The NHL’s March 8 trade deadline is five weeks away, but trading season officially started with a bang Wednesday night when the Calgary Flames traded center Elias Lindholm – widely considered the top player available – to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a massive haul.
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The Bruins had long been linked to Lindholm given their perceived need for a first- or second-line center – a perception Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha are certainly challenging – but paying the kind of price the Canucks did always seemed unlikely.
What Boston general manager Don Sweeney does ultimately decide to do will be fascinating to follow. The Bruins are tied for the best record in the NHL, and Sweeney will presumably want to add something. But the Bruins also have limited cap space, limited draft capital and a limited prospect pool, so adding even a non-Lindholm big-ticket item remains a challenge – not impossible, but definitely a challenge.
One thing Sweeney has done a couple times in recent years is making two-birds-with-one-stone deals, acquiring two players from one team to address multiple needs. Last year, he acquired Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from Washington, landing both a top-four left-shot defenseman and a physical bottom-six winger. In 2021, he got Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar from Buffalo, improving both the top-six and bottom-six up front.
A couple trade-related questions in our latest Skate Pod mailbag (listen to the full episode above) got me thinking about a potential one-stop shop deal this year. Listener Scott (not me) asked about Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton as a way to improve the defense and add some physicality on the back end, while Brian mentioned Pat Maroon – also of the Wild – as someone who could bring some physicality and veteran presence to the Bruins’ fourth line.
Full disclosure: I have not heard anything or seen any reports about the Bruins targeting either player. But I can certainly envision them being interested if one or both are made available.
That’s the first thing that would have to happen. The Wild aren’t completely out of the playoff race in the West yet. But they are seven points out of a wild card spot, and they would need to jump five teams to get there. It’s unclear if general manager Bill Guerin is or will be open for business, but history tells us that he is not the type to just stand pat.
Maroon may be the more well-known name here, but Middleton would be the more significant trade target, so let’s start there. Middleton is a 28-year-old left-shot defenseman who is signed through next season at $2.45 million, so he wouldn’t be just a rental.
He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 219 pounds. He has played top-four minutes in Minnesota – 20:12 this season, 19:02 last year. He’s a physical, defense-first player who can kill penalties, hit, block shots and win battles in the corners and at the net-front.
That last part could be important. Asked on Saturday what areas the Bruins still need to improve, net-front defense was the top priority for coach Jim Montgomery.
“We still need to get better at boxing out at our net and covering the slot, because I think our goaltenders are still having to make too many good saves,” Montgomery said.
The numbers back him up. The Bruins are giving up 11.41 high-danger chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 play, which ranks 20th in the NHL. They may be able to improve that internally to a degree, but Sweeney could decide that outside help is required – especially if he can’t count on the health of Derek Forbort, who is arguably the Bruins’ best net-front defender (whatever his other faults may be) and who continues to battle a lingering lower-body injury.
Middleton could help. It’s also worth noting that his offensive game has made a jump this season, as he already has a career-high 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 49 games. His all-around game doesn’t scream “bona fide top-four defenseman,” but he has proven to be a very good complement to very good defensemen.
His most common partner in Minnesota has been Jared Spurgeon, and the Wild have a 61.7% goals share during their 5-on-5 shifts across two-plus seasons. Before being traded during the 2021-22 season, Middleton paired with Erik Karlsson in San Jose, and they had a 59.3% goals share on a bad Sharks team.
Of course, all of that is also why the Wild might just want to hang onto Middleton and keep him in their plans at least through next season.
Maroon is more likely to be available, and shouldn’t cost nearly as much. He’s 35 years old and a pending free agent on an $800,000 cap hit. He could still bring some value to a contender, though.
Maroon is a three-time Stanley Cup champion. He has a reputation of being great in the locker room. He’s a big (6-foot-3, 234 pounds), physical fourth-liner who’s willing to drop the gloves. He still has a little bit of offense in his game, with 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in 49 games this season.
That’s more than the Bruins have gotten from any of their regular fourth-liners. It’s also the kind of player the Bruins hoped they were bringing in when they signed Milan Lucic over the summer. Obviously, that hasn’t worked out due to Lucic’s ongoing legal situation stemming from an arrest on a charge of assault and battery on a family member back in November.
The Wild acquired Maroon from the Lightning over the summer for a seventh-round pick. If the cost is similar to that or just a little bit more, he could be worth it. If there’s going to be any sort of bidding war, though, it’s hard to justify giving up too much more than that. (And yes, Jack Edwards might have to finish mending some fences if Maroon landed in Boston.)
Middleton and/or Maroon may not be the dream targets for Bruins fans, but acquiring them may be more realistic than some of the names at the top of various trade boards, and they could fill specific needs on Boston’s roster.