When Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired in the summer of 2023, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney failed to fill the gap that was left by his top two pivots. He trusted Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha to fill those gaps for a year and they did a fairly good job in 2023-24. However, neither was the long-term answer in the top-six.
This season Zacha has assumed the top line role because of the struggles for free agent addition Elias Lindholm last summer, and Coyle has rotated between center and right wing. The Boston native was living a childhood dream playing for the team he grew up rooting for, but it was evident that his time with the Black and Gold was coming to an end. That became reality Friday afternoon when he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
Grading Bruins trade of Charlie Coyle to the Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche were one of a handful of Western Conference contenders that had a very active trade deadline and one of the moves they made was acquiring Coyle and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick from the Bruins for Casey Mittlestadt, William Zellers and the Avs 2025 second-round pick.
The #NHLBruins have acquired forwards Casey Mittelstadt and William Zellers, as well as a 2025 second-round pick, from Colorado in exchange for Charlie Coyle and a 2026 fifth-round pick.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 7, 2025
📰: https://t.co/H4Snshescd pic.twitter.com/dFzXsT3YdI
On Thursday night, Colorado acquired Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders and adding Coyle gives them plenty of options for the rest of the season and playoffs. Nelson is scheduled to become a free agent following the season and Coyle has one more year remaining on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit.
Colorado is a deep team and adding Coyle gives them a third-line forward who can play in the middle and on the wing. A veteran, he brings plenty of experience in big games and the playoffs for a team going all-in this season.
Boston receives Mittlestadt and in reality, the Bruins are acquiring a player who is younger than Coyle as Mittlestadt is 26 years old and was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2017 Entry Draft. This season for the Avs, he has 11 goals and 23 assists, which is more production than Coyle had in Boston. Mittlestadt has yet to break out during his time with the Sabres and Avalanche and this feels like a Pavel Zacha situation where Sweeney is hoping to have him break out in Boston. He has two years remaining on his contract after this season with a $5.75 million cap hit.
Zellers is a promising prospect who is tearing it up in the USHL with 37 goals this season in 40 games and he will be attending North Dakota next season. Considering how bad the Boston prospect pool is, Zellers will move into the Top 5 with his addition to the organization.