When Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had a fire sale at the trade deadline last March, little did anyone know that two major pieces of his roster would be heading to division rivals. Captain Brad Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers, which allowed him to win a second Stanley Cup.
Before that last-second deal with Florida, Sweeney traded right-shot defenseman Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a package that included prospect Fraser Minten and the Leafs' first round. draft pick in this June's draft, which is top 5 protected. This year, the roles are reversed with Toronto emerging as a seller by 3 p.m. EST on Friday and Boston trending to buy somehow, someway.
Sweeney and the Bruins have multiple needs this year, with a right-shot defenseman and a top center as the two biggest. They could also use a goal-scoring winger. One player who was held out of the Maple Leafs' lineup on Wednesday night against the New Jersey Devils was defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Now, he's not a right-shot, but a left. Regardless, according to Elliotte Friedman, the Black and Gold are interested in OEL.
Elliotte Friedman links Bruins to Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Appearing on NHL Now on the NHL Network on Wednesday, Friedman reported that Boston and the Detroit Red Wings are interested in OEL. Now, that doesn't make a lot of sense for the Bruins to acquire another left-shot defenseman as they already have an abundance of left-shots, and they have Mason Lohrei currently playing on his off-side. How many more left-shots can head coach Marco Sturm have without moving on from at least one of them? OEL does play the right side well, but this feels like it would be a desperate move by Sweeney.
Ekamn-Larsson carries a $3.5 million AAV after this year for two more seasons. He'll be 36 years old when his contract expires, and he doesn't fit the bill for Boston for a couple of reasons, including his age and being a left-shot. Now, Toronto GM Brad Treliving will try to play the role of Sweeney at this trade deadline and try to fleece a team with a trade or two, but he isn't going to pull a fast one on Sweeney.
Just a few years ago, who would have ever thought that the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs would ever become trade partners as they have? Despite their recent history and rumors, OEL to Boston should be considered just that, a rumor.