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Boston Bruins 2023-24 Roster and Salary Cap Discussion XIII: On the eve of the trade deadline

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pgm16 said:
It will soon be McAvoy's team, but a lot of players would love Brad to be skating along side them with a chance to raise the Cup. He has matured so much in the last 5 years.
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Just remembering when they asked Bertuzzi what he learned from playing with Marchand and he said something like "he's actually a nice guy".

I mean it the big scope of things it's pretty small, but curious
 
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Already short on ammo, and with big names moved early, Bruins GM Don Sweeney might be quiet this trade deadline​

By Kevin Paul Dupont Globe Staff,Updated March 7, 2024, 1 hour ago

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After being aggressive during several NHL trade deadlines over the past few years, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney might not have the pieces needed to do so again this year.
After being aggressive during several NHL trade deadlines over the past few years, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney might not have the pieces needed to do so again this year.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF
His faltering team having lost 10 of 15 over the last five weeks (5-4-6 in that span), Don Sweeney straddled that fragile, ambiguous line of buy/sell/hold Thursday morning as the NHL’s Friday 3 p.m. ET deadline approached.
The 57-year-old Bruins general manager normally would be expected to be in it to win it — to be aggressive, to find the missing piece(s) that could make for a bona fide shot at a Stanley Cup when the NHL playoffs begin in mid-April. Sweeney has made such plays in the past, with his big “gets” for Rick Nash (2018), Hampus Lindholm (’22) and last spring’s supermarket sweep for Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway.
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Exciting, promising and bold, all of it. Nothing makes for more sizzle than trade rumors and the machinations that sometimes turn them into reality.
Yet for all that razzmatazz, those maneuvers paid off only once, modestly, with the Round 1 win over the Leafs in 2018 that was a seven-game nailbiter (not to mention some icky tongue-licking by Brad Marchand). In ‘22 and ‘23, the Bruins were one-and-done in Round 1.
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Overall, the idea of locking down a long playoff run with a move or two at the trade deadline — particularly in a sport built around the whims of bouncing puck — can be, let’s say, as filled with folly as the puck is with rubber.
This very well could be a much different, low-key deadline for Sweeney. He is short on draft assets, in part because of the aforementioned bold deals, and his roster asset most likely to be dealt, Jake DeBrusk, has delivered tepid-to-weak numbers to date. The veteran winger has posted paltry 2-2–4 numbers these last 15 games. He is also only three months away from being an unrestricted free agent.
In short, it cannot be a long line of suitors for DeBrusk standing outside Sweeney’s Causeway Street doorstep. Sweeney’s best play may be to hold him, essentially as a self-rental, and suffer the potential risk of seeing him walk in July. There then would be no return assets, similar to Torey Krug’s adieu in 2020.
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Despite still being in the hunt for the top spot in the NHL standings, the Bruins since the All-Star break generally have been a weak cup of tea. The deficiencies have been many, some puzzling, including a power play gone 6-for-43 (14 percent) since the All-Star break. Headed into Thursday’s visit by Toronto, the Black-and-Gold hadn’t tallied more than one man-up goal in the last 24 games (dating to Jan. 9 at Arizona).
The Bruins’ penalty-killing unit, which topped the league for much of the early season, has stumbled along at a 78-percent kill rate (32-for-41) since Jan. 27. Prior to Wednesday night’s three-game NHL slate, both Boston special teams were ranked No. 8 in the league. Not the stuff to generate a fear factor in the playoffs — at least not in the opposition.
A measure of how the offense has gone of late: versatile bottom-six forward Morgan Geekie, with six goals, has paced the goal scoring, ahead of top-six forwards David Pastrnak (5) and Pavel Zacha (5). Brad Marchand (2-5–7) has gone seven straight without a goal; James van Riemsdyk (3-3–6) has gone nine in a row scoreless. Night after night, the offense has lacked the firepower to pull away from opponents.
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On the back end, No. 1 blueliner Charlie McAvoy has scored twice in the 15 games since the break. His goal on Nov. 18 stands as his lone power-play strike of the season. He remains the No. 1 option at the point on the first PP unit, but too often simply won’t put the hammer down.
The powerhouse Panthers, 12-1-0 in their 13 games, on Wednesday picked up veteran scorer Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa for a pair of draft picks. Flipped from the Blues to the Rangers at the deadline a year ago, Tarasenko has had a decent season (41 points) with the struggling Sens. Surrounded by all that talent in Sunrise, he could be that classic “one-guy-to-put-it-over-the-top” acquisition by GM Bill Zito.
Would the addition of, say, one high-profile scorer dramatically change the outlook here? Doubtful. Sure, a rising tide typically lifts all ships, but with so many scorers underwater here, the answer would have to be a tsunami and not a Tarasenko.
The Bruins backline desperately needs Lindholm, out since wrenching a knee Feb. 19 vs. Dallas, back in the mix. If he is back in short order — as coach Jim Montgomery hinted earlier this week — Lindholm could be the club’s best re-acquisition at the deadline.
On Wednesday evening, the Flames finally found a new home for ex-BC defenseman Noah Hanifin, the 27-year-old coveted by Sweeney in the 2015 draft. The Hurricanes plucked the 6-foot-3 Hanifin that spring with the No. 5 pick, a spot where Sweeney no doubt would have done the same, had he been willing to hand Carolina his three picks (13, 14, 15) lower in the Round 1 order.
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Hanafin was dealt to Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights, the defending Cup champs. Reports late in the evening also had them considering a contract extension with Hanifin, who is ticketed to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Sweeney, without a first-round pick this year (wheeled to Detroit for Bertuzzi), might have had to appease the Flames with a future Round 1 pick to make a serious bid for Hanifin. The Bruins already have gone without a first-rounder since 2021 (No. 21, Fabian Lysell). It looks from here like they’ve stretched that borrow-from-the-future play to its limits.
Sweeney’s one position of trade strength is in goal, where he has the ability to wheel either Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman, though Ullmark’s contract allows the veteran stopper the right to limit the list of prospective acquirers to 16 teams. Either the Devils or Kings would have to be interested, but it’s not known if one or both are on Ullmark’s “ding” list.
The younger Swayman can be dealt anywhere, but it’s virtually impossible to imagine that Sweeney would wheel the kid who might be the best they’ve drafted at that spot since Bill Ranford (No. 52, 1985), and possibly the second best all-time to Ken Dryden (No. 14, 1964).
They let Dryden go just a little too soon. Possibly a lesson there to remember, be it here at the deadline, or any time of year.
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TCB said:
Sweeney pretty tight lipped no doubt, but it doesn't have to be him, it could easily be someone else on their management team, believe me it takes place and although Sweeney may not be doing it directly, its taking place.
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I have a theory that most leaks come from agents.

Seems like they have to most to gain.
 
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DKH said:
I do like Guentzel as a UFA

Kinda watching him hoping he doesn’t sign extension wherever he goes
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Be interesting to see how the numbers on where UFA TDL rentals end up signing.

Anybody have a feel on what percentages are in terms of those who re-up with the team they are traded to and those who just move on to the free market when FA opens?
 
wintersej said:
I’m annoyed Bruins didn’t match that for Hanifin.
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I'm more disappointed than annoyed. They really need another top defenseman to set them up long term--Lohrei isn't top 4 yet. Hanifin would have been a great add.
 
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Number8 said:
Be interesting to see how the numbers on where UFA TDL rentals end up signing.

Anybody have a feel on what percentages are in terms of those who re-up with the team they are traded to and those who just move on to the free market when FA opens?
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So if no extension and goes to Tampa they lucked out in the end
 
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