It has been two and a half weeks since NHL free agency opened, and things have quieted down a lot. It's the time of the year and summer when front office personnel tend to be out of the office for a while and their families are away on vacation.
Sure, things can still happen, and you'll get an occasional rumor or an arbitration update, but as far as free agents signing and trades, those are going to be very few and far between. However, one team with roster work still to be done is the Boston Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney. So far, the offseason moves aren't ones that are going to move the needle much in terms of where they left off last season.
If they are going to add, it is going to have to be through a trade or two at this point, and the Bruins have no shortage of trade candidates. Two names that have been routinely mentioned continue to pop up on trade boards as we close in on the middle of July.
Pavel Zacha and Mason Lohreio remain on Bleacher Reports trade board
Two names often mentioned in trade rumors are Bruins center Pavel Zacha and defenseman Mason Lohrei. Both are mentioned for different reasons. Zacha is mentioned mainly because of his next contract, and is Boston willing to spend the money needed to retain him? Lohrei, on the other hand, is someone who has been mentioned a bunch of times as someone who could use a change of scenery.
Read More: Mason Lohrei's future with the Bruins faces several questions this offseason
Regardless, Zacha was No. 12 on Lyle Richardson's trade board at Bleacher Report, and Lohrei checked in at No. 7. You get the feeling that if Zacha was going to be moved, he would have been moved by now, but Lohrei is someone who could still go before or right after training camp starts in September.
There are going to be some tough decisions made over the next couple of months before the NHL returns for training camps, as the season is going to begin in late September, as they go to an 84-game schedule. The Black and Gold open up at home on Sept. 29 against the New York Rangers. Will Zacha and Lohrei both be in Marco Sturm's Opening Night lineup?
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