Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun, right, is a player the Bruins could target at the trade deadline, but it may not be the best move for them. Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
The time has come for us to readjust our trading deadline wish list for the Bruins – and it’s more modest than it once was.
The dream acquisition, of course, is not going to happen. Lou Lamoriello, his Islander team underachieving and just outside of the playoffs, jumped the field and landed center Bo Horvat from Vancouver, then locked him up for eight years at $8.5 million per season. Horvat would have bolstered the Bruins’ formidable attack for this year and fill one of the top two center spots for whenever Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retire.
That doesn’t mean the Bruins can afford to stand pat. Too many players are expected to be on the move and all the Bruins’ competitors will be looking to gird themselves for a run.
The latest big fish being linked to the Bruins is Arizona Coyotes left defenseman Jakob Chychrun. I have to admit, he is intriguing. A potential No. 1 defenseman, Chychrun comes with a more than palatable salary cap hit of $4.6 million for two more years after this season.
There is little not to like about the player. He has 7-20-27 totals in 35 games, is averaging 23:05 of ice time and is plus-6 on a pretty bad team. He’s also 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds and just 24 years old. A top four of Chychrun, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo – all big men who can skate – would be pretty darn formidable.
The problem, as usual, would be the cost. While there’s not much concern here with packaging up the first-round draft pick and any number of prospects, including Fabian Lysell or Mason Lohrei, it would also take a piece off the current roster. That, presumably, would be Matt Grzelcyk, not only to make it work financially (Grzelcyk has an annual cap hit of $3,687,500 through next year) but also to fit Chychrun into the lineup.
It would be a bold move, but I would not be comfortable messing that much with the chemistry of a team that has pretty much shredded the competition for more than half the season. Unlike the Islanders, this team is not in need of a roster shake-up. Besides, the Bruins not only have a No. 1 defenseman, they have two of them. Does Chychrun bump McAvoy or Lindholm off either of the two power play units? Would he be happy being more of a spectator while all the top players are having fun on the man advantage (most recent struggles notwithstanding)?
It’s always tough to say that you don’t need a player the caliber of Chychrun. It smacks of “Where would we play Willie McGee?” But considering what the Bruins already have, it’s hard to see how they could maximize Chychrun’s talents.
On top of that, Grzelcyk, now healthy after offseason shoulder surgery, is currently playing some of the best hockey of his career. In the last dozen games, he’s got 2-7-9 totals and, more and more, he seems to be taking advantage of the green light to attack. With all his 3-16-19 totals coming at even strength, he’s a plus-31.
There is a legitimate concern about the durability of 5-foot-10, 175-pound Grzelcyk. But in 2019, he made it to the Stanley Cup Final against some heavy teams and it took a cheap head shot to knock him out of the series against St. Louis. Will he be targeted? Sure. But so will McAvoy and Lindholm and Carlo and whoever is going back to retrieve a puck. The Bruins also have a pretty good insurance policy sitting in Providence in Mike Reilly, currently a cap casualty in Providence. He’d be available in the postseason when there is no cap. As far as seventh defensemen go, it’s hard to beat Reilly.
So what should be the Bruins’ priority now? It’s another piece for the bottom six forwards, someone who could bring a little more scoring pop as a fourth line center or, in a pinch, move up the line up as either a center or wing.
A name to whom the Bruins have been linked for months has been Blackhawk Jonathan Toews, who is having a decent bounce-back season with 14-14-28 totals and is winning 63.3% of his draws. The only problem would be fitting his $10.5 million cap hit.
A more cost effective move would be to target Arizona’s 6-foot-6, 210-pound center, 30-year-old Nick Bjugstad. The promise of his 24-goal season back in 2014-15 never came to fruition. But he’s played well for the Coyotes, notching 11-10-21 totals and, along with Chychrun, is one of the few players on that team that is in the black at plus-8.
And with Bjugstad at a cap hit of $900,000 on an expiring deal, the Bruins could go out and bolster the right side of the defense. Vancouver’s Luke Schenn, 33, the NHL’s hits leader on an expiring contract with a cap hit of $850,000, would fit that bill.
Yes, that path goes back to the old rental model, a route from which the Bruins have departed in recent years. But you can’t land a Lindholm or a Taylor Hall – or, unfortunately, a Bo Horvat – every season. But it’s not always imperative, either.
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