Bruins Trade Deadline 2016

jk333

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If the Bruins trade Eriksson, it needs to make them better next year in addition to this year. To me, that means finding a Top 2/3 D that's an RFA or signed.

It wouldn't hurt to clear out some of the logjam of mediocre D prospects that they have too. Colin Miller seems like the only one with legitimate Top 4 upside. I wonder what a Joe Morrow, 1st Round Pick, Jimmy Hayes/Connolly package could get them.
 

jk333

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This wouldn't be an Eriksson trade, but we do probably have the futures to matchup with Winnipeg. Random idea- Spooner for Trouba?

Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm are on expiring ELC's. Maybe the B's could shake one of those 2 loose? Ducks have a big need for a guy like Loui, then we add some futures in?
Isn't Vatanen a pretty similar player to Krug? Anaheim is definitely interesting. If they could get Vatanen, it'd leave the bottom pairing for the younger Dmen.

If I was Winnipeg, I'd want Spooner and at least a 2nd rd pick. As the Bruins, I'd at least think about it. Good dmen are costly and Trouba's prime could extend the Bergeron/Krejci/Rask window by a couple years.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Trouba's value IMO is much higher than Spooner because of his pedigree, draft position, and ELC performance at ages 19-21. Lest we forget, Spooner + 2nd wasn't enough for an impending Chris Stewart last deadline.

Push comes to shove, I'd be willing to give up Eriksson + the lowest of the B's 2016 1st round picks for Trouba, plus another prospect... it would be really tough to include Subban but if that put the B's over the top and they got to retain their highest draft pick, I'd pull the trigger. In that case, they'd probably try to get an extra body like Mathieu Perreault (healthy scratch tonight apparently) back in the deal to offset the short-term loss of Eriksson.

I've gone back and forth over which of Shattenkirk/Trouba I'd prefer - I think the fit for Shattenkirk is more apparent as Hitchcock and Armstrong both seem like they'd love Eriksson, and he'd be the rental piece they'd need to compete with Chicago. He and Lehtera seem like they'd be a seamless fit, and Schwartz is due back shortly after the deadline to complete that second line.

Shattenkirk is also more perilous in terms of what he'll command on his next deal, with only one year at $4.25m AAV remaining and UFA impending after that. Trouba's ELC expires this summer, and with his skillset I have a tough time imagining he'd get more than ~$4-4.5m on his second contract.

All that considered, and with Chara's career winding down... I'd go all in for Trouba.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Spooner's value has gone up significantly since the deadline last year I'd imagine.

I agree with everything else you just wrote.
 

FL4WL3SS

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The offense took a nosedive without Krejci, what do you guys think will happen without Loui? Someone posted the numbers above, but Krejci isn't nearly as good w/o Loui on his line this year.

I hate the idea of trading Loui for a 22yo defenseman. You'd fill a medium sized hole on the back-end and open a gaping hole on front-end. Loui is arguably their best player this year.
 

cshea

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Don't disagree, but they might have to take a short term hit up front to fix a long term issue on the back end. Especially if it's clear Loui doesn't want to re-sign or is out of their price range. It is easier to find wingers than it is young top 4 defenseman.
 

burstnbloom

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No smoke other than he's an RFA. The latest rumors out of Winnipeg are that they're making a run at trying to keep Byfuglien. If they keep him, they'd have Enstrom, Myers, Byfuglien signed for $5 million + each. I'm not sure what kind of budget the Jets are operating in, but if money is tight, perhaps they'd be open to moving him and using the money allocated to Trouba elsewhere. Buff, Myers and Trouba are all RHD too, maybe they'd be willing to part with one to improve other areas. This wouldn't be an Eriksson trade, but we do probably have the futures to matchup with Winnipeg. Random idea- Spooner for Trouba?

Reading up a bit, Anaheim intrigues me. They have D to spare. Fowler, Bieksa, Stoner and Despres are all locked up for the next 2+ seasons. Shea Theodore and Josh Manson are on ELC's. Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm are on expiring ELC's. Maybe the B's could shake one of those 2 loose? Ducks have a big need for a guy like Loui, then we add some futures in?
I'm not that interested in Vatanen, he is a poor man's Tory Krug but Lindholm would be amazing. He is a left shot but I'd make it work. I think he'd be the last of those guys that they'd want to move, though. I wonder if Fowler would be available.
 

TheRealness

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The offense took a nosedive without Krejci, what do you guys think will happen without Loui? Someone posted the numbers above, but Krejci isn't nearly as good w/o Loui on his line this year.

I hate the idea of trading Loui for a 22yo defenseman. You'd fill a medium sized hole on the back-end and open a gaping hole on front-end. Loui is arguably their best player this year.
The big issue is whether they hang on to Loui with the knowledge they won't re-sign him, they hang onto him knowing they can re-sign him, or trade him knowing either way. It appears the Bruins are trying to see if they can get him re-signed under their terms, and it appears Loui is (correctly) going to test the market. If he tests the market, he is surely gone, IMO. Thus, they have to decide if keeping him without any return is better than trading him and improving the team long term.

From that perspective, I think they have to deal him as they are not Stanley Cup contenders, IMO, and they are far better off as a franchise trading him for futures if they know they can't re-sign him.

Sure, if they can re-sign him on their terms, do it, but I think the articles by Haggs and Fluto appears to underscore that is pretty unlikely given what Loui wants.
 

burstnbloom

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Clendening is on waivers. I haven't seen him much but he has always been a guy that was supposed to "break out" since he was playing in the AHL for Chicago. His skating must really be as bad as advertised.
 

veritas

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The offense took a nosedive without Krejci, what do you guys think will happen without Loui? Someone posted the numbers above, but Krejci isn't nearly as good w/o Loui on his line this year.

I hate the idea of trading Loui for a 22yo defenseman. You'd fill a medium sized hole on the back-end and open a gaping hole on front-end. Loui is arguably their best player this year.
I disagree, I think they have several gaping holes on defense right now. They have one traditional top 4 defenseman in Chara, Krug who is great but needs to be protected, and a bunch of guys who should be 5/6th defenseman on a serious contender.

Like cshea said, trading Loui for someone like Shattenkirk would be re-arranging the furniture this year, but really solidifies the back end next year. Which is why it's going to take more than Loui to make a deal like that happen
 

FL4WL3SS

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I disagree, I think they have several gaping holes on defense right now. They have one traditional top 4 defenseman in Chara, Krug who is great but needs to be protected, and a bunch of guys who should be 5/6th defenseman on a serious contender.

Like cshea said, trading Loui for someone like Shattenkirk would be re-arranging the furniture this year, but really solidifies the back end next year. Which is why it's going to take more than Loui to make a deal like that happen
If we get Shattenkirk, that changes the calculus, obviously.

I'm not trading Loui for much less than that if I'm Sweeney.
 

cshea

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The B’s Knees

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I wonder what it would take to get Kris Russell from the Flames?
He's a UFA after this season, and ranks near the league leaders in blocked shots.
There's talk of the Flames wanting to resign him, but they could also trade him as a rental, and then try to resign in the off-season.
 

PedroSpecialK

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One of the reasons he blocks so many shots is the amount of shots the Flames surrender when he's on the ice.

This year he's #152 of 161 defenders with at least 500 ES minutes in CF% at 44.1
 

McDrew

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Same way "Leads league in hits" is a nice way of saying "his team doesn't have the puck as much"
 

The B’s Knees

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With several offensive d-men in Calgary, Russell likely plays more in the defensive zone.
I'm not saying he's a top pairing guy, but he could be an upgrade over KMiller (I know, Clode would sit someone else before Miller anyway, so it's likely moot).

FYI, Barret Jackman ranks #4 in CF%, and Erik Karlsson ranks #52, but I sure know which one I'd prefer on my team.
 

cshea

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That is because Karlsson plays on an awful team while Jackman is on the 2nd best possession team in hockey (and is having a randomly really good year). Karlsson leads the league, by a huge margin, in CorsiRel. His CF% is dragged down by the suck that Ottawa puts with him on the ice.

Russell is on a bad Calgary team and drags them down further. I don't think he is very good at all. He's basically Greg Zanon. I guess maybe you could say he is better than Kevan Miller, but I don't know. Even if he is I'd rather just play some of the kids instead of wasting assets to acquire him.

Edit: Russell's CorsiRel is 152 out of 161 too.
 
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Jordu

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Fluto devoting a Sunday column to possible returns for Loui suggests he thinks a trade is likely. Good beat writers know more than they can publish.
 

lexrageorge

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Fluto devoting a Sunday column to possible returns for Loui suggests he thinks a trade is likely. Good beat writers know more than they can publish.
I do agree that the Bruins beat writers for the Globe seem to have insight into what the team's front office is thinking. KPD was taking down Kessel and Seguin immediately before both got traded; Chiarelli was predicted to be on the hot seat at roughly this point last season. In return, the beat writers are hardly critical of the team when obvious mistakes are made; I was in Toronto when the Joe Thornton trade went down, and the coverage of that trade was far different than the Boston mediots' take.

Having said that, I'm not sure which way to read Fluto's comments. Either the fans will be badly disappointed with the return (Dennis F-ing Wideman? Really??), so Fluto is attempting to set expectations. Or, because the return from a trade would be so lousy, Bruins fans shouldn't be disappointed if Eriksson stays for the remainder of the season and then leaves as a free agent this summer. I hope it's the latter; I'd much rather have a good player leave in free agency than trade him for a cap clogging bottom pair defenseman and 3rd round draft pick.
 

cshea

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See, I think those players (with the exception of Cowen) can help. The Bruins currently have Chara and then a collection of 5's and 6's. They need top 4 guys. None of Fluto's guys are 1's, but they would definitely help fill the gaps. They aren't bad. I wouldn't trade Loui for them but I wouldn't rule out pursuing any of them (except Cowen, he truly sucks).
 

The B’s Knees

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LeBrun's latest article talks about how much more draft picks are valued now with the salary cap, even more so than last year.
Teams need those low cost entry level contracts to balance the high salaries of the star players.
His thoughts are that it's possible no first round picks will get moved.

Interesting that the article is on both ESPN and TSN, and both articles feature a picture of Loui

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/14747400/prices-rental-players-trade-deadline
http://www.tsn.ca/prices-down-for-rental-players-at-trade-deadline-1.435674
 

cshea

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Christian Ehrhoff is on waivers today. Less than $500K left to pay him, UFA after the year. He could help, but I'm not sure he gets through to the Bruins.
 

Auger34

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There's an article on ESPN (Insider so it's behind a pay well) where Rob Vollman says that Loui should be traded and the most realistic trade is to the Wild for Matt Dumba. Is that a better trade for the Bruins than all of the vets suggested by Fluto?
 

NYCSox

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For the long term absolutely. Dumba's already pretty good and is only 21 or 22 years old so his UFA status is a few years away.
 

burstnbloom

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There's an article on ESPN (Insider so it's behind a pay well) where Rob Vollman says that Loui should be traded and the most realistic trade is to the Wild for Matt Dumba. Is that a better trade for the Bruins than all of the vets suggested by Fluto?
I can't imagine they give up Dumba for just Loui. He also doesn't solve the problem this year. He is a younger/better Colin Miller. Right shot D with wheels that can really bring it from the point. He is also kind of reckless in a similar way. It would be great to get him but he probably enters that Morrow/Miller rotation for the rest of the year. I can't see any way a player that freelances that much gets top 4 ice time under Clode (nor should he really.)

edit - in case I was being unclear, I would definitely want him, it just seems like they want to try to do something for this year.
 

BigMike

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There's an article on ESPN (Insider so it's behind a pay well) where Rob Vollman says that Loui should be traded and the most realistic trade is to the Wild for Matt Dumba. Is that a better trade for the Bruins than all of the vets suggested by Fluto?
Most of the guys in the Fluto article are crap. Old, expensive, and the one guy who was darn good Enstrom, has shown real signs of age and has 2 more very expensive years on the contract.

Bieska is a guy I hated years ago when he was still decent. He hasn't gotten better.
Wideman is Wideman, and he isn't better than he was 5 years ago when he left.
Johnson is just untouchable. A consistently underperforming player on the ice, and arguable the worst guy in the game off the ice. Just not someone you want near this locker room

Dumba is young and physically gifted. He lacks hockey sense, and has holes in his game, but he also has potential to be pretty good
 

The B’s Knees

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I read somewhere that Ladd is seeking something like 6/41 to remain in Winnipeg. Maybe he'd settle for a bit less, but unlikely to go as low as 6/36.
Ladd and Loui are pretty similar in age and production, so you'd have to think that Loui's contract ask would be in the same neighborhood.
If so, it's likely bye-bye to Loui, whether at the deadline or after the season.
 

cshea

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Bolts announce they aren't trading Stamkos before the deadline. If Loui is going to be traded, he is probably the top rental on the market.
 

The B’s Knees

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I wish the Bruins would make a similar announcement about Loui.
None of the other teams in the current playoff picture (nor most of the bubble teams) are shopping their pending UFAs.
The Bruins sit 4th overall in the East, and we're still hearing "sell Loui and get some value".
If they make a "hockey trade" - Loui for a top pairing D-man, I'm OK with that, but otherwise keep him.

I know the B's are a flawed team, but the salary cap means that most teams have their flaws.
The 2014 playoffs had the lower ranked team winning 11 of the 15 series.
Just get in the playoffs - a hot Tukka, or the odd upset, gives the B's as good a chance as anyone.
 

BoSoxFink

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I have been in the sell boat for awhile, however I am starting to come around on the buy end of things. The Bruins are in the weakest division in the league I believe and if they get into the playoffs they have a legit shot at getting to the conference finals because it's looking like we won't have Montreal to worry about in out match ups for the first two rounds. Once your in the conference finals anything can happen, especially if somehow Washington got knocked out. Basically, save for Washington the whole eastern conference is mediocre I think. So why not go for it and then you can still sell in the offseason if need be.
 

Reardon's Beard

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This is insane. We are four points out of second place in the EC with a weak defense and have one of our best offensive players battling injuries.

Do not sell Loui. Trade a pick, add some depth, and go for it. I want this team to go as far as it possibly can and if they get hot with some puck luck, who knows!
 

cshea

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12 days to the deadline, 25 games left in the regular season. B's are currently on a 98 point pace. I figure they probably need 26-28ish points the rest of the way to ensure a spot, which is 13-14 wins. Doable, but the schedule does get dicey from here on out. 18 of the remaining 25 games are against teams currently in the playoffs or tied for a spot (Tampa). Of the remaining 7 non-playoff team games, 3 are against a hard charging Carolina team that is only 2 points back. It's just a crazy year in the East. I could see the Bruins winning the Atlantic or missing the playoffs entirely.

As for the deadline. I'm in the trade Loui boat if it's clear he won't sign. Shaking a Anaheim young D loose would be ideal (even if we have to add), but If he goes for futures, so be it. I think fixing the D is going to end up being more of an offseason job anyways. After trading Loui, I'd be in the market for a D a replacement winger, but I wouldn't want to overspend on a rental. Just see if something agreeable comes along.
 

lexrageorge

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The Bruins' chances of keep Loui seem remote, if for no other reason than the league mismanaged salary cap keeps going nowhere (best case), and the fact that Marchand will be entering the final year of his now very reasonable contract once next season is underway. And they will likely need to allocate some resources to the defense just to tread water; Krug will be RFA after this season. And Spooner and Pastrnak will be entering their RFA years after next season. The next Eriksson will probably have to come from one of the team's recent draftees.

So I have no problem with the Bruins exploring a trade for Eriksson. But given where the team is today, I see no reason to trade him for any of the flotsam and jetsam that Fluto mentioned in his column a couple of weeks ago. Unless they get wowed, I'd rather keep Eriksson, use one or both of their 2nd round picks to upgrade the blue line, and hope for the best.
 

TFP

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One benefit of keeping Eriksson that I haven't seen discussed is actually getting their younger players some playoff experience. While I don't see them making a deep Cup run, the East is wide open enough that they can actually get Spooner, Pastrnak, et al a playoff series or 2. To me, that's potentially more valuable than the return they could get by trading Loui (and tanking their season).

Granted, I'm saying this assuming the trade market for Loui isn't very strong. If they get blown away then it's a different story.
 

TSC

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Per Jack Edwards -

Since Jan 15th - B's vs. playoff teams 0 - 3 - 0
B's vs. non-playoff teams - 10 - 1 - 1.

Don't be fooled by their place in the standings. This is not a team that will get anywhere near the conference finals.

Unless they're able to trade for Shea Weber AND another solid 3/4 d-man - they don't have the horses to compete with good teams. Not to mention their offense is too top heavy (3 players account for over 40% of the goal scoring), and will be shutdown in a 7 game playoff series vs. a good team.

Don't get me wrong - I like this team, and think they're on their way to being a good team again - but they're not there yet. If trading Loui+ gets you a young top tier D man and a better chance at the cup in the next couple of years, you do it, and you don't think twice.
 

RedOctober3829

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Per Jack Edwards -

Since Jan 15th - B's vs. playoff teams 0 - 3 - 0
B's vs. non-playoff teams - 10 - 1 - 1.

Don't be fooled by their place in the standings. This is not a team that will get anywhere near the conference finals.

Unless they're able to trade for Shea Weber AND another solid 3/4 d-man - they don't have the horses to compete with good teams. Not to mention their offense is too top heavy (3 players account for over 40% of the goal scoring), and will be shutdown in a 7 game playoff series vs. a good team.

Don't get me wrong - I like this team, and think they're on their way to being a good team again - but they're not there yet. If trading Loui+ gets you a young top tier D man and a better chance at the cup in the next couple of years, you do it, and you don't think twice.
I agree. It's about the long-term with this team moreso than this year. Everyone who knows hockey knows they are not contenders so they need to do the prudent thing and sell off any assets that can net them solutions at long-term needs. I'm not on the trade Chara, trade Krejci, trade Rask bandwagon that some extremists(i.e. idiots) are on but they do need to sell off the parts they can.