The Boston Bruins have been something of a surprise this season. They went into the Olympic break because the fifth place team within the Atlantic Division with 69 points, a position that put them contained in the Eastern Conference playoff structure because the No. 8 seed.
That seems like a tenuous position, however the Bruins have been playing a few of their best hockey of the season. They recorded a 10-1-3 record of their final 14 games prior to the Olympic break, and that included back-t0-back shootout losses to Tampa Bay and Florida. The loss to the Lightning within the outdoor game at Raymond James Stadium got here after the Bruins had built a 5-1 lead, and so they needed a 2-goal, third period comeback to increase the sport against the Panthers to extra time.
In addition to the Bruins have played prior to the break, head coach Marco Sturm and general manager Don Sweeney knows the Bruins have room to grow. Most NHL observers have been impressed with the team, but few take a look at the Bruins and imagine they’ve the talent and drive to go deep within the playoffs, let alone win the Stanley Cup.
Sturm and his players usually are not about to start out listening to outside voices. A move by the March 6 trade deadline will create headlines, but the right move needs to be made.
Going into the season, Bruins supporters were still lamenting the retirement of centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci after the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Losing their Nos. 1 and a pair of centers clearly diminished the team, and while the Bruins survived in 2023-24, they fell apart last 12 months and finished in last place within the division.
Adding a middle needs to be considered, but making the best move won’t be easy.
Bruins overcoming expectations
The addition of Sturm behind the bench has turned out to be an important move for the Bruins. He has helped the team get back to its identity as a hard-hitting, aggressive team that can benefit from mistakes and is difficult to attain against.
The problem that got here to the surface with the retirement of Bergeron and Krejci stays a subject for Sweeney. The Bruins have seen Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha as their top two centers. Each are out with day-to-day injuries, but neither one is predicted to miss significant time when the season resumes in the course of the final week of February.
Sweeney has to make a decision if the Bruins need to enhance their play at the middle position and that a trade ought to be made to extend the team’s productivity at this key position.
While the Bruins are in a playoff-hopeful position, the Latest York Rangers usually are not. The Rangers have already traded high-scoring Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, and center Vincent Trocheck might be next. NHL insider Frank Servalli has suggested that while deals between the Bruins and the Rangers are rare, one which sends Trocheck to the Bruins is a legitimate possibility.
Trocheck is the Rangers’ third-leading scorer on this disappointing season. He has scored 12 goals and 24 assists in 43 games while averaging slightly below 21 minutes per game. He has a minus-16 rating and has connected for goals on 15.2 percent of his shots.
Bruins don’t need expensive Trocheck to succeed in goals
Trocheck is a 13-year NHL veteran, having played 7 years with the Florida Panthers and three seasons wih the Carolina Hurricanes along with his time with the Rangers. He has his best season with the Rangers in 2023-24 when he scored 25 goals and 52 assists for 77 points. He was named an All-Star that season and had a plus-16 rating.
Along with his regular-season performance, he also had his best Stanley Cup playoff showing within the 2024 postseason. He scored 8 goals and added 12 assists for 20 points in 16 games. Trocheck scored a double-overtime goal in Latest York’s second-round series against the Hurricanes, a series the Rangers won in 6 games.
Acquiring a player like Trocheck would almost actually be an expensive proposition for the Bruins. Trocheck is under contract through the 2028-29 season, so the Rangers usually are not going to present up a possible star with three additional seasons of control for a minor leaguer and a low-level draft pick.
For the reason that Bruins have been in a position to rebound from their low point a 12 months ago without having to endure a tear down, giving up a current contributor and future talent — either prospects or draft selections — will not be the way in which for Sweeney to present his team the perfect probability to win.
Trocheck has had some success within the postseason before, but he’s 32 years old and the query of whether he can sustain top-level performances at this point in his profession needs to be considered.
The idea here is that Trocheck shouldn’t be that a lot better than the talent the Bruins have already got, so going after the Rangers center wouldn’t be useful either this season or for the long term.