If the Anaheim Ducks had their time back, would they have taken Matthew Poitras with their second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft instead of Tristan Luneau? The Ducks opted for the right-shot defender, while the Boston Bruins took Poitras with the very next pick. However, both players are now playing in the American Hockey League, and there are reasons to believe they might not be if the draft had gone the other way.
The Ducks could use some more center depth on their NHL club, while the Bruins haven't been able to convince themselves that Poitras is the answer in Boston. The loaded Ducks blueline has Luneau playing in the minors despite looking great for the San Diego Gulls, but the Bruins have a clear need on the right side of their defense, and the young Luneau would fit there like a glove.
The defender has 95 points in 135 career AHL games, showing high offensive upside after being nearly a point-per-game player in the QMJHL. With the Bruins desperately needing some better puck-movers on their backend and potentially a new powerplay quarterback, it feels like Luneau would be a perfect fit.
After hiring the Gulls' head coach Matt McIlvane to be Marco Sturm's new assistant and replacing Jay Leach on the defensive side of the Bruins' bench, bringing in his prized defenseman to play under him would make even more sense. Instead of the Bruins spending on a veteran to play the right side on the second pair, why not bring in the young Luneau to grow with the rest of the core?
Olen Zellweger is in play for Bruins
The Ducks thought that Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Luneau were going to be the future of the blueline when all three players won their respective Defenseman of the Year awards in all three CHL leagues during the 2022-23 season. Along with Jackson LaCombe, the four could've formed a great young core in Anaheim, but now Luneau and Zellweger are names being thrown around in trade rumors.
Zellweger is another puck-moving defenseman that the Bruins could be keeping an eye on. He has fallen out of favor in Anaheim under Joel Quenneville, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him be on the move this offseason. With the history of trades between the two organizations and now even coaches switching teams, it wouldn't be shocking to see any upgrades to the Bruins' blueline come from the Ducks this offseason.
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