The Boston Bruins' blueline is an interesting group when they are all healthy. The team currently has eight defensemen on the active roster, with Jordan Harris and Henri Jokiharju projected as the healthy scratches. Jokiharju was originally planned to be in the team's rotation, but the emergence of Jonathan Aspirot as Charlie McAvoy's pairing leaves head coach Marco Sturm with some intriguing options.
Nikita Zadorov and McAvoy looked like it could be a solid top pair for the Bruins once Sturm found it earlier this season, but Aspirot has been playing well enough to justify spreading out the wealth amongst the three pairs. The front office still feels like they could acquire a right-shot defenseman, but in doing that they might have to part with Mason Lohrei.
Don Sweeney can also feel comfortable with trading Andrew Peeke at the deadline if they are looking to accrue some assets, because of the emergence of Aspirot. There are many ways the Bruins can finish this season, and it is the newcomer's flexibility that gives them options.
Bruins' possible defense plans post-trade deadline
It seems that if the Bruins are going to be buyers, their plan is to possibly acquire a right-shot, top-four defenseman by dangling Lohrei as a trade piece. If they find a deal for MacKenzie Weegar, for example, the lineup could look like this:
Zadorov - McAvoy
Lindholm - Weegar
Harris - Aspirot or Aspirot - Jokiharju
If the Bruins decide to go all-in and acquire a right-shot defenseman while also keeping Peeke, the lineup looks even better. However, if I had my preference, Peeke would be an expendable piece. The defender has more value in what you can get for him at the deadline than what he would bring in the postseason. Here's what it could look like:
Aspirot - McAvoy
Lindholm - Weegar
Zadorov - Peeke
If the Bruins don't become buyers at the deadline but do sell on Peeke, Aspirot's flexibility doesn't even necessarily hurt their chances of making the playoffs. The preference, if they don't trade Lohrei, is to move him back to his strong side, which could result in something like this:
Zadorov - McAvoy
Lindholm - Jokiharju
Lohrei - Aspirot
The third option doesn't seem the greatest, but it could be the opportunity to bring Frederic Brunet up to the big club and give him the shot he deserves. They also still have Harris available to insert. If the Bruins put Brunet alongside McAvoy and moved Zadorov down to help that depth, it'd be an interesting mix of defenders, with the only problem being that Jokiharju likely comes out in that scenario, and the team is left with five left-shot defenders.
One of Aspirot's most appealing traits this season has been his ability to play his weak side. While it might not be an ideal setup to have so many left-shot defenders in the lineup, it at least offers Sturm and the front office some different options.