At the trade deadline last March, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had a fire sale for a club that was fading from the Eastern Conference postseason race.
It started with Sweeney shipping Trent Frederic as the centerpiece of a three-team trade to the Edmonton Oilers. The New Jersey Devils were the third team involved. That was three days before the actual deadline, and then the night before the deadline, Sweeney struck again.
After a disappointing loss on a last-minute goal by the Carolina Hurricanes on the road, Sweeney sent rugged forward Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild for a package that landed Marat Khusnutdinov, who is a big piece of the 2025-26 Bruins.
Last summer, Brazeau left as a free agent and signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After having an up-and-down tenure in Boston, Brazeau is soaring with the Penguins and having a career year at the halfway point.
Former Bruins forward Justin Brazeau soaring with the Penguins
In 26 games for Pittsburgh this season, Brazeau has a career-high 12 goals and eight assists, which total 20 points, tying his career high. In a 7-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 28, he recorded a hat trick.
Trading Brazeau was a move that signaled the end of his time in Boston and that Sweeney had no intentions of re-signing him. It's easy to say now that it was a mistake, but was trading him the right move? Are the Bruins better off in their bottom-six with how it's currently constructed? Could they use Brazeau's 6-foot-6, 232-pound frame and goal-scoring?
The Bruins are not getting what they thought they would from some of the players brought in. Mikey Eyssimont could be considered a disappointment, and Tanner Jeannot has battled injuries. Fraser Minten has been good, but Boston could certainly use the 12 goals Brazeau has in just 25 games in Pittsburgh, no?
Again, it's easy to second-guess a decision after the fact and almost a year later. Khusnutdinov has five goals and 13 points for first-year coach Marco Sturm, and it remains to be seen if he's a long-term piece with the Black and Gold or not.