NHL Trade Rumors: Boston Bruins May Be Stuck with What They Have

The Boston Bruins have one leaned-on forward down and out in Nathan Horton and potentially another one in Rich Peverley, who returned home after the first of six road games to have a banged-up knee evaluated.

They need some form of insurance on the offensive front if they are to realistically salvage their hopes of at least returning to the Eastern Conference finals this spring. They cannot afford to resort to the likes of Jordan Caron, Zach Hamill and Josh Hennessy in the postseason.

But with a week-and-a-half remaining until the deadline, the trade-market ice is all but slimming down by the day.

The last-place Carolina Hurricanes recently re-signed Tim Gleason and saw Tuomo Ruutu go down with an upper-body injury that will render him invalid until at least a week after the Feb. 27 trading deadline.

The New York Islanders are the Atlantic Division’s lone plebeian constituent, but do not have any potential exports who are likely to make a big-enough splash that would be worth the Bruins’ while.
The similarly struggling Tampa Bay Lightning only appear to be dangling a defenseman in Pavel Kubina, but given the choice between the two positions, the Bruins should focus solely on shoring up their offense.

The other conference’s cellar-dweller from Columbus has the likes of Rick Nash and Jeff Carter in the perennial rumor mill, but neither one is anything close to the right fit for Boston’s ecosystem.
The Phoenix Coyotes and Ray Whitney are not flaking out of the Western Conference playoff picture any time in the near future. Neither are Brendan Morrow and the Dallas Stars.

The Anaheim Ducks, complete with enticing veterans Jason Blake and Teemu Selanne, may be cooked for this season, but with midseason coaching hire Bruce Boudreau are setting a convincing tone for 2012-13. In turn, they will likely want to keep their core largely intact.

As of Thursday morning, the Edmonton Oilers are second to last in the Western Conference, 10 solid points ahead of the peerlessly lowly Blue Jackets but 13 points behind the Coyotes for the last playoff spot.

But even there, the fine line overlapping the desirable, the good buys and the available is less than satisfactory. In fact, it might not even exist.

Ryan Smyth is adamant about staying an Oiler rather than going to a Stanley Cup contender. Edmonton general manager Steve Tambellini is openly reluctant to cast off Sam Gagner. And Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli may want to take a pass on Ales Hemsky, who could turn out to be an offensive version of Tomas Kaberle.

Unless Chiarelli is somehow convinced that the underachieving Hemsky would benefit from a change of scenery and absorb more incentive from joining a contender, or unless he could find a player who will overrule another GM’s wishes, the Bruins will likely have to do without any deals.

Or Boston could try the even more unlikely and unthinkable and look to trade within the division. Buffalo forward Paul Gaustad’s name has surfaced in multiple rumors and his style and caliber could sufficiently replenish what the Bruins lack in the absence of Horton and their go-to top-six stand-in, Peverley.

The same could be said about Montreal Canadiens winger Travis Moen. But as is the case with Gaustad and the Sabres, bringing him in to Boston will depend solely on whether Chiarelli’s offers in exchange are accepted.

And on the Bruins’ end, the only acceptable exports are those who are neither established NHLers nor especially promising prospects, such as Caron or Dougie Hamilton.

If Buffalo’s Darcy Regier or Montreal’s Pierre Gauthier decide that a Hamill, a Hennessy, an Andrew Bodnarchuk, a Matt Bartkowski, a Carter Camper or a combination of two or three are worth the price of a Gaustad or a Moen, then there might be fertile grounds for a deal.

That’s one option. Another is for Chiarelli to either roll the dice on Hemsky or to dangle some of the aforementioned Providence mainstays more persuasively in the hunt for a Whitney, Selanne, etc.
Either that, or the Bruins and their fans will just have to take what they get under the present circumstances, then come back for a fresh start in 2012-13 with a healthier and, therefore, more capable core.