The Bruins kicked off their four-game Western road trip with a big 6-5 overtime win against the Oilers in Edmonton Wednesday night. After letting 4-1 and 5-4 leads slip away, Boston killed off an Oilers power play to start overtime, and then Charlie McAvoy scored the winner with a sick dangle and finish past Stuart Skinner.
How will Lindholm injury affect Bruins' deadline plans?
Jake DeBrusk snapped his nine-game pointless streak with a goal in his hometown, Morgan Geekie set a new career high with his 10th goal, and Brad Marchand, Trent Frederic and David Pastrnak all scored as well.
That’s all the good news. The bad news is that the Bruins lost another defenseman to injury. Matt Grzelcyk took a two-hand chop to the foot from Ryan McLeod on his first shift, crashed to the ice, and did not return to the game.
Earlier in the day, coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that Hampus Lindholm is out for the road trip and considered “week-to-week” after suffering a lower-body injury on Monday. After Wednesday's game, he said Grzelcyk is “doing OK” and is “day-to-day right now.”
Rookie Mason Lohrei, called up from Providence on Tuesday, was great in his return to the lineup. He had three assists, four blocks and a plus-2 rating while playing 23:32 -- including a ridiculous 3:46 shift late in the second. If he can handle a top-four role going forward, it would be a huge boost.
Even if Lohrei does continue to play well, general manager Don Sweeney could prioritize defense leading up to the March 8 trade deadline, which is now just over two weeks away. He may have done so even without this recent rash of injuries.
Looking at the season as a whole, the Bruins have been solid defensively, but not elite. They still give up more high-danger chances at the net-front than Montgomery would like. Exiting their zone under pressure has been a challenge at times. They rank 25th in defenseman scoring. Inconsistent play from the likes of Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort and Kevin Shattenkirk had already created a couple lineup questions.
Exactly what Sweeney will be able to add remains to be seen. The Bruins have little cap space, a shallow prospect pool, and just one pick total in the first two rounds in the 2024 and 2025 drafts.
Giving up multiple high picks for rentals like he did last year is probably out of the question this season. Sweeney may be willing to splurge for players under team control beyond this season or players he can extend after acquiring. Any salary added will require nearly equal salary being moved out.
For all those reasons, this may very well end up as one of Sweeney’s quieter deadlines. We know he will be exploring all his options, though, based on his history of deadline activity, so we will do the same.
Today, we’ll take a look at 10 potential defense targets, splitting them into top-pairing, second-pairing and third-pairing/depth groups, with the impact and cost rising the higher you go in the lineup. In the next few days, we’ll look at forward options.
Top pairing
Jakob Chychrun, Ottawa Senators
Jakob Chychrun trade rumors are back, baby! The 25-year-old left shot has been good for the Sens (30 points in 53 games this season, 22:45 average time on ice), and he’s still signed through next season on a team-friendly deal ($4.6 million cap hit). The problem is that the Sens aren’t making the playoff push they expected to, and they have $16 million committed to two other left-shot D (Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson) starting next season. If they don’t plan on re-signing Chychrun for big money as well, they might want to capitalize on his value now. The Bruins probably don’t have the assets to make a trade like this happen, but they’ve been linked to Chychrun in the past, and his contract and the fact that he wouldn’t just be a rental make him an appealing target.
Noah Hanifin, Calgary Flames
Another player the Bruins have been linked to for years. While Chychrun might not actually be available, Hanifin very much is, with TSN’s Chris Johnston reporting that the Flames have not been able to make progress on an extension and that Hanifin, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, is now “expected” to be traded to an American team, which was long believed to be his preference. Given that Hanifin is from Norwood and went to Boston College, it’s easy to understand why he gets connected to the Bruins. The only way it would make sense for the Bruins to give up the assets needed to get him would be if there’s an extension in place. Hanifin is in his prime at 27 years old, he’s been remarkably healthy throughout his career, and he plays in all situations. He’s good in his own zone, great in transition, and has 30 points in 56 games this season while averaging 23:43 time on ice.
Second pairing
Chris Tanev, Calgary Flames
If Chychrun and Hanifin are the big names who help improve your offense from the back, then Tanev is the biggest name who just plays shutdown defense – and he is a legitimate shutdown defender in every sense of the word, with both the eye test and the analytics to back it up. He keeps opponents away from the front of the net, he blocks a ton of shots (currently second in the NHL), he kills penalties, and he’s good on retrievals and breakouts. Potential downsides: he’s 34 years old, he’s a pending free agent, he has an extensive injury history, and he doesn’t throw as many hits as some fans might expect. For the Bruins, he’s also a right shot who would duplicate Brandon Carlo’s skillset to an extent. That’s not to say you can’t have two players like that – Tanev would look great on the Bruins’ third pairing – but it’s a matter of whether that’s where you want to spend your limited assets, or if it makes more sense to target something else.
Sean Walker, Philadelphia Flyers
Why would the Flyers, currently third in the Metropolitan Division, trade away one of their best defensemen? Because they’re still focused more on the future than the present, because Walker is a pending free agent, and because they have a bit of a logjam on the blue line, especially after acquiring Jamie Drysdale from Anaheim. At age 29, Walker, a right shot, is having the best season of his career, playing 19:27 per game and helping the Flyers control play when he’s on the ice with his two-way contributions. He’s a little undersized at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, but he has no real holes in his game and does pretty much everything well, with his zone entry defense a particular strength, according to Corey Sznajder’s All Three Zones project.
Jake Middleton, Minnesota Wild
We covered Middleton as a possibility a few weeks ago. The appeal from the Bruins’ perspective would be obvious: He’s a left shot, 6-foot-3, 219 pounds, physical, defense-first, and capable of playing top-four minutes. He has a history of being a good complement to mobile, first-pairing defensemen (hello, Charlie McAvoy), and he’s signed through next season at a relatively affordable $2.45 million cap hit. The biggest problem: He might not even be available. The Wild have clawed their way back into the playoff race, so it remains to be seen whether they will actually be sellers. Even if they are, Middleton might be someone they want to hang onto as they aim for a quick retool heading into next season.
Third pairing/depth
Nick Seeler, Philadelphia Flyers
Same idea as Walker: The Flyers are reportedly open to moving a defenseman despite currently being a playoff team. Reports have indicated they’d like to keep Seeler, but as of now the left-shot defender is a pending free agent and should probably be considered a trade candidate until or unless he gets a new contract. A bit of a late bloomer, Seeler is having the best season of his career at age 30, playing a career-high 16:57 per game. He’s a tough-as-nails, defense-first defenseman who plays physical, clears the net-front, kills penalties, and currently leads the NHL in blocks. His $775,000 cap hit is much easier to fit onto the books than most.
Alexandre Carrier, Nashville Predators
When Carrier recently popped up in the Bruins rumor mill, the reaction from some fans was predictable: “Oh great, another undersized defenseman.” If all you care about is size, then fair enough – the 27-year-old right shot is listed at 5-foot-11, 174 pounds. A closer look at Carrier’s game shows why the Bruins might be interested, though. He is elite at denying zone entries (96th percentile, according to All Three Zones), and he helps keep opponents away from the front of the net (all that blue around the net-front in the bottom left part of the HockeyViz heat map below is very good). Those are both areas the Bruins would like to improve, and Carrier could really solidify the right side of their third pair.
Matt Dumba, Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes have fallen out of the playoff race, and Dumba, a 29-year-old right shot, is a pending free agent. They’re still feeding him 20-plus minutes a night even though he no longer looks like the legitimate top-four D that he was during his best years in Minnesota. In a more protected third-pairing role on a better team, he could be a valuable player, though. He’s still a good rush defender, he’s a hard hitter, and he kills penalties – all skillsets that could interest the Bruins.
Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz, Seattle Kraken
There haven’t been many reports regarding Seattle’s veteran defensemen, perhaps because the Kraken are still just three points out of a playoff spot. But if they slip a bit, Dumoulin and Schultz could both hit the market. They’re both playing third-pairing minutes, and at 32 and 33 years old, respectively, you would have to think they’re not really in Seattle’s long-term plans. Both would still have something to offer a contender, though. They’re both two-time Stanley Cup champions from when they were teammates in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. Dumoulin, a left shot who's from Maine and went to Boston College, is the more defensive of the two, and continues to do that job well on a defense-first Seattle team. Schultz, a right shot, contributes a little more offensively. Schultz is a free agent after the season, while Dumoulin has another year with a $3.15 million cap hit.