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The Bruins could be set to add a member of the 2018 Team USA roster to their mix.
Unfortunately, it would not be Bruins prospect Ryan Donato, who scored five goals in five Olympic games and returned to Harvard on Friday night, but rather USA captain and current free agent Brian Gionta, according The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
According to LeBrun, there’s a ‘couple of Eastern Conference teams’ interested in signing the 39-year-old Gionta before Monday’s trade deadline (he must be signed before then to have playoff eligibility), and it’s believed that the Bruins are one of them.
Perhaps this is a sign of deadline prices, as Gionta did not necessarily do anything to wow in Pyeongchang, as he was held without a point in all five Team USA games and finished the Olympic tournament with 16 shots on goal and a minus-4 rating.
The 5-foot-7 Gionta last skated in the NHL as the captain of some abysmal Sabres teams, and scored 15 goals and totaled 35 points in 82 games last season. Gionta last played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs back in 2014, where he recorded a goal and seven points in a 17-game run to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Canadiens.
Overall, the Rochester, N.Y. native has recorded 32 goals and 68 points in 112 career playoff games, and was part of the 2003 Devils squad that won the Stanley Cup.
Bruins vs. Maple Leafs
A busy front office will translate to a busy on-ice product, as the Bruins will finish their pre-deadline slate with a back-to-back beginning tonight in Toronto and tomorrow in Buffalo.
Nick Holden, acquired from the Rangers earlier this week, may have practiced on Friday, but he's not ready to jump into action just yet, according to Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. This is not a huge surprise, of course, as Holden will have to get a better grasp on the differences between New York and the Black and Gold's defensive structure before jumping into the fire.
Kevan Miller, meanwhile, will draw back into the lineup after missing the last nine games. That means that Adam McQuaid will sit as a healthy scratch. McQuaid had one goal and 16 shots on goal, along with 20 blocked shots and 35 hits, in the last 16 games played.
Tuukka Rask gets the start in net for the Bruins.
Loose pucks: With Frank Vatrano traded, the Bruins will begin this back-to-back without an extra forward... No Auston Matthews (shoulder) for the Leafs tonight, which means that Matthews will finish the year having missed three of the four head-to-heads in this season series... The Bruins head into tonight's game with a three-game road losing streak to the Leafs.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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