Bruins must find a way to help their star players.

After the first two months of the 2015-2016 season it appeared that Boston fans had a lot to be worried about, the team simply wasn't performing, and two of their biggest stars were having some of the worst stretches of their professional careers.

Now however, in late January, the Bruins have managed to turn their season around, and one could easily argue that the same two stars who struggled earlier in the season, goaltender Tuukka Rask, and defenseman Zdeno Chara have been a major part of that success. Now the question becomes, should the Bruins find a way to help their veteran stars take the team to the next level?

The team's biggest weakness at the moment is almost inarguably their defensive core, after losing both Johnny Boychuk and Dougie Hamilton on the Blue line the Bruins have never really found suitable replacements, and it's hard to argue that Chara and Rask couldn't use the help, if only to lighten the load currently being placed squarely on the shoulders of those two veterans.

Luckily for Boston there are multiple defenseman who are reportedly available on the trade market, and furthermore, there are several of those same defenseman who are young, and would come with a degree of control that would mean a trade wouldn't be mortagaing the future for a quick and temporary band-aid solution.

The most notable names, and the ones we feel the Bruins should target, if not must target, are Kevin Shattenkirk of the Blues, who at 26 years old has already demonstrated he's capable being a truly elite top pairing defenseman, and Sami Vatanen of the Ducks, who according to a report this morning, could become available prior to the deadline if the Ducks get healthy.

It's worth noting that the cost for either of these players would likely be very high, and could cost Boston one of their top forwards, the most likely of whom could be Loui Eriksson who is currenltly rumored to be on the trading block.

[pub]