Report: Bruins are “in it to win it”, have sights set on deadline targets

NHL insider Darren Dreger was on Toronto’s TSN 1050 yesterday morning discussing next Monday’s NHL trade deadline when the topic of the Boston Bruins came up. It’s no secret that Bruins GM Don Sweeney is looking for some help up front, especially considering the injury news last week regarding sniper David Pastrnak. So… what’s the plan, Sweeney?

“When you look at Boston, they’ve got two or three very similar young forwards like Heinen, Bjork,” said Dreger. “There’s three or four of them that they could part with. These are good players, players that you’d want to hold onto in a perfect world and watch them develop and grow.”

Both Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork have been good depth players for the B’s this season, but there’s no doubt that Jake DeBrusk has surpassed both players on the team’s depth chart. Could they be in play to land a bigger fish?

“But the Bruins are in it to win it, no pun intended here. They feel like they’re designed to contend for the Stanley Cup right now, and it’s pretty obvious why when you look at some of their aging forwards like Backes and Krejci. Bergeron is just a marvel - this guy is a science experiment because he seemingly gets better every time he steps onto the ice. Tuukka Rask. Go down to all of the pieces that they feel are Stanley Cup-worthy.”

“They just would like to add a little bit more and they’re willing to part with the assets, be it draft picks or some of the young pieces that I’ve talked about.”

Okay, so who is there to add? Wayne Simmonds? Matt Duchene? Artemi Panarin? Those players are likely to come at a STEEP price, a price the Bruins are seemingly unwilling to meet given how badly last year’s Rick Nash trade ended up for them.

“Let’s say Boston adds a piece,” said Dreger. “I feel like we wanted to link Tyler Toffoli of the L.A. Kings to Boston relatively early in the search. So we’re probably talking six weeks, eight weeks ago. I don’t think that Toffoli is their main target anymore.”

Interesting… Toffoli certainly makes sense, given that he has another year left on his contract and so he could contribute beyond just this spring.

“I think like so many other teams are watching the Ottawa Senators. If someone like Ryan Dzingel popped into the market, depending on what’s going to happen this week with Stone and Duchene, I think Boston would be all over that. So you add another piece like that - this young man is trending toward a 30-goal scorer this year. 

“They’re going to do something, and that’s going to make them even tougher.”

Hard to believe but yes, Ryan Dzingel is on his way to a 30 goal season. Now, part of that is because he’s been stapled to Duchene’s line for most of the season but, credit where credit it due, the guy is still on pace for 30 goals. The asking price on Dzingel however is reportedly a 1st round pick plus an additional prospect… worth it? If the Bruins are in fact “in it to win it”, the asking price might not matter much at all. It’s time to ante up, B’s fans.