The Boston Bruins will enter their early Saturday afternoon contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Garden with their Stanley Cup Playoff fate in their own hands. A win of any kind against the Lightning, the Bruins will be back in the postseason after missing it last season.
It would be surprising if they got into the Eastern Conference field after what they went through last season, especially in March at the NHL trade deadline. General manager Don Sweeney traded Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, and Brandon Carlo. The latter one went to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 top-5 protected first-round pick, and prospect Fraser Minten. At the time of the deal, little did anyone know what was about to come.
Toronto would go on to get eliminated in the second round of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers. Nobody thought that the Leafs' pick in 2026 would come close to the top 5, but here we are. Long since eliminated from the playoff picture, right now, the pick is projected to fall just outside the top 5, which means, if it does on NHL Draft Lottery night, then the pick is Boston's.
Bruins closing in on completing Maple Leafs fleecing one year later
It's one thing to give up a fourth-round pick, but Minten has turned into a pivotal piece of Marco Sturm's lineup, and who saw Toronto bottoming out in 2025-26? It's adding up to a fleecing of Don Sweeney by his heated rivals. Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet didn't beat around the bush about what's happening this season.
"While it’s surprising to see Boston back in the playoffs one year after a hard reset, it did feel like there was a path back to being competitive for this club. Still, did anybody anticipate the Bruins being fourth in points percentage (.684) in the second half and second overall at home (.731)? Morgan Geekie validating last year’s breakout with an even better 37-goal (so far) campaign and the emergence of Fraser Minten playing so well as a rookie centre are two huge developments for this club. The cherry on top of the sundae would be Toronto handing over a pick in the six-to-eight range at the draft thanks to last season’s Brandon Carlo trade,'' wrote Dixon.
Getting the final points or the desired results from teams chasing them is easier said than done. However, everyone has three games left, and you have to think it would take a major miracle for them not to get in. It's possible, but getting in, with Minten playing a big part in it and potentially landing Toronto's first-round pick at No. 6 or 7, certainly is a cherry on top of a sundae.