As the NHL trade deadline on April 12 at 3 p.m. inches closer, there are some needs that the Boston Bruins have to upgrade their roster for the brutal stretch of the end of the regular season, and for what they hope is a postseason run.
As usual, there is still a need for secondary scoring and if possible, a second-line right wing for David Krejci. The Bruins could also look to upgrade on the blue line with a top-four defenseman. If general manager Don Sweeney decides to go the route, there are options that he has.
Nashville Predators have Mattias Ekholm that could be available in a trade, while the Bruins have kicked the tires on Arizona Coyotes blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson and could so again. Then there’s Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flame that the Bruins been linked to in trade talks before that could be an option.
Bruins’ best move might be to get their injured defensemen back.
Does Boston need to add a top-four defenseman at the deadline? When Torey Krug left in free agency for the St. Louis Blues and Zdeno Chara followed Krug out the door to the Washington Capitals, the B’s and the front office appeared ready to go younger on defense.
So far, the returns have not been bad. Defense and goaltending right now appear to be the two positions that they could get by with for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. Why? Well, just take a look at the names that are currently out injured and could make a return soon.
Jeremy Lauzon is recovering from a fractured hand suffered on Feb. 21 at Lake Tahoe, Nevada against the Philadelphia Flyers and his four-week time frame to be re-evaluated is inching closer. Brandon Carlo, who took a hit from Capitals forward Tom Wilson on March 5 and has been out since with a concussion. On Monday, Sweeney said on a call with the media that Carlo has begun skating again. That is a good sign and his next step will begin non-contact practice with his teammates.
Boston’s best move by the trade deadline might be to pass on adding a defenseman and get their injured players back healthy.
If Sweeney stands pat and doesn’t make a move, this is what the Bruins defense would look like when healthy,
Charlie McAvoy/Matt Grzelcyk
Brandon Carlo/Jeremy Lazuon
Kevan Miller/Jakub Zboril
Breaking up McAvoy and Grzecyk would be a mistake. They have become one of the league’s top pairings and shutdown tandems. This is a pairing that I would have liked to have seen earlier, but Grzelcyk has been dealing with a number of injures, but now that he’s back healthy, this is one pairing that needs to stay together.
As the trade deadline approaches, Sweeney should focus on adding a forward and upgrade the Bruins offense as opposed to the defense. To this point in the season, the Black and Gold’s problems have been with bottom-nine forwards, not the blue line.