Bruins have elite winger in Pastrnak, but they need another

NHL Network’s recent Top 20 winger rankings raised an interesting debate. The rankings placed Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak as the second-best winger in the league at the moment.

Yes, we could argue that Pastrnak is better than Nikita Kucherov. There’s certainly merit to that discussion.

But the rankings also highlighted another discussion. The Bruins have an elite winger in Pastrnak. Unfortunately, that’s it.

There is no other elite-level forward beyond “Pasta”.

That’s a reality that the Bruins must face. Boston doesn’t really have a legit number-one center. And the team most certainly doesn’t have another top-line winger. That could change if JJ Peterka hits his stride in Boston.

Even if Peterka suddenly became a 40 or 50-goal scorer, that still leaves the Bruins short of high-end talent. It’s something that Don Sweeney must accept and try to remedy.

However, fixing the situation is much easier said than done.

Bruins can’t just trade for an elite winger

The Bruins can’t just go out and trade for another elite winger. In fact, Peterka was as close as they could get.

That’s not because Sweeney is incompetent. It’s just the way the market works. Look at the guys on NHL Network’s list. The guys traded on that list were a once-in-a-lifetime offer just because their contracts were expiring. Those were the cases of Mikko Rantanen, Artemi Panarin, Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, and Martin Necas.

The other guys are still with their first team. Kucherov, Pastrnak, Lucas Raymond, William Nylander, and Jason Robertson are guys still with the team they were drafted by.

It would take another unprecedented situation for a guy like Nylander to become available. Assuming the Maple Leafs were willing to move him, or the Dallas Stars finally gave up on Robertson, how easy do you think it would be for Sweeney to make a deal happen? That’s where things don’t exactly become easy for the Bruins.

Boston needs a center more than anything at this point

The bottom line is that the Bruins need a center more than anything at this point. While there’s an argument to be made about Boston just finding upgrades across the board, the team needs a serious option to help the team get past last year’s first-round exit.

Perhaps James Hagens becomes that guy. But how realistic is it to expect a 19-year-old to lead the Bruins on a long playoff run?

There might be a case in which Hagens goes on a rampage like Macklin Celebrini did and scores 100 points. It’s possible. Anything is possible. But just how likely is it?

That’s where we stand. The Bruins need all the help they can get. Sadly, that’s the reality of the other 31 teams in the NHL at the moment.

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