Boston Bruins: Ranking the Bruins’ top trade deadline targets

There have been five or six key players linked with the Boston Bruins as we move towards the trade deadline.

The majority of the names mentioned are players that may be available to fix the need for a right winger on the Boston Bruins’ second line.

Jake DeBrusk has picked up some form lately and David Krejci continues to be consistent in his performances, even as a 35 year-old. Lately they’ve played with Karson Kuhlman, but the feeling is an upgrade may be available.

Perhaps, not discussed as much is the cost of said upgrade but that’s a hurdle that the Bruins’ GM, Don Sweeney will no doubt be able to handle. He has seldom overpaid in trades, after all.

The only other position the Boston Bruins have rumored to be wanting to shore up is a bottom-pairing defenseman that plays the game with a bit of play-off grit and toughness.

Internally, Jeremy Lauzon has shown that he may be able to fill that role, even if he found himself rather unjustly suspended recently. However, the Boston Bruins seem intent upon adding a little more experience than the 21 year-old.

Connor Clifton managed to step in and claim the role last season, preventing the need to add anyone on the blue-line, maybe Lauzon can be this year’s version. Likewise, Clifton is nearing an injury return and might well be the guy himself too!

Last year, the trade deadline pick-ups of Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson worked out perfectly. With that in mind, we look through the players most likely to join the Boston Bruins and rate their chances of success:

Ilya Kovalchuk (Montreal Canadiens)

They say not to trade with your enemies, but the Montreal Canadiens have a player in Ilya Kovalchuk that may mean trading with the Habs is necessary for the Boston Bruins.

Whether such a trade is smart depends wholly on whether the Boston Bruins were to get the Los Angeles Kings’ Kovalchuk or the Montreal Canadiens’ Kovalcuk, as he’s been a different player since arriving in Quebec.

There is no doubting that the Russian is still quite the player in this league, but the challenge for the Bruins would be finding the right fit in the line-up and affording him enough ice-time to do his thing.

As we saw during his stint in Los Angeles, without the ice-time, he’s much less of a dangerous player. Given the current trend towards bigger minutes for the top line and only about 15 minutes being available even to the second line, there would be every chance the Bruins would be adding the LA Kings’ version of the former Maurice Richard Trophy winner.

His 12 points in 16 games with Montreal compare positively to his 9 points in 17 games on the West Coast this season. There’s definitely enough there to suggest he’d be a good pick-up.

There would be two issues though preventing the Boston Bruins from pursuing him too hard; those being the potential asking price and whether they truly see him as a good fit.

If the Montreal Canadiens fade away from any chance at the play-offs in the next week and a half, obviously he becomes one of their bigger trade-able assets, especially on such a cap-friendly contract.

Unfortunately, knowing this the Canadiens would rightfully expect a decent prospect or draft pick and/or a roster player to balance it out.

As such, any move for Kovalchuk would be an over-pay especially given he was available for free mere weeks ago. I give the idea of the Boston Bruins acquiring him a C-.

Brenden Dillon (San Jose Sharks)

The most surprising player attached to Boston Bruins trade rumors this year is perhaps San Jose Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon.

You could make a strong case for the Boston Bruins already having depth in terms of both young and experienced options available to them on the blue-line, making a trade for a defenseman a bit of an odd one, unless of course it’s attached to a salary dump.

Even that scenario seems unlikely given the make-up of the Sharks roster with significant contracts for Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.

Looking solely toward the possible Boston Bruins acquisition though and Dillon could certainly offer something. He has more NHL experience than Jeremy Lauzon, who has shown a slight edge to his game in recent weeks. He also is able to curb his temper and balance his hits to ensure that he’s not penalised too often.

The dependable left-shooting defenseman has size and grit to his game, as well as proven top-four pedigree having partnered Brent Burns quite regularly in San Jose. That in itself suggests his defensive game is decent given Burns often plays offensively as a quasi-winger.

Teams that have made the run all the way to the Stanley Cup in recent years have always stocked up defensively, whether that’s the Blues adding Michael Del Zotto last year, Michael Kempny going to Washington the year before, or the Penguins adding Mark Streit and Ron Hainsey in 2017.

Perhaps Brenden Dillon is that missing piece in terms of defensive depth. After all, beyond the top four, the depth reads Matt Grzelyck, John Moore, an injured Connor Clifton and Kevan Miller and then we’re looking at Steven Kampfer, Alex Petrovic or any number of rookie NHL defensemen.

As a depth signing and provided the Boston Bruins move out a contract to offset his steep $3.27 million cap hit, he rates a good option. If Charlie McAvoy, Zdeno Chara, Brandon Carlo or Torey Krug were to miss a game, he’d be a great option to plug into their spot.

With that in mind, acquiring Brenden Dillon rates a strong B+ for me, provided we weren’t to give any major asset up.

Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)

A trade for Chris Kreider may end up being foolish on the Boston Bruins’ part. Chances are they have to over-pay for him, possibly even to the point of giving up their first-round pick.

While it’s all well and good to suggest that is basically a second-round draft pick by the end of the year, there are still good players available at that early stage of the Draft.

John Beecher was picked at 30th overall and looks to definitely have a future in the Boston Bruins line-up after college.

There’s obviously two ways to look at a Chris Kreider trade and one of those is that he could prove the difference on the second-line in much the same way Coyle and Johansson proved the difference on the third line last year.

That he brings a game that couples point production with the required style of gritty, slightly abrasive hockey makes him an ideal addition ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It’s not that often that consistent 20-goal, 50-point guys are outside of the play-off bubble, hence why he’s touted as such a strong pick-up.

On the flip side though, he’s a pure rental as his price next season would likely prove too high for the Boston Bruins. He would also require the team to shuffle their wingers around, given he plays left-wing and not the right-wing spot we’re seeking to fill.

All in all, while he’d be a great addition, I rate him as a B if the Bruins were to acquire him at the trade deadline.

Ondrej Kase (Anaheim Ducks)

The case for adding Ondrej Kase to the Boston Bruins is one that has two sides to it.

On one side, he still has another year left so isn’t a pure rental and also is versatile enough to play on either wing.

On the flip side of that though, here’s a player that has struggled with injury concerns for more than just this current season. Throwing him into the cauldron that is play-off hockey may see any trade for him end up more like the Rick Nash deal a few years back.

Much like Josh Anderson, there’s blatantly potential there, it’s just a risky play.

23 points in 49 games isn’t a bad return; it’s an average of a point every second game thereabouts on a very poor Anaheim Ducks team.

With the Ducks having played 56 games this year, the injury worry is lessened slightly too, given it’s only 7 games that Kase hasn’t played in. Only slightly though, as that equates to 12.5% of all their games this year.

He has shown, in his games this year, to be continuing to learn how to use his body better especially when you combine it with his puck handling, which as with so many Czech players is decent in-tight.

Kase may not throw down in an old-fashioned sense, but he battles hard and that determination suggests that play-off hockey would be right up his alley, provided he’s fit and healthy.

With a year of term left, you’d assume the Ducks will push for more of a return but Kase’s injury worries may keep the price at a reasonable place. As for the Boston Bruins adding him, I’d rate him a B- for his potential ability to fit on our roster.

Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings)

Of all the names, Tyler Toffoli springs of the page as one that matches the Boston Bruins style best. Him and Chris Kreider certainly tick plenty of boxes for what the Bruins typically look for.

A possession player that models as a more traditional power forward; potentially the perfect option alongside David Krejci and Jake Debrusk on the second line. He’s by no means a play-maker though; you’d be reliant upon his line-mates to fulfil that task.

What he does do well though is managing to play a two-way game without being an atypical defensive forward. He gets back and gets in the way, forcing turnovers and just generally causing enough of a nuisance to disrupt other team’s cycle games or zone entries.

Adding Toffoli would cost the Bruins less than adding Kreider, but he lacks the speed of the New York Rangers skater. On the reverse of that, adding Kreider means juggling the lines as he plays the left, whereas Toffoli would slot in on the right comfortably.

You’d hedge a decent bet that the Boston Bruins will acquire one or the other and out of the two, Toffoli would prove best value.

Trades with the Los Angeles Kings don’t have to break the bank; their motivation right now is clear – they want to get younger, quicker and more skilled. There are plenty of options we could offer them, including someone like Danton Heinen, who has found himself on the outside looking in lately.

As an acquisition, he rates as the best possible player for us to acquire without having to throw a first-round pick on the table. As a result, I’m grading a possible deal for him as a B+.

Conclusion

There are plenty of trade options available this year that the Boston Bruins would be wise to explore.

No single player can be seen as a true game-changer though, hence the lack of A ratings! Every player the Boston Bruins are being associated with looks to be a calculated addition to what is already a strong line-up.

What Boston need to ensure they don’t do is over-pay for a player. If a player is on an expiring deal, we shouldn’t be giving up a first-round pick unless that player could legitimately offer something new to our first or second line or alternately our top four on defense.

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Equally, even with term the Boston Bruins need to ensure they’re not mortgaging too much of our own prospect pipeline. Teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins are a great template to build yourself around, with their willingness to gamble all the time Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still going.

However, just because the Boston Bruins window is narrowing with age slowly catching up on David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and company; the Bruins shouldn’t be throwing everything at it.

One Stanley Cup win isn’t necessarily worth years of slow rebuilding. Any trade deadline decision must be measured for what it can afford us now and how it impacts our future. The Bruins got it right last year with Marcus Johansson and Charlie Coyle, so that must be the target again this year.

Adding players that aren’t world-beaters but that will gel with the team and actually ended up being difference-makers in their own way.

Trade deadline is always an interesting time of year; it’s quite clear the Boston Bruins fully intend to compete again; everyone wants to head back to the Stanley Cup Final after last year’s heartbreak.

What trades actually end up taking place and how a play-off roster looks is anyone’s guess at this stage, though.