Nick Goss of NBC Sports: The Boston Bruins have now officially lost their top two centers from last season to retirement.
Internal candidates to for their top two lines are Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha, with Coyle likely lining up with Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.
The trade route for the Bruins could be their best route but they don’t have a lot of future assets to work with. They don’t have their 2024 first-round pick and their prospect pool is in the bottom five of the league. They don’t have a second-round pick until 2026 and they don’t pick until the fourth-round in 2024.
They do have some trade candidates on their roster in Jake DeBrusk (if they don’t sign him to an extension), Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort and Linus Ullmark if Jeremy Swayman shows he can be a No. 1.
Trade targets for the Bruins could be Elias Lindholm and Mark Scheifele. Both are entering their final year and could be dealt if not extended.
Murat Ates of The Athletic: The obvious teams the Boston Bruins should be looking at to solve their center issue are the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.
The Bruins have two starting goaltenders at the moment. The Jets have two goaltenders entering the final year of their contracts – Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit. Will the Jets be able to extend Hellebuyck?
Jets Mark Scheifele for a Bruins goalie quickly comes to mind. Scheifele would be a UFA after this season. Goaltenders aren’t assets that land you top centers though. The Jets know this when looking to maximize Hellebuyck trade value. Jeremy Swayman could appeal to the Jets more than Linus Ullmark given the age difference.
The cap difference from Scheifele ($6.125 million) and Swayman ($3.475 million) would mean the Bruins would need to move out more salary. Options could include Jake DeBrusk ($4 million), Trent Frederic ($2.3 million) and Matt Grzelcyk ($3.688 million).
Elias Lindholm may be more intriguing to the Bruins than Scheifele. He’s two years younger and carries a $4.875 million cap hit this year. A trade package would be harder to work out since the Flames don’t need a goaltender.
The Bruins can wait it out and see if other center emerge on the trade market the closer we get to the trade deadline.
