Boston Bruins: Trade target Chris Kreider suffers nasty blow to head

The Boston Bruins will be holding their breath if Chris Kreider is indeed a potential trade target this deadline.

During last night’s game between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, Chris Kreider left the game after a brutal knee square to the side of his head. The Boston Bruins trade target was sent to the room for concussion protocol immediately.

Watching the hit, which unfortunately came at the hands of his teammate Mika Zibanajed, it was right in the wrong spot; the knee connecting and causing a nasty whiplash effect that meant Kreider was slow to his feet as he left the ice.

Per the New York Post, Rangers head coach David Quinn was far more concerned about his player’s health than the potential risk to deadline day plans. He was also keen to point out that, despite the brutal hit, Chris Kreider wasn’t concussed.

This is great news for the Boston Bruins, if they indeed are keen on pursuing Kreider as a possible solution to their second line right-wing issues.

When you look at his style, it’s a perfect match for play-off hockey and what you might call old-school Boston Bruins type hockey, matching skill with a distinct level of intensity and aggression when required.

Possibly the biggest concern with the severe blow that Chris Kreider took to his head is that maybe suffers delayed concussion symptoms or plays with less intensity as a result. This would end up potentially creating a Rick Nash type trade for the Boston Bruins; a big risk indeed.

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NESN reports that the New York Rangers’ asking price for the winger is likely to be quite steep; the Winnipeg Jets set the market for this type of rental deal last year when they added Kevin Hayes at the deadline.

The cost of that deal was the Jets’ 2019 first round pick, a conditional fourth round pick in 2022 and young left winger Brendan Lemieux.

To match that sort of value, you’d imagine it’s the Boston Bruins first-round pick be requested and someone like an Anton Blidh, Cameron Hughes or Jakub Zboril at the very minimum. Obviously, there’d no doubt be clauses to ensure a contract renewal ends up costing the Bruins more.

All in all, it appears a lucky break for both the New York Rangers and Chris Kreider himself, as well as for any teams, the Boston Bruins included, that are keen to bring him on-board come trade deadline.

Safe to say we’re firmly in trade season when we’re looking closely at injuries suffered to players in other divisions!