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The Boston Bruins need a defenseman.
That’s nothing new though. In fact, the B’s have been in the hunt for an impact defenseman since they were handcuffed into a trade that sent
Johnny Boychuk to the New York Islanders for a pair of second-round picks. The subsequent
Dougie Hamilton trade only further complicated matters.
But Boston general manager
Don Sweeney, on a tireless search for a calendar year now, may have found his guy in St. Louis Blues defenseman
Kevin Shattenkirk.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Blues seem unlikely to re-sign Shattenkirk, who has one year left on a deal that comes with an affordable $4.25 million cap-hit, and that the Bruins are among those most interested in trading for him. Dreger also notes that the interest is high, so they’re not alone.
Shattenkirk hits the trade market on the heels of a career-best 14 goals along with 44 points (one shy of matching his career high of 45 set in 2013-14) in 72 games for the Blues. Shattenkirk also came through with two goals and 11 points in 20 postseason games for the Blues, and has totaled 55 goals and 242 points in 410 NHL games overall, and a four-goal, 28-point line in 47 career playoff games.
The 27-year-old Shattenkirk would fill a lot of needs for the Bruins, chief of which being his game as high-end, right shot capable of playing on Boston’s top pairing alongside
Zdeno Chara. Shattenkirk also fits the bill in Boston’s search for a defenseman who can help the B’s exit their zone with a bit more ease than they could a year ago (their right side has been a nightmare in this regard).
On the right side, the Bruins currently have
Kevan Miller and
Adam McQuaid under contract while
Colin Miller, who had an up-and-down year between Boston and Providence but still should remain in the club’s long-term plans moving forward, is a restricted free agent.
What the Bruins would have to give up in a trade to acquire Shattenkirk remains to be seen, but you would think it would have to begin with the Blues taking a defensive body off that jammed Boston pipeline such as McQuaid or one of the club’s several RFAs like Miller or
Joe Morrow. The flip-side to that argument, of course, is the fact that the Blues are similar to the B's in the sense that they're loaded with defensemen.
It would also be interesting to see if the B’s were willing to throw the negotiating rights to
Loui Eriksson into the mix as well given the Blues’ obvious interest in Eriksson a year ago. Eriksson, a pending unrestricted free agent and 30-goal scorer a year ago, has
been waiting for a new contract offer from the Black and Gold and hopes to talk again with the club before or at the NHL Draft this weekend.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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