The Bruins lost one of the best offensive defensemen and power-play quarterbacks in the NHL this offseason when Torey Krug signed with the St. Louis Blues.
They didn’t sign or trade for anyone to replace him, as they will instead look to internal options to step up and provide some offense from the blue line. On the power play, Matt Grzelcyk is set to get the first crack at quarterbacking a talented top unit.
But could the Bruins still be looking at outside options? Appearing on Dale and Keefe ahead of Thursday night’s season-opener, NESN play-by-play man Jack Edwards, while answering a question from Rich Keefe about replacing Krug, mentioned an interesting trade target who has started to surface in rumors: Keith Yandle.
“I think Grzelcyk’s going to get the first patient shot at running the power play,” Edwards said. “There are rumors already that the Bruins are maneuvering for Keith Yandle, because Florida’s got a significant problem with progress and they’re looking to make moves. But I think Grzelcyk’s going to get a long look on that first power-play unit. The kid can really skate and he’s demonstrated quite a few times that his learning curve can be steep and he’s game for it.”
Yandle, a Milton native, certainly seems to be on the outs with the Panthers. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reported this week that the 34-year-old has “fallen out of favor” with the team and is not part of their plans for this season.
Yandle isn’t quite the player he once was, and there’s an argument to be made that his defensive deficiencies now outweigh his offensive contributions, as outlined in this analysis from TSN’s Travis Yost. But he did still play 19:42 per game last season and put up 45 points (5 goals, 40 assists) in 69 games, which would’ve put him fifth among all Bruins in points last season and just behind Torey Krug’s 49. He had 62 points and played 22:27 per night the year before.
Yandle also has the fourth-longest consecutive games played streak in NHL history going at 866, a streak that is now in jeopardy if the Panthers bench him.
The catch with Yandle is his contract. He has three years left on it with an annual cap hit of $6.35 million, which would be a lot for any team to take on, especially with real questions about whether he can still hold his own defensively now, never mind for three more years. The Panthers would almost certainly have to retain a significant chunk of that salary to get a deal done.