Boston Bruins: Who are the alternatives if there’s no Chris Kreider trade?
The Boston Bruins are reportedly still interested in New York Rangers’ winger Chris Kreider; but what if that deal doesn’t happen?
Just because the Boston Bruins may miss out on the supposed top trade target, it doesn’t mean that General Manager, Don Sweeney has failed in his job. There are plenty of alternative options available to him, as we can see purely through the circulating rumors.
Trade deadline is the same every year; there’s plenty of names linked with different teams and in the end, maybe one or two actually end up there.
Look at last year; I think the Marcus Johansson trade to the Boston Bruins caught most people off-guard, while I also doubt people ever expected that Ryan Donato would’ve been moved out, given his relative youth.
Half the challenge becomes knowing which media outlets generally get it right and which Twitter accounts are spouting nonsense; not any easy task by any stretch of the imagination.
Chris Kreider could still end up wearing a Boston Bruins jersey in the final stretch of this season, however, it’s seeming less and less likely as you start hearing the price of such a deal.
As much as we may want him; he could end up costing a high-end prospect, low-end prospect, draft pick and a roster player. That’s a huge price to pay even if he may be the player that pushes us over the line.
Looking elsewhere, there could still be value found in the trade market. There have been three or four persistent names being linked with the Boston Bruins in recent weeks.
We take a look at what sort of cost would be associated, how they might fit within the salary cap and whether they’d be a strong fit:
Brandon Saad (Chicago Blackhawks)
This one, we heard on Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts podcast, suggesting that if the Boston Bruins are willing to consider giving up their first-round pick that experienced Blackhawks winger, Brandon Saad may well be available.
“If it’s (Chris) Kreider, (Kyle) Palmieri or Brandon Saad, they might consider (parting with a first-round pick).”
This one might be a bit more left-field than other suggestions but Brandon Saad would be a fantastic pick-up for the Bruins, namely because he’s been there and done that when it comes to the Stanley Cup.
Obviously the core veterans on this team have been there, done that too but adding yet another experienced head is never going to be a bad move, especially when they’re only 27 years old.
Saad’s contract would prove somewhat challenging for the Bruins when it comes to cap space, but if Chicago could be convinced to eat David Backes‘ deal, then maybe this works perfectly. The only negative about moving out Backes would be the expectation of an attractive prospect or two along with our first-round pick.
On a deal that extends beyond this summer, there would be distinct challenges in terms of keeping the Bruins under the cap in the immediacy and also maintaining negotiating room for this summer’s free agents, namely Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk, hence needing to ditch someone like Backes if at all possible. John Moore may be another name mentioned to Chicago.
As a player, Saad has a strong two-way game, sees ice-time on both Chicago special teams and would be a genuinely strong fit just in terms of being a reliable performer.
He does however play left wing and thus the Bruins line-up would need some shuffling to fit him in, though you’d expect the second-line to be his spot whether he’s on his off side or DeBrusk is.
Kyle Palmieri (New Jersey Devils)
This idea won’t go away but you have to question whether the New Jersey Devils really want to make it, otherwise surely they would’ve already sorted a trade out; it’s not like there’s isn’t apparent interest.
Blake Coleman and Andy Greene have already been dealt by the Devils’ interim General Manager, so it’s not as if he’s simply waiting for the trade deadline.
On the other hand, maybe he’s allowing the market to grow even stronger for Kyle Palmieri before pulling the trigger. If Kreider does end up moved and it’s not to the Boston Bruins, you’d have to imagine they’d go heavy for Palmieri, especially considering Tyler Toffoli is already no longer available.
Financially, he’s a better fit than Brandon Saad though of course, offloading a salary would be useful in this scenario given there is term on Palmieri’s contract.
Routinely posting 40-50 points in a season, he would be the perfect scoring fit on David Krejci‘s line and wouldn’t require juggling on Bruce Cassidy‘s part as he is naturally a right-winger.
Asset-wise, you’d have to imagine the closer to trade deadline we get and the longer the Bruins go without pulling the trigger, the higher the price goes.
Danton Heinen has been speculated as a core piece in any package, while it also would be no big surprise to see at minimum a higher round draft-pick and maybe even a middling prospect like Connor Clifton thrown in.
We’ve previously stated that prioritising him over Chris Kreider is something the Boston Bruins should absolutely do. Whether or not the Devils are willing to ‘play ball’ or not though is a whole different question.
Josh Anderson (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Here’s another name that just won’t go away. Given the Blue Jackets position in the standings, it’s quite possible that he’s not even available.
There is also the fact that he’s yet to play a game since getting injured back in December and at this rate could find himself shut down for the rest of the season. Even in the games he did play, he showed no signs of replicating his great totals from last year.
Adding Josh Anderson is a risky proposition, plain and simple. Nobody knows how well recovered he is or will be and his totals last year might still be a bit of a misnomer.
If, and it’s quite an if, the Blue Jackets do decide to move Anderson, you’d have to think they can’t go asking the world for him, given he’s a 4-point player that has spent half their games on injured reserve.
Hence the appeal, especially if the Boston Bruins could get the hard-hitting right winger that potted 27 goals last campaign, on the cheap. If he is able to recover from his injury and find some form, he’d be perfect for our second line, if not, he’s only paid $1.8 million so we’re not on the hook for a huge amount against the cap.
Even if the Blue Jackets still intend to compete for a play-off place, there may be a workable trade involving a bit-part player like John Moore. Seth Jones and Ryan Murray are both on their injured reserve list right now, after all.
Maybe adding him to our third-round pick this year would be enough to do it. With all of Columbus’ big moves last year, they lack picks so would gladly seek to recoup one, I’m sure.
Josh Anderson, as we wrote, is a high-risk, high-reward type trade. Either he arrives, slots in and finds form or he arrives injured and remains so and the trade proves a waste.
Ilya Kovalchuk (Montreal Canadiens)
The final name that still seems to have some momentum out there in regards to a Boston Bruins trade is veteran Russian winger, Ilya Kovalchuk.
Frankly, this would be the most foolish option, namely because he was available as a free agent just a few short months ago. The Bruins were in for him then, but missed out and really shouldn’t go spending assets to add him now.
At the time, he appeared to be a washed-up has-been having gone to Los Angeles and not looked anything like the threat he once was in the NHL.
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Since arriving in Montreal though, he’s had a new lease on life and is now playing in their line-up without ice-time limits like the Kings were imposing.
This has proven great for Kovalchuk, who seems to thrive on having that little extra time out there. He doesn’t seem to find his game on 15 minutes or less, which would actually be useful in Boston as it’d mean our second line could be utilised that little bit more.
In terms of cost, you’d have to imagine that the Canadiens wouldn’t give him up to their most-hated rival cheaply, especially when they know just how sweet the deal he’s on is for any team with salary cap concerns.
It’s hard to predict what sort of asset haul the Canaidens would seek if Kovalchuk is indeed on the market. They might look for draft picks and focus a few years’ ahead or they might ask for a prospect or player that could step in now.
My general thinking is that Connor Clifton or Jakub Zboril might be names they ask about; if I’m the Boston Bruins I’d try to do the hard-sell on Brendan Gaunce though.
Next. Tampa are keeping the Bruins honest and it's great news. dark
The deal might not seem much given it’s Ilya Kovalchuk, not exactly a no-name player in NHL history; however they can’t expect any team to pay too much given he was a free agent grab.