Bean: Ranking the Bruins' best trade assets this offseason
The Bruins could stand to make some moves this offseason. They don't have enough at wing and they might be on their way to losing at least one (and possibly two) top-four defensemen.Here's the issue, though: They don't have much trade capital. They gave their first-round pick to the Ducks in the David Backes salary dump, and they don't have a wealth of prospects who could serve as prime chips.So just for the hell of it, let's put everyone on the table and run through the Bruins' trade assets. You'll find that most of their good ones wouldn't make sense to move if the Bruins are trying to compete now.
DJ Bean ranks the Bruins trade assets as Don Sweeney prepares to improve the team this offseason.
Age: 24
Contract: Three years, $6.66 million AAV (UFA)
Chances they'd trade him: Zero, right?
Pastrnak is one of the best scorers in the league and has one of the best contracts in the league. He has enough term left on his deal that it's not like the team should be thinking of him costing too much on his next contract.
There is absolutely zero reason to trade him.
Age: 22
Contract: Two years, $4.9 million AAV (RFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Zero
McAvoy could probably fetch the Bruins whatever big name they'd want on the trade market. He'd also deplete the Bruins' back end if they traded him.
He's their best defensemen and the Bruins' blue line isn't in a position to subtract more stars.
Age: 32
Contract: Five years, $6.12 million AAV (UFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Zero
Remember the Brad Marchand trade rumors back in the day? Good thing the B's never thought similarly. Marchand's signed into his mid-30s, but he's showing no signs of slowing down.
Age: 34
Contract: Two years, $6.87 million AAV (UFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Negative a billion
Imagine Tom Brady and Patrice Bergeron both leaving town in the same year. You can't, because it won't happen.
Age: 23
Contract: One year, $2.85 million AAV (RFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Let's not rule it out
Carlo's got one year left on his bridge deal, and with Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara both possibly not returning, it would be nuts for the Bruins to move on from a sure thing on then back end.
That said, if the B's want to trade a young player in a deal for a big name, Carlo's probably their best realistic chip. That doesn't reflect well on the state of the Bruins' assets.
Age: 33
Contract: One year, $7 million AAV (UFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Maybe!
Rask is coming off a season in which he was statistically the best goalie in the league, so why isn't he higher? You know why. Uncertainty.
There's no telling whether Rask will retire or walk at the end of his current contract, so any team acquiring him has to strongly consider that they won't have him for long.
Age: 28
Contract: Six years, $5.25 million AAV (UFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: Can't see it happening
The Coyle trade and extension look really solid. At worst, he's making fine money for a third-line center, but he's been transitioning into more of a second-line center role.
With David Krejci in the last year of his deal, it wouldn't make much sense for the B's to trade him.
Age: 23
Contract: RFA
Chances I think they'd trade him: There'll probably be some value-gauging
Fluto Shinzawa reported the Bruins are "listening on DeBrusk and Carlo, partly because they don’t have many other legitimate young NHL players as trade collateral." He quoted an NHL evaluator as saying DeBrusk is a good third-liner, which isn't great.
DeBrusk could also be moved if the Bruins don't see eye-to-eye on the negotiating Zoom, but on paper, DeBrusk is well warranted for demanding $5 million-plus annually. He averaged 21 goals a season over the course of his entry level deal, even though he's never played more than 70 games.
Chances I think they'd trade it: Slim
The Bruins haven't done great in the draft and they already don't have a first this year.
Factoring in that they traded their 2018 first for Rick Nash, trading their 2021 first would mean going four years with only one first-round pick (John Beecher, 2019).
Age: 34
Contract: One year, $7.25 million AAV
Chances I think they'd trade him: Wouldn't rule it out
If the Bruins plan on losing Krejci anyway after next season, they could see what a team would give them for one year of a still-productive top-six center who rocks the house in the postseason.
That said, if they're still "going for it," trading Krejci would probably be counterproductive.
Age: 24
Contract: One year, $2.6 million AAV (RFA)
Chances I think they'd trade him: If anyone wants him badly enough, sure
Kase was probably a level above a throw-in when the Bruins traded a first-round pick and a prospect to the Ducks to take David Backes. He's an intriguing player, though, given his age and his status as a 20-goal-scorer two years ago.
He didn't score a goal between his six regular-season games and 11 postseason contests with the Bruins last season, but if he can be a top-sixer, he's obviously worth keeping. I'd flip him in a deal for a better scorer, but his stock seemingly isn't high enough to get that type of return.
Age: 21
Contract: Entry level
Chances I think they'd trade him: He's a prospect, so they should be open to it
Note: I'm going to put that "he's a prospect, so they should be open to it" for any prospect on here. They should know these guys better than the teams inquiring, so if they think a player's being overhyped, they should take advantage.
Now, as for Studnicka: If a team wants a prospect, he's both well enough regarded and NHL-ready. Teams could eye him to be a middle-six center, a role he could assume in Boston if and when David Krejci departs.
Age: 19
Team: University of Michigan
Chances I think they'd trade him: He's a prospect, so they should be open to it
Their most recent first-round pick (2019), Beecher is a big kid coming off a freshman year in which he tallied 16 points in 31 games.
The Bruins already traded their top pick from 2018, Axel Andersson, in the Backes-to-Ducks deal.
Overall selection: No. 58
Chances I think they'd trade it: They need to make picks, but...
I could understand if teams just want to punt on this draft given that they didn't get to see full seasons out of these prospects.
That said, the Bruins will be in for a really underwhelming time if they don't have the cupboard stocked for when the Bergerons and Marchand begin aging out.
