Things are beginning to heat up around the NHL, a week after the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights in six games to win the Stanley Cup behind former Boston Bruins goalie Brandon Bussi.
The Bruins enter the offseason with needs, and their ability to make moves got greater on Sunday afternoon when the Florida Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators for a haul of draft picks. If Boston wants to get into the postseason, then addressing some of their needs is a must.
Read More: The Bruins just got a trade market message after the Panthers and Kraken struck a deal
One thing the Black and Gold have is on defense, mainly on the right side. Bringing back Andrew Peeke doesn't solve their need. Could they bring in another left-shot blueliner? Sure, and one name that likely will be moved is Darnell Nurse from the Edmonton Oilers. Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet had four trade proposals, with one involving the Bruins. However, his proposed trade is not one that general manager Don Sweeney should consider.
Bruins proposed Darnell Nurse trade is one that Boston should avoid at all costs
Dixon proposed a deal that would send Nurse to Boston and left-shot defenseman Mason Lohrei to Edmonton. That is not a deal that the Bruins should consider making.
"For the B’s, Nurse fits their tough-to-play-against identity and would give them another huge body to slot on their blueline with Nikita Zadorov. Boston has a decent amount of cap space and doesn’t really have any pressing contracts to get done this summer, so fitting Nurse in — especially if you’re deleting one or two smaller contracts in the swap — wouldn’t be much of an issue,'' wrote Dixon.
For starters, let's remember that Nurse carries a $9.25 million cap hit through the 2029-30 season. Lohrei has one year remaining on his current deal, and sure, the Oilers could retain some money, but taking on Nurse is taking a risk. Now, if Sweeney could throw goalie Joonas Korpisalo into a potential deal, then maybe it should be considered.
When it comes to Don Sweeney with trades and free agent signings, expect the unexpected. However, this is a pivotal offseason for Sweeney and the Bruins front office. After Florida struck, we'll see what the rest of the division does, but Nurse for the Bruins is something they should stay clear of.
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