Boston Bruins: Trade Partners With The Anaheim Ducks
By Mike Cratty
Boston Bruins: Trade Partners With The Anaheim Ducks a Possible Solution
The Boston Bruins might have a player who could catch the eye of Anaheim Ducks General Manager, Bob Murray. To the dislike of many Bruins fans, that player going the other way could very well be Frank Vatrano.
I don’t want to trade Frank Vatrano, but, if the return is a former first-round defenseman with a high ceiling named Cam Fowler, I would pull the trigger. As many fans know, Vatrano went on a scoring rampage this past season with the Providence Bruins. To be specific, he had 36 goals in as many games, with an additional 19 assists and an impressive plus-21 rating. He tallied eight goals and 11 points in 39 games with a minus-3 rating with the big club.
Ask yourself this question: would you rather trade David Pastrnak or Frank Vatrano?
I think Pastrnak has very substantial potential. The two excel in some areas better than the other. St. Louis wanted Pastrnak at the draft, most likely due to Troy Brouwer‘s departure. Don Sweeney was hesitant, and for good reason, as it was reported to additionally cost one, or both of the Bruins’ 1st round draft picks.
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Anaheim faces the possibility of having a combination of Andrew Cogliano, Mason Raymond and maybe even former first-rounder, like Nick Ritchie, in their top-six. Adding another guy like Vatrano to a team that already has ample talented and young defenseman including restricted free-agent Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, and rising guys like Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore is a lethal combination. Not to mention having a guy like Clayton Stoner as a possible extra defenseman, who is set to make $3.25 million dollars this year, as well as in 2017-2018.
Whether Bob Murray would take Frank Vatrano for Cam Fowler straight up is yet to be seen. I think he would want slightly more, but I don’t know how much he values Frank Vatrano’s arsenal of talents. An undrafted player being shipped for a former top-15 pick seems unlikely, but Frank Vatrano is still looking to prove the teams that didn’t draft him wrong.
This Boston Bruins team will not make the playoffs with a weak defensive grouping. In most cases, goaltenders with bad defense in front of them struggle. We’ve seen Tuukka Rask win a Vezina Trophy and prove he is among the league’s best goalies, but the Bruins defense was better during that period of time from the beginning of the October of the 2011 season to the 2013-2014 season – seasons in which the Bruins made the playoffs.
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I firmly believe that with another solid defenseman that can take some strain off of the older blue liners, this team has what it takes to squeeze into the playoffs. I want to, you want to, we all want to see a Boston Bruins Stanley Cup playoff run. If you wouldn’t have done this deal before reading, think again.