Things are lining up well for the Boston Bruins. They just capped off a five-game road trip with nine of a 10 possible points. They have points in 13 straight games and they enter play on Sunday second in the Atlantic division, three points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They’ve also been able to survive injuries to Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug and now David Pastrnak.
With the trade deadline one day away, general manager Don Sweeney owes it to the team to make a move.
An impactful move it should be.
After the Bruins traded Ryan Donato to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Charlie Coyle earlier this week, Sweeney did not sound like a man ready to pull the trigger on an even bigger trade.
“I don’t know if we’re going to necessarily do anything else. We’re going to continue to make calls and receive calls,” said Sweeney. “We will continue to look at the marketplace and see what may or may not fit with our club. We’re going to cross our fingers that we stay healthy.”
Personally, I think that Sweeney should reconsider.
As names like Ryan Dzingel, Mats Zuccarello and Matt Duchene all have already been moved, plenty of impact forwards remain for Sweeney to choose from. Sure, asking prices—as they always are—remain high, but Sweeney and the Bruins find themselves in a unique situation.
Despite their holes offensively, the Bruins are surging and are now in the conversation as one of the game’s best teams. But as they currently sit, are the Bruins good enough to win the Stanley Cup?
No, I don’t think so. But they’re not that far off.
Sure, anything can happen in the playoffs, especially where one hot goalie can change everything. But the Bruins best chances of making a run for the Stanley Cup is by Sweeney and company adding a piece before Monday’s 3:00PM deadline.
Artemi Panarin and Mark Stone remain as the two biggest names available, but the asking price, combined with the Blue Jackets trades for Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, makes it seem more likely Panarin will be staying put in Columbus, as they are now loaded for a Stanley Cup run.
That would leave Stone as the most desired trade target.
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN,
Ottawa is asking for four pieces in return for Stone, a hefty price indeed.
McKenzie goes on to add it could be something to the tune of two first round picks and two very good prospects that the Senators are seeking.
If that is true, would the Senators look at a pool of Peter Cehlarik, Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic, Jakub Lauko, and Zach Senyshyn and say that there are two very good prospects in that pool?
It’s not the prospects I see Sweeney having issues parting ways with, it’s the first round draft picks. As I’ve mentioned before, Sweeney on numerous occasions this past summer talked about how much it bothered him not having a first round pick in this past June’s draft.
“It hurts. It stings from a projection, from a planning standpoint, there’s no question it impacts your organization,” Sweeney said last May after the Bruins were eliminated by the Lightning. “So, I don’t think it’s in your best interest to do it repeatedly.”
As much as Stone would be a huge land for the Bruins and shift things a bit in the Eastern Conference behind the Lightning, it's hard to see Sweeney going three straight years without a first round draft pick, especially for a player who is a free agent after this season, and will be expecting a big pay day after coming off what will be a career year.
Stone—who leads the Senators with 28 goals and 62 points in 59 games this season—has been a healthy scratch in losses to the Devils on Friday and Blue Jackets on Saturday as it appears that a new contract is not immanent and Stone will be traded in the coming hours.
Stone would solve some key problems for the Bruins. Most likely sliding in to the right of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, an acquisition for Stone would cause a trickle-down effect, as the Bruins would be more balanced throughout their lineup.
Here is what a possible Bruins lineup could like with Stone.
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Stone
Jake DeBrusk-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Peter Cehlarik/Danton Heinen-Charlie Coyle-Danton Heinen/David Backes
Sean Kuraly-Noel Acciari-Chris Wagner
Moving on past Stone still provides the Bruins with options that will upgrade their top-six as they look for more consistency across their top three lines.
Wayne Simmonds, Kevin Hayes, and Tyler Toffoli are just a few names that could be solid options for the Bruins, should they decide they don’t want to fork up the change for Stone. Simmonds and Hayes will be upcoming free agents, while Toffoli has one year remaining with a cap hit of $4.6 million.
The Bruins made one minor move on Sunday, signing Lee Stempniak to a one-year contract through the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Stempniak has been skating with the Bruins a bit throughout the season before signing a PTO with Providence where he appeared in four games with two goals and two assists.
The signing comes as a move to add some veteran depth to a Bruins roster that has some youth in the bottom-six.
If Sweeney’s track record and comments earlier this week are any indication, it’s going to be a boring deadline day in Boston.
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