Don Sweeney, the general manager of the Boston Bruins, has a well-deserved reputation for making substantial trades before the NHL trade deadline. Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway were acquired last year, Hampus Lindholm in 2022, and Taylor Hall in 2021. Last week, Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy noted that the Bruins are in desperate need of a true top-six center or gritty winger, as well as another defenseman. Sweeney has been linked to Calgary Flames center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin as potential trade targets.
However, the Bruins do not have first or second-round picks in the NHL drafts of 2024 and 2025. They also do not have a third-round pick in this year’s draft and must replenish a depleted prospect pool. Murphy believes that acquiring Lindholm or Hanifin before the trade deadline would be too expensive for the Bruins. With the club exceeding expectations this season, Murphy believed Sweeney would be better off waiting until the summer to chase those two Flames via free agency, when he would have more salary-cap flexibility to work with.
According to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa, pursuing someone like Lindholm in the trade market would be too costly for the Bruins. With Jake DeBrusk struggling to score, he believes they need to bring in a scoring winger. Shinzawa believes that meeting that need will be inexpensive. Wingers like Anthony Duclair of San Jose, Tyler Johnson of Chicago, and Adam Henrique of Anaheim might become available before the March 8 trade deadline. All three have a lot of postseason experience. In terms of DeBrusk, Murphy’s colleague Mick Colageo pondered if the Bruins would try to deal him before the trade deadline or let him leave as a free agency in July. Colageo believes DeBrusk’s future is questionable because of his uneven performance during his NHL career, Colageo believes he faces an uncertain future in Boston.
Trading DeBrusk for futures won’t benefit the Bruins’ roster for the rest of the season unless they can swap him for a guy. Their best bet may be to keep him for the rest of the season and see where things go from there.
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