With only a few weeks to go until the NHL trade deadline and the Bruins desperately trying to hold onto the East’s eighth and final playoff spot, the clock is ticking for Boston’s front office to make some tough decisions.
For the past several years, the Bruins have been clear buyers, as is usually the case with teams who see regular season success. They’ve used the deadline to try to add one or two final pieces that they believe will help the team improve in the latter half of the season and make a deep playoff run.
In recent history, some of the moves have produced quality assets (see: Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley) and some…well, not so much (see: Andrej Meszaros, Tomas Kaberle, any of those other “puck moving defensemen” they so desperately coveted). It’s a gamble teams gunning for a Cup often have to take.
This year, though, the Bruins appear to be a borderline playoff team, making the trade deadline approach much more complicated. Should Peter Chiarelli & Co. surrender assets (picks and/or younger players in the organization) for half-season rentals that may help this team down the stretch, if possible?
It’s tough to swallow hope and essentially concede the remainder of a campaign when you’ve got a playoff spot within your grasp because, as we all know, anything can happen in the postseason – the Kings won the Stanley Cup three years ago coming out of the West as a No. 8 seed. Not to mention the fact that the East this year is, for the most part, wide open.
But a tight race also means a seller’s market and, in the case of this year’s Bruins, conceding may be the right move. It’s pretty clear that there’s no simple fix to this year’s roster. The team ranks in the bottom half of the league in scoring and, while they currently sitting in the Top 10 in goals against per game (thanks, Mr. Rask!), defense is arguably their biggest weakness.
The names that Chiarelli has reportedly shown interest in – including Buffalo’s Chris Stewart and Vancouver’s Zack Kassian – are underwhelming in terms of realistic impact and won’t provide enough to help the Bruins escape their current woes and make a deep playoff run. They’re not difference-makers, which means they’re not worth the assets they’d require to rent.
So, why doesn’t the team pursue players who DO have the potential to be difference-makers down the stretch? For one, the market this year is pretty thin in that department and, two, the Bruins current cap situation makes it hard to swing a deal that may be attractive for a team looking to give up proven talent at the big league level.
The salary cap chokehold is due, in large part, to Chiarelli sacrificing significant money this season in order to land Jarome Iginla in the summer prior to last season. Due to bonus overages, the Bruins had to forfeit nearly $5 million on the books this year for Iginla’s services in 2013-2014. That’s why Johnny Boychuk is currently wearing an Islanders sweater.
That’s a product of Chiarelli “going for it” last season. While the gamble didn’t exactly work out as planned given the Bruins’ postseason fate, it’s hard to say the move wasn’t a good one – Iginla scored 30 goals and was a great fit with the first line.
But the shortsightedness of that deal playing such an adverse role on this year’s squad is even more reason the Bruins should start re-structuring their roster with a long-term vision. That means selling, not buying or renting, should be the play at the deadline.
So, who do they sell? Well, Carl Soderberg is a good place to start. The 29-year old Swede has produced and become a fan-favorite centering the Bruins’ third-line, but he’s got an expiring contract and, in all likelihood, won’t be back next season because of the pay raise he’s due. Plenty of teams making a playoff push will be in the market for a playmaker at center, and the Bruins could use the opportunity to land future assets while letting 21-year old Alex Khokhlachev get some more experience at the big league level in the second half.
Reilly Smith is also a name that the Bruins should explore shopping. The 23-year old has shown flashes of production in his one and a half plus seasons as a Bruin, but he’s also plagued the team with inconsistency and is set to become a restricted free agent at season’s end. Considering what he’s shown in Boston, he may not be worth the price tag he’ll likely command this summer.
If the Bruins can find a way to swap Smith for Columbus’ Cam Atkinson, another RFA-to-be, they should do it. Atkinson is reportedly being shopped by the Blue Jackets and, though he is a few years older than Smith and may require an additional prospect or pick from Boston, he’s an offensive talent who has the right-handed shot the Bruins miss on the right side. He likely wouldn’t make the Bruins all that much better in the short-term, but he’d likely be a better long-term investment than Smith.
Loui Eriksson is also a name that has popped up in various trade rumors throughout the season. Eriksson tends to be an object of scorn for bitter fans because his numbers aren’t all that impressive for the centerpiece of Seguin’s return package from Dallas, but he’s a talented player and comes at a fair price for one and a half more seasons under his current deal. Much of his production this season has come beside Soderberg on the Bruins’ third line so, if Soderberg goes, Eriksson’s value to this roster is still up for debate. He may be worth dangling for help on D.
In addition to those names, there are a handful of others the Bruins should look to dump for any assets of future value. Adam McQuaid is on an expiring contact and could be attractive for playoff team looking for defensive depth. Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille, both free agents this summer, have had rough seasons on a horrendous fourth line and should be moved for anything they can yield in return.
The team should desperately try to move Dennis Seidenberg as well, whether it be at the deadline or this coming offseason. It may be easier said than done considering the defenseman is having a brutal year coming off a serious knee injury, turns 34 this summer, and is locked up at $4 million per for the next three seasons. If they can manage to offload him, it won’t be for much in return but a bad team may be willing to take on his deal to reach the cap floor and the Bruins could seriously benefit from dumping his contract.
The Bruins don’t necessarily need to “blow it up” in the coming weeks and it’s a stretch to think they could make all the moves positioned above, but they’d be foolish not to recognize the current turmoil they’re in. Asset-management is a key part of every trade deadline, and the Bruins’ performance this season indicates that they’d be much better off using what they have to try to restructure for sustained success down the road instead of attempting to put a Band-Aid on a wound that clearly needs more serious medical attention.
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