Four scenarios Bruins must consider before NHL trade deadline
The Boston Bruins are in free-fall with the March 7 NHL trade deadline just a week away.
The Bruins suffered another disappointing defeat Thursday night, losing 2-1 to the New York Islanders at TD Garden. The B's, who have lost five games in a row (0-3-2), now find themselves four points out of a wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference standings.
MoneyPuck gives Boston just a 12.3 percent chance of reaching the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, based on its analytics model.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand was candid when speaking to reporters following Thursday's loss.
'You don't always achieve every goal you're shooting for, but that's what builds great bonds and great friendships, when you go through this adversity together,' Marchand told reporters. 'We're doing that. Obviously, it hasn't been the season that we've wanted, and we haven't had the success that we would have liked this time of the year, but the good thing is that we're coming together over it.
'At the end of the day, we might not achieve what we hope to this year, but that doesn't mean that we can't build for something greater and bring it back next year. We're going to work every single day to continue to improve and build our game, and we're going to claw and fight every single day to get in the playoffs here.'
The Bruins should strongly consider being sellers at the trade deadline, even though they are just four points out of a playoff spot. It's been abundantly clear all season that this group is not a contender. This team has first-round exit written all over it, assuming it makes the playoffs.
Moving a few players and getting some assets (players, draft picks, prospects) in return to re-tool in the offseason is the best path for Boston to take in the coming week.
With that in mind, here are four trade deadline scenarios for the Bruins to consider.
The Bruins have around $5.7 million in salary cap space with defenseman Hampus Lindholm on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), per PuckPedia. This allows the Bruins to help broker a trade as a third team by taking on salary and getting a draft pick as compensation.
When the Bruins acquired Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals at the 2023 trade deadline, the Minnesota Wild retained 25 percent of Orlov's salary to help the B's and got a fifth-round pick for it.
The Bruins don't need to be taking on salary that goes beyond this season since they need all the cap space they can get going into the summer, but if a team close to the cap wants to make a large acquisition and doesn't have the cap space to pull it off, maybe the Bruins could retain some salary and get an asset in return.
What kind of asset? Third-party brokers typically get a third-, fourth-, or fifth-round pick in these kinds of deals. It's not anything substantial, but the Bruins need all the draft picks they can possibly acquire. They've already dealt away 2025 second- and fourth-round picks in previous deals.
With the exception of Brad Marchand, the Bruins should consider trading all of their upcoming unrestricted free agents. Marchand is a different case because of what he means to the team as a franchise legend, plus the fact that he's still one of the team's best forwards. He should be re-signed. Replacing his leadership and scoring production would be quite difficult.
But the other UFAs should all be moved if something of average or better value is offered.
Trent Frederic is one name to keep an eye on. He's the exact kind of bottom-six forward that general managers covet at the trade deadline. He could add scoring depth, toughness, versatility and penalty killing to a contending team.
Based on deals involving similar players in recent seasons, the ideal scenario with Frederic would be the Bruins getting a second-round pick. But now that Frederic is out week-to-week with a lower body injury suffered Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's fair to wonder if his value has taken a hit.
Trent Frederic is considered "week to week" after leaving Tuesday's #bruins game with a lower-body injury, but the sense is that it won't change any plans ahead of the trade deadline.
The pending UFA could still be moved.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 27, 2025
Keeping Frederic beyond the trade deadline and risking him leaving in free agency would be a horrible decision.
Justin Brazeau is another bottom-six forward with size, toughness and some offensive skill who could be a nice addition for a contender. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Brazeau has zero points in his last nine games, so he's not exactly going into the deadline with any momentum.
Forward Cole Koepke and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon are also UFAs this summer. If the Bruins can get anything for these guys, it's a deal worth making.
Contending teams are always looking to add quality defensemen ahead of the playoffs. Carlo isn't going to provide a ton of offense, but he's a dependable defensive player who kills penalties, plays physical and has a ton of playoff experience (72 games).
Carlo could play 20-plus minutes in a second-pairing role for a contender.
Carlo still has two more years left on his contract with a $4.1 million cap hit. The fact that he's not a rental could boost his value if the Bruins are willing to listen. However, it should be noted that Carlo has a 10-team no-trade list for the 2024-25 season, per PuckPedia.
There's no reason to be super active in looking to trade Carlo. He's still just 28 years old and his contract is very team-friendly, and it's not like the Bruins have a bunch of top-tier defenseman prospects who are ready for NHL minutes in the near future. But if a team is willing to overpay to acquire Carlo, the Bruins should at least listen.
UPDATE (Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:17 p.m. ET): The Bruins called up several players from Providence on Friday afternoon, and Georgii Merkulov was among them.
–End of Update–
It's truly baffling that the Bruins haven't given top prospects Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell a real chance to showcase their skills at the NHL level.
Boston has ranked in the bottom third of the league in goals scored per game all season. The power play has been a bottom-five unit the entire campaign. And yet, despite playing well offensively for the Providence Bruins, neither Merkulov nor Lysell has received an extended opportunity in Boston.
Merkulov leads the P-Bruins in scoring for the third straight season. There's nothing left for him to prove in the AHL. It's time to see whether he can be an NHL regular.
Lysell is a similar situation. The Bruins selected him in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but he's played only one game with the Bruins (back in December). Lysell is very much a work in progress defensively, like most young forwards, but his impressive offensive skill set (great shot, excellent playmaking ability, speed, etc.) would absolutely help the B's.
The Bruins can't keep Merkulov and Lysell in the AHL forever. It's well past time for them to get a real chance to prove their worth at the NHL level, and the sooner it happens, the better.
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