Bruins have a trade “in their hip pocket.”

It now seems all but certain that the Boston Bruins will be making some type of trade deal to bolster their offense, and it sounds like it may very come sooner rather than later.

According to recent comments made by Sportsnet National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman it now appears as though the Bruins are determined to make a trade this season as their championship window begins to close. It is no secret that the Bruins have an aging core of players but in spite of that they have been very successful as of late and it sounds like general manager Don Sweeney will be pulling out all the stops in an effort to give some of those very same core players another shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Friedman reports that, although Sweeney has many irons in the fire right now, the Bruins general manager already has a deal in place with the Los Angeles Kings. That deal would send pending Los Angeles Kings' unrestricted free agent Tyler Toffoli to the Boston Bruins.

I do think Boston, if they wanted to, could...do a deal for Toffoli almost at any time," said Friedman as per Sportsnet radio. "I think they know they’ve got that in their hip pocket. The question is...do you do that, or do you wait for Kreider?"

Kreider is of course a reference to New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider, another player that has often been the subject of trade rumors this season. Kreider is also a pending unrestricted free agent but there is a growing sense that the Rangers may try and keep him for the foreseeable future. If that option were to be taken off the table for the Bruins you have to wonder if Sweeney would indeed pull the trigger on a trade that would see Toffoli wearing a Bruins jersey this season.

From a pure numbers perspective Toffoli is having a relatively poor season, albeit better than the one he had last year. Through his first 45 games this season as a member of the Los Angeles Kings, Toffoli has recorded 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. He also boasts a plus minus rating of -3 on the season. That being said Toffoli is stuck on a very bad Kings team right now, and I have no doubt he would quickly regain his form while playing for the Bruins.