Of course us Bruins fans would like it...
No way Van does this straight up.
Probably not straight up. I don't know what Virtanen's upside is, he could be a 30 goal power winger, or he could be Brett Connolly. Are Vancouver ready to give up on him. Doubtful.
I heard the comments on HNIC last night, and it sounded like pure speculation to me. Talked about the Boston connection with Benning, chemistry with Eriksson on the PP.
Here's the thing for me with Spooner.
I believe there is a market for him. I don't think it's universal. I would imagine there are possibly a handful of teams who like the player and think they can get more out of him than Boston are. One thing with NHL GMs when it comes to offensively talented players, especially if they have even a small history of past production, there always seems to be at least one GM out there who thinks they can turn that player around in their own organization.
But to me, any GM who likes Spooner, and wants to acquire him, is acquiring him to play Center. They can or will accept his flaws in the defensive zone, for the payback elsewhere on the ice. I'm not saying Julien is wrong in not accepting these flaws, but just that some GMs/coaches are more willing to overlook them than others. Although I will say centermen overall get much less leeway defensively now than they did 15 years ago with the old-style offensive zones/bluelines.
So back to the options for Spooner, assuming like I said the acquiring GM wants him as a center.
Vancouver as has been speculated....they already have Horvat, Sedin, and Sutter up the middle. So unless Sutter is coming back, I don't really see a fit for Vancouver.
NYI....they are struggling to score...if their D'corps was healthy I could see something with Spooner + McQuaid + something else, maybe enticing them to move De Haan, who is a likely expansion victim if the Isles go 7F/3D. But they have D injury issues right now. I noticed specultion on Strome....reports I've read say they have the same issues with Strome as the Bruins do with Spooner, not really good enough to play as a full-time C where he wants to play, not cutting the mustard as a winger. One of the reasons to me if Boston moves Spooner is because they have a player playing out of position and it's not working, so why bring another one back as the centerpiece of a trade.
Arizona has been tossed out there. I can't see them getting Duclair for Spooner. I question Arizona's interest in the player as they are a strong advanced stats based organization and Spooner isn't exactly an advanced stats darling. Maybe as part of a package of picks/prospects for one or two of their rental options (Hanzal or Stone), but I don't think Spooner would entice Arizona to cough up a good young player like Duclair.
E.Kane....like Vancouver....does Buffalo really need another C? And I can't see those two organizations hooking up for a deal anyways.
Colorado at first glance are strange in that outside of MacKinnon, they don't really have many other full-time C. Seems like both Soderberg and Duchene has shifted back and forth from wing to C based on their overall face-off totals. But you go up and down that roster I don't see much that is realistic, affordable, enticing, or fits the needs of the Bruins.
Carolina same thing. What would the Bruins look at as a return? Don't see much there, your certainly not getting a good young D like Slavin or Pesce, or a Lindholm or Aho. A project like Murphy perhaps but you shouldn't need to surrender Spooner to get Murphy, nor would Murphy really have a spot on the current Bruins.
Detroit...skilled left-shot F, which they have plenty of....maybe a swap of struggling young players Sheahan for Spooner would be enticing, Sheahan seems like he would be a better fit for the Bruins, big body, more adept LW, defensively sound. But not a natural point producer. Could easily end up a Reilly Smith for Jimmy Hayes type of deal where Boston sends out a skilled player for a more well-rounded one, and the more well-rounded one never produces enough offense to justify the deal.
And that's the bottom feeders who might be seeking change summarized in a nutshell. Tough to find a really good fit.
