According to multiple reports including one from
Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston, the Bruins have interest in Rangers forward Chris Kreider.
Word has quickly spread around the league that the Rangers are looking to move Kreider as the team continues their rebuild.
The former Boston College Eagle has one-year remaining on his current contract and carries a $4.62 million cap hit into the 2019-20 campaign. Kreider is coming off a 2018-19 season that saw the Boxford, Massachusetts native tie a career high with 28 goals.
Kreider does have a modified no-trade clause where he is to submit a list of 11 teams he would accept a trade to. But it’s hard to see Boston not being on that list as it would provide the 28-year old a chance to play for a Stanley Cup contender, and do so in his home state.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Kreider would be a perfect fit in a Bruins top-six that certainly needs an upgrade in skill and size; Kreider would bring both to Boston.
With the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry draft now complete, I don’t see that decreasing the chances of the Bruins and Rangers coming to terms on a trade. Based off of previous comments Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has made about not having a first round draft pick, I would believe that the 30th overall pick the Bruins used to select center John Beecher was never in play.
With restricted free agents Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Danton Heinen expected to take up almost all of the
Bruins remaining cap space, the Bruins would have to move about $6-$8 million in cap space in order to acquire Kreider, allowing them some breathing room in the process.
The asking price for Kreider would probably begin with a player, prospect and first round pick. But if Sweeney could get Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton to budge from a first round pick to a second, I think the two can find something that works for both.
Just as they did last summer, the Bruins have made it well known that they want to upgrade their top-six, Kreider would provide the Bruins with that upgrade.
Possible Bergeron and Krejci replacement?
I personally wanted to see the Bruins take the route of a big, skilled right winger that could potentially slot next to Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci,—
as we see in my Hockey Buzz mock draft —but I understand the idea of trying to find a center for when the Bruins no longer have the benefit of a Patrice Bergeron and Krejci 1-2 punch.
With Beecher, the Bruins add to their carousel of young centers who someday can develop into top-six centers.
Beecher, who hails from Elmira New York has spent the last two seasons with the United States National Development team and will begin his freshmen year at the University of Michigan in the fall.
Like many 18-year olds drafted into the NHL, Beecher has a lot to work on, but the one fact about Beecher that remained the same across all the scouting reports was that Beecher has a ton of speed under his belt, and causes issues in the defensive zone because of it.
Beecher was the US National Development under-18 team’s third line center, but that was in large part due to who was in front of him. Number one overall pick Jack Hughes, and the number nine overall pick Trevor Zegras were both ahead of him on the team's depth chart.
The Bruins will get a closer look at Beecher next week as their 2019 Development Camp kicks off Wednesday.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»