The Boston Bruins have a somewhat trade-able asset in defenseman John Moore; the challenge has been shifting him.
However, perhaps with the way this deadline’s trade market is going, there might be chance for the Boston Bruins to dump John Moore and his slightly over-priced contract.
The Bruins have seemingly decided to move on from John Moore, evident by renewals for young defenseman Connor Clifton last year and Jeremy Lauzon just a week or so ago. This comes as no surprise, as Moore looked to be an over-pay from the beginning.
His cap hit of $2.75 million for the next three seasons beyond this one was a poor deal and is eating up valuable cap space for the Boston Bruins as they no doubt seek to renew Torey Krug this summer.
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Although he is a smooth skater and big-bodied, that doesn’t count for a great deal in the NHL these days if you can’t back it up with other skills and you can’t be paid that much per season unless you’re competing for top-four minutes.
Unfortunately for John Moore; his pathway to the top-four is blocked by Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug. Even beyond them, he’s fighting for third pairing minutes with a plethora of young options on the Boston Bruins blue-line.
The market appears to be set with the New York Islanders giving up a second-round pick and a young defenseman in David Quenneville, who although he hasn’t set the AHL on fire, put up big numbers two seasons ago in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers. The return on that deal was 37 year-old veteran Andy Greene on an expiring $5 million cap hit.
Just one deal can skew how the market operates and you have to imagine Don Sweeney has been working the phones to try and find the perfect match for John Moore. He could be the perfect match for a team looking to add some blue-line experience for a play-off run.
The downside is that the Bruins would likely have to sweeten any sort of deal given the additional term on his contract.
In pure financial terms, you’re looking at someone like the Colorado Avalanche adding him to a group of young defensemen as they make a play-off push. The Columbus Blue Jackets might also be a match as their blue-line looks a little lacklustre.
Otherwise, it’s the likes of the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators that you’re talking to; both are going to want draft picks or prospects for a John Moore deal to make sense to them.
Contracts like his are hard to move, mainly because of the term; in payment sense, he’s over-paid but not significantly. At the end of his contract, he’s only 32 years old too, so you’d expect consistent performances and no ageing curve, so to speak, over the course of that deal.
Perhaps the Andy Greene deal opens the door to moving the John Moore contract, perhaps not. Maybe it’s something to look at again in the summer; we shall see.