There has already been plenty of market activity in the NHL, namely around trades, though it’s safe to say it’ll light up today with free agent movements. What do other moves around the league lead us to expect from the Boston Bruins?
Straight up, the Patrick Marleau move that the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off with the Carolina Hurricanes would likely be comparable to any attempt by the Boston Bruins to shift the contract of David Backes. An ageing forward being paid above the going rate for their production that has potential for a contract buyout, as was the case with the former Maple Leaf.
Making such a move in the current NHL climate, with restricted free agents not signing prior to their contracts expiring costs you a first round pick and a seventh round pick, with the only net gain being the cap space and a sixth round pick.
A talent like Andre Burakovsky, who has under-performed but has plenty of potential gets you a second round pick, a third round pick and a minor league guy. You can look at this deal between the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche as being the closest to what Charlie Coyle cost the Boston Bruins at trade deadline.
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Realistically though, the Boston Bruins lack any truly under-performing young prospect that would meet such a deal. Unless of course, you listen to the loud fans on social media and news articles and consider giving up Danton Heinen.
A fourth round pick these days gets you a bottom-six utility player; the Anaheim Ducks pulled this off with their acquiring Nicolas Deslauriers from the Montreal Canadiens. He has 300-plus games of NHL experience, but can hardly be expected to set the world on fire; his best year was a 15 point season with the Buffalo Sabres a few seasons back.
However, as an indication of the value of removing money from the books; safe bet that a third, fourth of fifth round pick would be the price that the Boston Bruins would have to look for if they tried to shed the contracts of Kevan Miller of John Moore next season. As bottom pairing defensemen, you’d be able to compare them value-wise to the bottom-six role Deslauriers will likely fill in Anaheim.
Beyond these, it’s really challenging to judge what the true trade market looks like right now. It seems that we’re seeing blatant salary dumps across the league as teams gear up to renew their restricted free agents and maybe pursue others in the free agency period.
If the Boston Bruins are smart, they’d be making their calls to General Managers around the NHL offering guys at discounted prices – third and fourth round picks would be great additions for Boston if it meant that free agency went smoother with their RFAs and maybe having a look at some of the free agents available.
Today will no doubt be an interesting one. The Boston Bruins seem highly unlikely to be making any big splashes, but stranger things have happened. Time to pull up a chair, sit back and see how the chips fall!