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The Boston Bruins are not in the business of helping the Edmonton Oilers. Nor are they in the business of trading their captain of over 10 years just a quarter into the season. Ipso facto, rumors of Zdeno Chara’s availability linking him to Peter Chiarelli and the Oilers should be taken with a pound of salt.
There’s just a body’s worth of bad blood between Chiarelli and the figures of the B’s front office.
Not so much from Don Sweeney, of course, who worked under Chiarelli throughout his tenure in Boston, but rather team president Cam Neely, who used Chiarelli as his fall guy in 2015. It feels like ancient history at this point, but it was weird to watch Neely not give Chiarelli permission to trade certain players or assets at the trade deadline, and then fire him for failing to make the moves that would have extended the Black and Gold’s playoff streak. Chiarelli took this personally (as he probably should), and has wasted no time in trying to hurt the B’s whenever possible, from rumors of a Dougie Hamilton offer sheet in 2015 and plucking head scout Keith Gretzky from the organization in 2016.
They want Chara? Cool, Neely wants Connor McDavid and a first-round pick. (Kidding, I think.)
It also remains worth noting that Chara is not on the block, according to a source.
The decision to trade the 40-year-old Chara would come if and when the Bruins fell out of the race, if they felt he was worth moving on from, and if Chara himself decided that he wanted another chance at a Stanley Cup. Also: Chara is a bargain at just $4 million this season, and has expressed an interest in playing beyond this season. The Bruins are interested in signing him to a contract extension, too, which means that this would not be a farewell ‘go win it all again’ trade like you’ve seen in the past.
You’ve heard this all before, I know, but it all remains true, even in a Chara contract year.
But the Bruins-Oilers connects appear to go beyond Chara rumors.
It was last week that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ name appeared on the trade block, and weekend talk shows linked him back to the Bruins. A second-line pivot with eight goals and 17 points in 24 games this season, Nugent-Hopkins would certainly fit a need for the Bruins, who lack a bona fide third line center option behind David Krejci. But with hardly any cap space to their name, it’s impossible to simply add RNH to the mix without ditching significant salary (Matt Beleskey, Ryan Spooner, Adam McQuaid or Kevan Miller) on top of prospects and picks. That's all without getting into the limited value of those players, as well, meaning that you're talking about adding more of the club's high-end prospects and picks as 'sweeteners' to a deal.
Is that something the Bruins want to do? Not really. Not yet, anyways.
The Bruins are not expected to make a trade of any sort until they get a full idea of their club’s overall potential, which has been impossible with the Bruins’ three-headed forward monster of David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, and Krejci on the shelf at different points this year, and in the lineup for just one total game. Injuries to Brad Marchand and Ryan Spooner have also limited their ability to assess, too.
But when they do make a move -- and if they make a move -- I doubt it’ll be to help their old “friend.”
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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