Boston Bruins: Joakim Nordstrom would fetch a healthy trade return

Whilst the Boston Bruins are expected to remain relatively quiet on the opening day of free agency, there’s still whispers of movements floating around, mainly around depth pieces like Joakim Nordstrom.

This one stood out particularly as it was the first mention of Joakim Nordstrom in any rumours of late; all Boston Bruins rumours seem to center around whether they can renew Marcus Johansson, what price the restricted free agents sign at and whether or not Noel Acciari is going to be retained or not.

When Joakim Nordstrom ranked a mention, we figured it was worth looking into a little further. Whether or not the sources are reliable or not is somewhat moot, we’ll look at what sort of value he may bring in a trade deal.

Joakim Nordstrom has one year remaining on a cheap $1 million cap hit; not half bad for a versatile bottom-six type left winger that can slot in at center if called upon. The Swede has been playing in the NHL solidly for the past four years after battling his way up through the AHL ranks.

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His appeal; well, unlike other bottom-six players recently dealt, he has shown a bit of offensive upside in the NHL in the past. In the 2015-16 season, playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, the now 27 year-old tallied 24 points in 71 regular season games. By no means are these totals world-beating, but they suggest there;s definitely an offensive upside if you look beneath the surface.

For the Boston Bruins in the most recent season, Joakim Nordstrom racked up 70 regular season games, marked with 12 points and then a further 23 post-season games, adding 8 points as he appeared in the Stanley Cup Final.

Given the market seems ripe for this type of player to be traded, you can understand where the rumour starts and why it may have a degree of truth to it. We’ve seen Nicolas Deslauriers recently dealt for a fourth round pick. His upside is far lower than more-slight but also far more versatile Nordstrom.

Ideally, the Boston Bruins are looking for absolute minimum of a third round pick for Nordstrom or value in the deal, like having a bloated contract moved away with him; let’s say John Moore or Kevan Miller‘s deal?

In this reality, I don’t genuinely see any deal happening. However, we’re looking at a market that isn’t following traditional trends. It’s certainly feeling a bit like anything can happen, especially when it comes to trades that are of slightly questionable value – who saw Andrew Shaw heading back to Chicago after all?

Maybe watch this space. Don’t expect the Boston Bruins to actively be shopping Joakim Nordstrom, but equally don’t be overly surprised if he does end up moving on this summer.