Buy, Sell, Trade?

Across the league, plenty of media voices are predicting a flurry of activity over the next two weeks as teams position themselves for the 2026–27 season. The Bruins are firmly in that mix, looking for any avenue to clear a roster logjam — particularly on the back end, where the congestion is most pronounced.

I spoke with a couple of NHL folks from outside the organization to get their read on the situation — but before we get to that, we need to start with the Chris Kreider news.

The Ducks announced yesterday that Kreider has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a mutual contract termination. Should he clear, he will become an unrestricted free agent who can sign with any team of his choice.

Naturally, plenty of Bruins fans jumped on social media calling for the team to take a run at him — and a big part of that is simply because he’s local. If he were from, say, Flin Flon, Manitoba, the push to sign him wouldn’t be nearly as loud. That is of course, my opinion.

Kreider has made it clear he wants to head back east, and Boston certainly fits that description — it’s home for him. But that alone won’t be enough. The Bruins aren’t positioned as a true Stanley Cup contender right now, and that reality should factor heavily into any decision he makes.

Another point that’s been floated — albeit somewhat inaccurately — is the idea that, because any new deal for Kreider would fall under the 35‑plus designation, the Bruins could load it with easily attainable bonuses and push those charges into next season, when they’re projected to have far more cap flexibility.

While that’s true in theory, the Bruins would first need to burn through the roughly $5.4 million in cap space they currently have available this season. And if they had to move out a player in a separate deal just to make room for Kreider, that number only grows. The reality with 35‑plus, bonus‑laden contracts is that only the portion that pushes a team over the cap can be deferred to the following season — not the entire bonus structure.

And signing Kreider would be against everything the Bruins set out to do – getting younger and incorporating younger players. I’m not saying they won’t be interested, I actually believe they are. However, if they could move Casey Mittelstadt – who doesn’t appear to have a future in Boston – in a separate deal, I think they would have more interest.

I asked one executive for his read on the Bruins’ blue line, with a particular focus on Mason Lohrei. His response was blunt: “There’s definitely interest in the player, no question. But everyone around the league understands the spot Boston is in with its blue line right now, and that makes it tough for Don [Sweeney] to extract full value at this point.”

Maybe that changes if a team loses a defenseman to injury during camp, but for now, this is the spot the Bruins have put themselves in. It may come down to losing an asset for nothing on waivers or moving a player for less than true market value.

I asked another executive about Matthew Poitras, and his reaction was telling. “I’m not sure what the holdup is — I thought that would be an easy contract for them to get done,” he said. He described the interest in Poitras as “modest,” but when pressed on the player’s actual value, he added, “I think his best value comes as part of a package.”

He went on to say “I am sure there are teams watching to see what route the Bruins take with him, whether he hits the waiver wire or the Bruins continue to try and move him or they find a roster spot for him.”

Both executives I spoke with said that “interest in him [Pavel Zacha] remains high.” One went on to say “My sense is Don wants to get an extension done, but he’s in a position where he holds all the leverage. He can wait this out until someone steps up and meets the price.”

I asked the other if he would trade Zacha now or wait until trade deadline: “There’s no absolute right or wrong here — it’s a gamble either way. But if the two sides are so far apart that there’s no realistic path to closing the gap, then getting a deal done sooner rather than later is usually the best outcome.”