $8.125 million and he would be a true No. 1 centerman who could be paired with David Pastrnak and\/or Morgan Geekie. The question is whether the B\u2019s could put together a package that would both land Thomas and they\u2019d be comfortable surrendering.<\/p>\n
Decisions also have to be made on the B\u2019s own pending UFAs Viktor Arvidsson, a favorite of coach Marco Sturm\u2019s who has been having a good bounce-back season, and Andrew Peeke, who was scratched on Thursday.<\/p>\n
This can be an unsettling time for players. Lohrei has already gotten a taste of it when his name was out there with the Andersson deal. The 25-year-old Lohrei, who has another year left at $3.2 million and would still be restricted at the end of the deal, had his best night of the season when the trade talk was buzzing, scoring two goals in a win in Chicago.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s played well recently, posting a plus-6 in his last eight games. The left-shot Lohrei recently has played on the right side with Hampus Lindholm, a move that was partially precipitated by the emergence of Jonathan Aspirot. Like many offensive-minded D-men, Lohrei likes played his off side, which he played in junior and at Ohio State. Maybe that versatility is one of the things that convinces the B\u2019s to hang on to him, or maybe it helps them consummate a big deal. We shall see. Lohrei, for his part, hopes it is the former.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all part of the game,\u201d said Lohrei, who does his best to avoid X (formerly Twitter). \u201cI really love being a Boston Bruin and this city, this organization and everything in it. So I want to be here as long as they have me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loose pucks<\/p>\n
Charlie McAvoy and Marat Khusnutdinov did not practice on Friday but Sturm said that both took maintenance days and they\u2019ll be available for Saturday\u2019s game in Philadelphia. \u2026\u00a0The B\u2019s sent goalie Michael DiPietro back to Providence. \u2026\u00a0After David Pastrnak missed a couple of long-range attempts at the empty net late in the B\u2019s 4-2 win over Columbus, Sturm had them entire team practice shots at an empty net from their own zone near the end of practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had nothing to do with (Thursday),\u201d claimed Sturm with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s more fun than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are a week away from the NHL trade deadline and the Bruins are in a curious spot.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,593,5,1714,40,4,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-475923","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-don-sweeney","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-mason-lohrei","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116145000545276987","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475923","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=475923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}