Bruins’ Maxime Talbot takes to Twitter to squash trade rumor

Following the Bruins’ acquisition of Zac Rinaldo from the Flyers, a rumor began that Maxime Talbot had requested a trade out of Boston. Talbot heard the rumor and made sure to squash it personally, taking to Twitter to deny the report just hours after it surfaced.

In an age of instant communication and social media rumor mills, one single report can sometimes spiral out of control. That’s why Boston Bruins winger Maxime Talbot took it upon himself to make sure he cleared the air when it came to a rumor that he had requested a trade out of Beantown.

The rumor itself began shortly after the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers had swung a deal that saw Boston land checking-line left winger Zac Rinaldo in exchange for a third-round pick.

With Rinaldo coming into the Bruins lineup – he and Talbot can play similar roles, so it was believed that maybe this was the end of the line for the veteran Talbot – the rumor of a requested trade began. Some reports had the rumor beginning on a local Boston radio station and it continued to spread throughout Twitter. Just hours later, though, Talbot made sure to kill the buzz by taking to social media to deny the report.

The Bruins acquired Talbot and Paul Carey from the Avalanche at the trade deadline in 2014-15 in a deal that sent Jordan Caron and a sixth-round draft selection in 2016 to Colorado. In 18 games with Boston this past season, Talbot managed three assists and averaged little more than 12 minutes of ice time per game.

For next season, Talbot is likely to start the year on the fourth line and he’s got a cap-friendly cap hit of $900,000, according to War-On-Ice. Though he’s signed to a five-year deal worth $1.8 million per season, the Avalanche picked up half of his salary in the trade at the deadline, cutting the cost for the Bruins.

In 666 career games, the 31-year-old Talbot has scored 89 goals and 197 points. Throughout his career, including a Stanley Cup-winning season in Pittsburgh, Talbot has been used as a depth winger and penalty killer. Of his 89 career tallies, 16 have come shorthanded.