Five trade options for the Boston Bruins
Nick Goss of NBC Sports: The Boston Bruins two main areas of need are a second-line center and either a third-line center or winger that can score. A look at five forwards that should interest the Bruins.
J.T. Miller – Vancouver Canucks – Would be a great fit for the Bruins as a No. 2 center. Would allow Erik Haula to drop to the third-line. The cost to acquire would be high. Would the Bruins be okay with trading either Jeremy Swayman or Mason Lohrei.
Lawson Crouse – Arizona Coyotes – Would be a good bottom-six target for the Bruins. He’s a pending RFA and if the Coyotes don’t want to pay him this offseason, he could be on the move.
Phil Kessel – Arizona Coyotes – Could be a middle-six winger on a contending team. Would be an upgrade over Jake DeBrusk.
Reilly Smith – Vegas Golden Knights – Pending UFA with a $5 million cap hit. Would be a third-line upgrade and played for the Bruins for two years previously.
Max Domi – Columbus Blue Jackets – Has been inconsistent but could provide some scoring depth.
Vaakanainen or Reilly?
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic: With Erik Haula in COVID protocol, the Boston Bruins used Tomas Nosek as their No. 2 center over Jack Studnicka.
The Bruins biggest need is obviously a second-line center. Claude Giroux or J.T. Miller?
Teams could be interested in Studnicka and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen.
Do the Bruins see Vaakanainen as a potential top-four to replace Mike Reilly? Vaakanainen is a pending RFA and the 28-year old Reilly has two years left at $3 million.
Matt Grzelcyk and likely Derek Forbort aren’t going anywhere. If the Bruins think Vaakanainen is worth keeping, they could look to move Reilly. If looking for the best return, Vaakanainen would bring back more given his age and his current contract.