After a terrible 2024-25 season, the Boston Bruins are gearing up for what should be a busy off-season. General manager Don Sweeney has landed a two-year contract extension, and his goal from here will be to make the Bruins turn things back around.
Interestingly, two notable Bruins players have now been named potential trade candidates with the NHL off-season rapidly approaching.
In his latest Trade Targets board for Daily Faceoff, NHL insider Frank Seravalli listed Bruins forwards Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie at the No. 16 spot.
"Boston is in an interesting summer of transition. They’ll need to make some decisions about whom to keep and with both players (Zacha and Geekie) positive relative to cap, they’ll have some real value on the market," Seravalli wrote about the two Bruins forwards.
Seeing Zacha and Geekie be named trade candidates is certainly interesting, as they are both important forwards on the Bruins' roster. However, the Bruins also showed this season that they weren't afraid to make massive changes with the team struggling, as they traded Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Trent Frederic, and Charlie Coyle before the deadline.
Zacha is coming off a down year with the Bruins, posting 14 goals, 47 points, and a minus-8 rating in 82 games. While he still had solid numbers, they were noticeably lower than his first two seasons with the Bruins. In 2022-23 with Boston, he had 21 goals and 57 points. He then had 21 goals and 59 points in 78 games with the Black and Gold in 2023-24.
Yet, even after a shaky year for his standards, Zacha would certainly be a popular target if the Bruins actually made him available. The 28-year-old is a 6-foot-4 top-six center with an affordable $4.75 million cap hit until the end of 2026-27, which is undoubtedly appealing.
Geekie, on the other hand, is a pending restricted free agent. Sweeney has confirmed that the Bruins are working hard to extend him, so truthfully, one could argue that the Original Six club dealing No. 39 would be surprising. This is especially so when noting that he formed amazing chemistry with David Pastrnak and set new career highs with 33 goals, 24 assists, and 57 points in 77 games. However, if things go sour with the negotiations between Geekie and the Bruins, maybe they could listen to offers for him.
Yet, from a personal standpoint, I think Geekie and Zacha are players the Bruins should keep around if they are looking to get competitive again as quickly as possible. What do you think? Let your thoughts be known in the comments.
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