Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney was unable to find any Black Friday Deals on the trade front. I on the other hand, found a new laptop on special and used my rewards to get it for $0. But that’s a story for another day.
It’s no secret that there are plenty of GM’s around the league unhappy with the current state of their teams and trade rumors are running rampant throughout the league. Sweeney, having already fired Head Coach Jim Montgomery, needs to find some scoring if this team is going to make some noise.
Yes, they scored 6 goals against the New York Islanders. That’s worth repeating: New York Islanders. They followed that up with just 1 against a currently hapless Pittsburgh Penguins team.
Sweeney could use two scorers: a left wing to play with the Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak duo and one to play right wing with the Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm duo.
That’s no easy task.
As part of the Team Canada management group for the Four Nations tournament, Sweeney has been scouting players across North America. He’s also been speaking to his counterparts around the league about those players. You can rightfully assume that those conversations also included their own respective teams, their situations and what those GM’s are thinking of doing.
One of those conversations included Montreal GM Kent Hughes. There is probably a better chance that Sam Montembeault makes the Canadian roster in some capacity than Sweeney and Hughes pulling off a trade. But in this business, you never say never.
The Bruins have used 29 different players already this season that includes the likes of Patrick Brown, Max Jones, Riley Tufte, Jeffrey Viel, Georgii Merkulov, Marc McLaughlin and Jordan Oesterle. Nothing has worked. About the only options left to try are Fabian Lysell and Vinni Lettieri from Providence.
The answers, at least for this season, do not come from within the organization. It’s time for Sweeney to circle back to some of the conversations he has had. But of course, they will have to maneuver around the cap and the cost to acquire.
Some of the rumored players to be available are at the very least intriguing.
Morgan Frost of the Flyers is a center with an AAV of just $2.1 million and is a pending RFA. The Bruins could make that cap hit fit now without having to move out salary and by juggling the roster.
Josh Norris of the Senators has 5 years remaining with a cap hit of $7.95 million. Obviously, the cap is the big issue here and the Bruins would have to get creative to move out almost $6 million to fit him under the cap.
Trevor Zegras has 1 year remaining with a $5.75 million cap hit. He’s put up 65 points in this league and is in need of a change of scenery. The contract is manageable and we know how Sweeney likes to try to extend his additions, so if Zegras has a revival, what’s his next deal worth?
Frank Vatrano had a career high 37 goals last season and is a pending UFA with a cap hit of $3.65 million. Last season was an outlier but even his next best year of 24 goals is an improvement for the Bruins.
Chris Kreider has 2 years remaining with a cap hit of $6.5 million and like Norris, the Bruins would have to get creative to make it work. But the Rangers just aren’t going to give the franchise’s third highest goal scorer in their history away. A deal between the Rangers and Bruins seems impossible, but Kreider is exactly the type of player they need.
Matthieu Olivier is a pending UFA with a cap hit of just $1.1 million and I’m not sure why he is listed on trade boards. But if he truly is, sign me up. I want him on my team.
At this point, making a trade just to make a trade should be out of the question. There isn’t an impact player available that will lead them to the promised land. Instead, they should have one eye on the future and deal appropriately. At the same time, you have to consider your own free agents such as Trent Frederic (unrestricted) and Morgan Geekie (restricted) and decide if they will be in your future or deal them for assets now.
Dom - Hockey 