With less than a week to go before Friday’s NHL trade deadline, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney did not close off any avenues that might be available to him.
Yes, he again prefaced his remarks Monday with saying that he may not be as “aggressive” as he has been and, yes, using assets into a short-term rental is a low priority.
But if the right deal comes along that can land them an impact player, one that might be in the same prime as David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, then he won’t hesitate to act. He believes his team has earned some help. What level of help he can get, and if the price is palatable, remains to be seen.
“This time of the year, the asks are going to be exorbitant and that’s the balancing act,” Sweeney said. “But if we have the player that we’ve identified to be a difference-maker, and he’s under control or we have an opportunity to extend, then we’re going to explore that. It’s my job to figure out what that acquisition cost will be and whether we’re willing to do that.”
Sweeney held the first fire sale of his tenure last year at this time, dealing away Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau. Sweeney gave kudos to his scouting staff for landing immediate contributors like Fraser Minten (Carlo deal) and Marat Khusnutdinov (Brazeau).
Of the many players to which the B’s have been linked, the Blues center Robert Thomas would be a huge get. Considering he’s just 26, has back-to-back 80-point seasons on his resume and is signed for four more years ($8.125 million), it would probably take a king’s ransom to land him. Another possibility at pivot would be Ranger Vincent Trocheck, who could help on the penalty kill and in lead-protection situations. He’s 32 and has three years left at $5.625 million.
After having taken a big swing at Rasmus Andersson, who did not want to sign an extension, the B’s are still very much in the market for a right-shot defenseman. Calgary’s Mackenzie Weegar, St. Louis’ Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko and Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen, all of whom have at least one more year left on their deals, could be available for the right price.
“I think we have to be realistic that our group probably needs to be supplemented at that position,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney’s got a boatload of futures with which to deal, if he chooses to go down that road. He’s got four first round picks in the next two years (the 2026 pick from Toronto is top-five protected and the 2027 pick from Florida is top-10 protected) as well as high-end amateur prospects James Hagens, Dean Letourneau (the pick for whom came via the Linus Ullmark deal) and Will Zellers (Coyle trade). While Sweeney was not expecting Hagens, who has played mostly wing lately, to step in and have an impact at the end of his Boston College season, the GM said that the No. 7 overall pick’s status will be addressed when the time is appropriate.
Matt Poitras, currently in Providence, has been a name that has been rumored to be available, though with the way Sweeney lauded the young center, it doesn’t sound like he’ll give him up cheaply.
“I think we’re in a really good spot moving forward,” Sweeney said. “We have flexibility, we have younger players that will likely come on line and we have some draft capital that we can explore. Sometimes that presents. If that deal doesn’t happen at the deadline, it may happen at the draft or shortly thereafter. I think there are some teams who are in position to possibly do that. Hopefully we’re one of them. The cap’s going up, so I think there will be some teams who’ll exploring that in the same way.”
He doesn’t have much interest in dealing players simply for futures but didn’t rule out doing something that would be more forward-moving for the organization.
“I’m willing to explore a hockey trade,” Sweeney said. “I just think we’re taking a lot more pragmatic approach to improving our club, now and certainly moving forward.”
The B’s have two pending UFAs who would garner interest among playoff contenders, wing Viktor Arvidsson and right-shot defenseman Andrew Peeke. It would seem highly unlikely that Sweeney would simply sell off the 32-year-old Arvidsson. He’s provided good secondary scoring (16 goals) while playing on the B’s most stable line with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha. Arvidsson also has a strong booster in coach Marco Sturm.
Defenseman Andrew Peeke seems to be in a different category. Somewhat surprisingly, he’s been a scratch in the first two games out of the break, giving the impression that he’s an asset that’s being protected for a trade. Maybe that happens, maybe it doesn’t. But Sweeney highlighted the need for depth, especially this season.
“We play 11 games in 19 days coming up, so we’re in a position where we have a couple of unhappy guys who’ve been out of the lineup on the back end but chances are you’re going to need depth,” he said. “Most teams are playing 15, 16, 17 games in March. The schedule is condensed. So I’m not in a hurry to usher people out the door that have helped us get to the point where we are here. If something presents, maybe there’s a lateral situation that improves our depth. Then I have to do my job and explore it. … It’s not necessarily what our intentions are, but it only takes one phone call to change that.”
While Sweeney’s got cards to play to hit a jackpot, a big reason they had to sell last year is the fact that they dealt away so many high draft picks in previous years to get to the mountain top.
“You’re not wrong that we likely spent too much collateral in assets in assets to try to win,” Sweeney said. “I’m not going to apologize for trying to win. I’m going to apologize that we haven’t won.”