Boston Bruins: Defensemen The Bruins Should Look At This Offseason

Boston Bruins: Defensemen The Bruins Should Look At This Offseason To Fix Their Deficiencies

The Boston Bruins need help defensively this off-season and this comes as no surprise to either the fans of the team or Bruins management. Improving the d-core this off-season is the number onepriority of the team, with many scouts already saying that this years draft eligible players lack a number one defensive option, the Bruins will be forced to bolster their defense via free agency or the trade market.

There are several players the Bruins should target this summer and the lead candidate for the Black and Gold should be St.Louis Blues defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk who is 27 years old and only has one year left on his deal with the Blues. The Blues may be inclined to trade Shattenkirk this off-season with pending cap issues with their young talented d-core. He is coming off a 14 goal, 44 point season certifying himself as an elite offensive d-man, along with being a point man on the power play.

More from Causeway Crowd

Joe Haggerty of CSNNE reported that a source said that Shattenkirk would prefer being traded to an East coast team if he is dealt by the Blues this summer. Boston could be the ideal place for the former Boston University player who was connected the Bruins in the past as they tried to trade for him before the Colorado Avalanche traded him to St.Louis.

Trading for Kevin Shattenkirk will not come cheap for the Bruins as they will have to give up potentially either Ryan Spooner/ Frank Vatrano/ David Pastrnak and a first round pick just as a starting point.

Another top option for the Bruins to pursue is Jacob Trouba who is 22 years old and is currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets. Trouba is young and has yet to reach his full potential in the league but his play warrants him to be a young veteran in the NHL. The Jet’s may be interested in moving Trouba as they have already committed long term to Dustin Byfuglien and will have three defensemen making $5+ million next season.

More from Bruins News

Trouba is at the end of his entry level contract and is expected to pursue a deal work $6-$7 million per season, a price tag that will be hard for the Jets to accept unless they move one of their other defensemen. Trouba has the highest upside of any of the available RFA defensemen but may cost too much for the Bruins to acquire considering there are no guarantees he is the number 1 option they are desperately pursuing.

Other potential options for the Bruins are Max Dumba of the Minnesota Wild, but the prospects of acquiring the 21 year old defensemen who is coming off of a break out season is slim to none. The Bruins will look to acquire blue line help via a trade first before they look towards free agency. But if trade talks fail the Bruins will turn their attention to their number 1 free agent option in Keith Yandle of Milton, Massachusetts. Yandle played last season with the New York Rangers and his leadership both on and off the ice is tempting for the Bruins, Yandle is also one of the top offensive defensmen in the NHL and is a good fall back option for the Bruins.

Next: Jimmy Vesey Will Consider Coming To Boston

With the B’s looking to bolster their d-core the pressure is on Cam Neely and Don Sweeney to come through and create a roster that can compete next season to avoid missing the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. With the team’s struggles these past two seasons this off-season can make or break the Bruins franchise, a bad season next year could set the team back years.

Home/Bruins News