How the Boston Bruins can land Brady Tkachuk in a blockbuster trade
The Boston Bruins have no early-round picks this year, and a first and a third-round pick next year. It’s not until 2026 that we see that they have a first, second, and third-round pick, which would not be enough for them to convince a team like the Ottawa Senators, a division rival nonetheless, to just hand them team captain Brady Tkachuk. Add in a low-end prospects pool, and you may ask how the Bruins could possibly land someone like Tkachuk in a trade.
It’s actually possible, even if it would take the Bruins moving one major asset first. Of course, that asset is Linus Ullmark, who should go for quite the price tag, including a first-rounder, even if it’s not a 2024 first-round pick. In a situation like this, the Bruins would trade Ullmark elsewhere, perhaps for a 2025 first-rounder and a B-prospect - just a baseline hypothetical.
The Bruins can then package both first-round picks in 2025, plus a young player like Morgan Geekie, who put up 39 points and 17 goals in 76 regular season games last year. If not Geekie, someone like Trent Frederic works, too, as he also put up a serviceable slate this year with 40 points and 18 goals.
A Brady Tkachuk trade to the Boston Bruins can be very realistic
Even if the Bruins needed to send both aforementioned forwards over, by all means, do so. The Senators should agree to a trade that gives them a pair of young, capable forwards, plus two first-round picks for what is one of the league’s worst prospect pools.
Some may say this trade, even for a player like Tkachuk, is lopsided in the Senators favor, but this is also someone who finished the year with 37 goals and 74 points for the lowly Sens. He can win faceoffs, give you nearly 20 minutes of average time on ice, and provide hard-nosed play.
But in a scenario like this, Tkachuk probably wouldn’t be the only one on the move. Someone like defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, or even goaltender Anton Forsberg - the Bruins will be needing one - could suffice here.
Now, it would all be about paying Tkachuk, who’s due $10.5 million this year and next year in total salary. But this shouldn’t be as much of an issue since Ullmark goes elsewhere in this scenario, which would further free up cap space that is currently projected to be $21.2 million. Trading Ullmark brings that number closer to $26 million, which would be more than enough to pay for Tkachuk and to extend goaltender Jeremy Swayman when a third team gets involved to “broker” the trade.
Someone like the Anaheim Ducks or the Chicago Blackhawks would work well here, or even a team bound to see some turnover like the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Bruins can simply toss that team a later draft pick for paying a portion of Tkachuk’s contract, and boom, he’s in Massachusetts. And remember, with Morgan Geekie and potentially Trent Frederic involved here, too, it would save even more cap space.
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