The Boston Bruins traded away several former key players by the trade deadline, including Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, and Trent Frederic. However, they also did add to their roster at the deadline, acquiring defenseman Henri Jokiharju from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
The decision to bring in Jokiharju was understandable for the Bruins, even if their playoff hopes were already essentially gone at that point in the season. After trading Carlo, the Bruins certainly needed another right-shot defenseman. Thus, they brought in Jokiharju without needing to give up a lot.
Following the trade, Jokiharju fit in nicely on the Bruins. In 18 games with Boston, he recorded four assists, 22 blocks, and a plus-7 rating. He also notably worked well on a pairing with defenseman Nikita Zadorov and saw time on both the Bruins' penalty kill and power play.
Overall, Jokiharju was one of the Bruins' bright spots at the end of the season, and the Original Six club now have a decision to make with him. He is a pending unrestricted free agent, but given how well he played for the Bruins, they should seriously consider re-signing him. At 25 years old, he is still young enough that he could be a nice fit for the Bruins as they continue their retool.
It will be interesting to see what the Bruins end up deciding to do with Jokiharju this summer. He certainly made a case for himself to stick around, but time will tell if that does come to fruition from here.
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