The Bruins are nine points ahead of any other team in the NHL and they just got better with Thursday’s trade for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway. Their plus-95 goal differential this season is an astounding 44 goals better than any other team.
The rest of the Eastern Conference is coming for them, though. No one is conceding the Prince of Wales Trophy to Boston. In fact, the East’s top teams are engaged in a good old-fashioned arms race that could be turning this spring into the most loaded conference playoffs we’ve seen in a long time.
Five of the East’s top six teams, including the Bruins, have already made at least one significant trade, and there are still four days to go before Friday afternoon’s deadline. All six of those teams have a better record than anyone in the Western Conference, and they’re all getting better.
The only one who has yet to jump is the Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the Metropolitan Division and have the NHL’s second-best record. But you better believe they’re going to do something, because they have $10 million in cap space to use thanks to the fact that they have three players on long-term injured reserve (most notably Max Pacioretty). It would be gross negligence not to take advantage of that.
Elsewhere, the moves are coming fast and furious. On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are second in the Atlantic Division behind the Bruins, made their second big trade in the last 10 days, acquiring defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks. They had already landed forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues.
Mock the Leafs’ playoff futility all you want. Question their goaltending if you must (they’re seventh in the NHL in team save percentage this season, by the way). But general manager Kyle Dubas has significantly upgraded an already good team, and they are clearly going all-in.
Right behind them in the Atlantic is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are always all-in as they look to win the conference for a fourth straight season and keep their Cup window open. They made a big move on Sunday, trading defenseman Cal Foote and five (yes, five!) draft picks to the Nashville Predators for forward Tanner Jeannot.
Is that an overpay for a bottom-six forward who has five goals this season? Yes, of course it is. But the Lightning don’t care. They got better for this year and added a playoff type of player, one who is currently fourth in the NHL in hits. And Jeannot did score 24 goals last season, so his true offensive talent level is probably somewhere in the middle of last year and this year. Tampa could still try to add a defenseman before Friday, too.
One team that almost certainly will be making another big move before Friday is the New York Rangers. The Metro’s third-place team already upgraded their top six by acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko, and now they’re expected to add Patrick Kane this week as well, with Kane using his no-movement clause to steer himself to Manhattan and the Rangers making multiple moves in recent days to free up cap space. There will still be questions about their defense, especially with Ryan Lindgren getting banged up over the weekend, but few teams will be able to match the Rangers’ offensive firepower.
The most overlooked team among the East’s top six is the New Jersey Devils, but they turned plenty of heads on Sunday, acquiring Timo Meier -- arguably the top player remaining on the market -- from the San Jose Sharks. The Devils are six points ahead of the Rangers, just three behind the Hurricanes, and they have the second-best goal differential in the NHL. And they just got a lot better. Overlook them at your own peril.
The silver lining in all of this for the Bruins is that they don’t have to beat all five of these teams in the playoffs. As long as they hold on to the top spot in their division, they’ll only have to go through two of them.
The Leafs and Lightning are all but locked into the 2-3 matchup in the Atlantic. They’ll beat each other up in the first round and the Bruins will get whoever’s left standing in the second round, assuming Boston avoids a massive first-round upset against a wild-card team. The B’s wouldn’t have to meet any of the Hurricanes, Devils or Rangers until the conference finals.
The gap between the top six and the teams in the wild-card race is big, both in terms of points and roster talent. That should work in the Bruins’ favor, although you obviously can’t take anything for granted. Those teams aren’t going to roll over either, and they could still make moves before Friday, too.
The Bruins are having one of the best regular seasons in NHL history. They are still the Stanley Cup favorites, with the trade for Orlov and Hathaway only strengthening their position. They could still make another move, too.
If they’re going to finish this historic season the way they want, though, they’re going to have to survive a historically strong Eastern Conference field that has no plans of going down quietly.
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