In the days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, the Boston Bruins could be in store for a shake-up. For the players, it’s about staying focused on the present.
In the days leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, the Boston Bruins could be in store for a shake-up. For the players, it’s about staying focused on the present.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The NHL Trade Deadline is nine days away, and there’s a multitude of ways the Boston Bruins could choose to operate before it passes.
Last season, the Bruins moved a handful of draft picks before the deadline to land Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi in an attempt to load up their depth ahead of the postseason.
This time, the Bruins are yet again towards the top of the league standings, but have less to work with in terms of draft capital and salary cap space to fit a new player into. A big splash would require a player on the roster to be moved out to make room, but the Bruins are committed to focusing on the task at hand rather than any potential trades.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said about trade rumblings. “I think as a staff, we communicate a lot with the players and with the leaders and there hasn’t been any feedback about it, so I don’t think that has been a real issue for our group. We’re more concerned about our team playing.”
That said, that doesn’t mean the topic is non-existent in the locker room. Plenty of speculation surrounds Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The 2015 first-round pick has spent his entire career in Boston, but has popped up in trade rumors closing in on the deadline.
The 27-year-old winger has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 58 games this season, but is currently on a three-game scoring drought. DeBrusk famously requested a trade in November 2021, but rescinded it after the season. Now, there’s a chance he could be on the move.
“Usually when there’s a couple trades around the league or something like that, it usually kind of stirs up talks between guys and things,” DeBrusk said. “It’s been a pretty busy schedule, to be honest with you. It feels like with these time changes and different things, it’s in the back of everybody’s mind obviously, but nobody is really safe. It’s one of those times where it’s always intense and stressful, and as a fan it’s exciting and stressful as well.”
DeBrusk also said no progress has been made on a contract extension beyond this season, which only adds to the uncertainty about his future in Boston.
However, that uncertainty extends to the whole locker room. Bruins captain Brad Marchand admitted he still gets nervous around the deadline, despite the fact he’s one of the few players on the roster who will not get moved.
“I think everybody gets nervous [around the] trade deadline, except for maybe ‘Chuck’ (Charlie McAvoy) and ‘Pasta’ (David Pastrnak),” Marchand said. “But I think the biggest thing is that it’s hard when you start worrying about things that are out of your control. You never really know how things are going to play out, but the biggest thing is just trying to focus again on being here.”
The Bruins will continue to work on finding their game as they return home from a four-game road trip, set to face former coach Bruce Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
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