Another day, another set of trade rumors concerning the Bruins in what is expected to be a frantic offseason across the NHL. Let's take a look at all of the recent whispers, scenarios and potential moves linked to a B's club looking to retool and orchestrate another legitimate run at the Cup.
A Bjork/Chiasson swap?
The Bruins are far from the only club looking to make some major moves this fall, with the Edmonton Oilers looking to retool and surround more legitimate talent around the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers are already looking to find a more consistent option in net for next year, while a long recovery timeline for injured defenseman Oscar Klefbom could prompt GM Ken Holland to look for additional reinforcements on the blue line. But Edmonton is also dragged down by a glut of forwards in the middle-six, with the potential return of Jesse Puljujarvi giving the Oilers a surplus of right wingers.
Given Boston's need for impactful right wingers, especially in the middle six next to either David Krejci or Charlie Coyle, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that TSN's Frank Seravalli reported on Thursday that the Oilers "engaged" the Bruins on a potential swap of RW Alex Chiasson for LW Anders Bjork.
Even if Bjork went through the expected road bumps that come with a young players' first "full" season up in the NHL, the crafty winger still has offers plenty of potential, with his affordable three-year, $4.8 million contract extension making the 24-year-old forward a valuable trade asset. Chiasson, 30, has spent the previous two seasons with the Oilers — tallying 22 goals in 73 games during the 2018-19 season before recording 11 goals and 24 points in 65 games this season.
BSJ Analysis
Given his skill set, room for growth and palatable contract (especially in this flat-cap era), expect to hear Bjork's name sprout up quite a bit when it comes to coveted trade chips in Don Sweeney's possession.
But if Boston does indeed part ways with the Notre Dame winger, it better be for a more impactful piece than someone like Chiasson. Along with taking on a slightly higher cap hit ($2.15 million in 2020-21), Chiasson's production doesn't exactly tell the whole story of a winger whose resurgent 2018-19 campaign also occurred at the same time when *surprise* who logged 570 minutes of 5v5 ice time next to Draisaitl.
Chiasson, who has only averaged a little over 10 goals per season if you take out that 2018-19 campaign, came back down to earth this past year upon being bumped further down Edmonton's lineup — with the 30-year-old winger doing little to impact the Oilers' offense, especially at 5v5 play (one of the areas Boston desperately needs to address this season).
(For reference on Micah Blake McCurdy’s individual impact charts via Hockey Viz — On the offensive side of things, you’d want to see a player providing positive numbers — with the red blobs signifying where the team is generating a majority of their shots from whenever said player is on the ice. Defensively, negative numbers are a sign that a team is snuffing out opposing scoring chances whenever said player is on the ice. As such, the blue blobs represent where the opposition’s shots aren’t regularly coming from. As seen above, the Oilers were generating fewer shots around Grade-A ice when Chiasson was out on a shift during the 2019-20 season.)
The tale of the tape might woo some Bruins fans, given that Chiasson measures out at 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds, but the Boston University product (you know there are red flags when yours truly isn't advocating for another Terrier) isn't a physical force, averaging 68 hits over the previous four seasons. While slotting Chiasson with Coyle might offer some intrigue, let's be frank — Coyle is no McDavid or Draisaitl, to say the least. As such, dealing a trade chip like Bjork for a 30-year-old winger without a proven track record away from elite talent doesn't seem to be worth the risk.
Is Tuukka Rask a legitimate trade candidate?
Despite all of the drama and outcry that followed when Rask opted to leave the Toronto bubble to deal with a family situation, a scenario in which Boston moved on from its franchise goalie (who placed second in Vezina Trophy voting this season) seemed like a development best suited to an NHL20 season simulation, rather than real-life roster shuffling.
And yet, where there's smoke ...
Over the last two days, a number of reports have listed Rask as potentially being offered as available for the right price. Seravalli, who listed Rask at No. 10 on TSN Trade Bait Board, had the following to say about Rask's availability this offseason:
"Many were wondering if there would be fallout from Rask’s decision to leave the bubble for family reasons, a decision that was certainly supported by teammates. But multiple sources indicate that Bruins GM Don Sweeney has initiated conversations with teams about Rask’s market value over the last number of weeks."
The Athletic's Craig Custance offered a similar thought on Rask Wednesday:
He wrote:
"One name that has come up in conversations I’ve had with people outside of Boston is Tuukka Rask. There is an external belief that now might be the right time to take a run at Rask if you like him. “I don’t know that they’d actively shop him,” said a Western Conference executive. The problem is that the Bruins are very much in a win-now mode and they’d have to replace him with a goalie who gives them the same shot to win a championship. Said another source: “He’s up for a Vezina for a reason and he’s been so consistent for so long. If he’d won the Cup (in 2019) there’s no chance we’re having this conversation.”
BSJ Analysis
Now, Sweeney absolutely wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't gauging Rask's value on the market. But this is a move that Boston only makes if:
1 - The Bruins are looking to rebuild instead of retool for the 2020-21 season and beyond.
2 - They have a legitimate option to turn to in net besides Jaroslav Halak and a youngster like Dan Vladar.
Now, if Boston does deal Rask, they have plenty of potential options to turn to in net — whether it be via free agency or via trade. Jakob Markstrom, Robin Lehner, Anton Khudobin, Craig Anderson, Braden Holtby and Corey Crawford are set to hit the open market, while netminders like Darcy Kuemper, Matt Murray, Devan Dubnyk and perhaps Marc-Andre Fleury might be available for the right price.
But man, you better hit on one of those guys if you still hope to contend for a Cup in 2020-21 without Rask in the fold.
(Rask might have benefited last season from having a structured defense in front of him, but the veteran goalie deserved his Vezina runner-up status for turning aside a number of quality attempts that the opposition managed to generate against Boston — ranking second among all goalies (min. 2,000 minutes of ice time) with an .849 save percentage on high-danger shots.)
Perhaps a guy with a proven track record against high shot volumes like Kuemper (.843 HDSV% over the last two seasons) could thrive in Boston, although the B's would then have to allocate more assets to get the netminder out of Arizona. Beyond the additional headaches of looking for a new netminder to step in, it remains to be seen what value Rask actually has on the market.
Yes, he's still one of the top goalies in the NHL, but he's also 33 years old, in the last year of his contract and teams have a BEVY of cheaper alternatives to turn to in free agency/trades if they want to improve at the goaltender position. Unlike a young, cost-controlled trade chip like Jake DeBrusk or Brandon Carlo, Rask's true value is much more murky, especially when factoring in how this past season ended (as unfair as that might be, given the circumstances involved with Rask's exit).
There is some validity to Boston making such a move if they believe they have someone waiting in the wings who offers at least MOST of what Rask can give you as a No. 1 goalie, especially if moving that $7 million off the books gives the B's even more fiscal flexibility to make a splash via free agency (a Rask trade gives Boston around $22 million to open the offseason).
But there's an awful lot that can go wrong if Boston whiffs on a trade of this magnitude.
Seravalli also noted that the Oilers were also gauging the availability of Edmonton native Jake DeBrusk, who currently ranks No. 7 on TSN's Trade Bait Board. While a team with elite playmakers like the Oilers would love to add a young winger with a scoring touch into the fold, Seravalli added that a tight cap situation would likely preclude the Oilers from being realistic players for DeBrusk, who is in line for a payday as a restricted free agent this offseason.
BSJ Analysis
Indeed, Edmonton may not have the cap space or potentially the assets (Klefblom's absence will likely prompt Edmonton to hold on to any top-four defensemen Boston would target in a trade like this) to deal for DeBrusk, but given the uncertainty in terms of DeBrusk's expected payout with his new contract and his value on the market, don't be surprised to see the 23-year-old winger be mentioned in a number of trade rumors throughout the fall.
Yes, DeBrusk's inconsistent scoring output might drive many Bruins fans crazy, but dealing away with a 23-year-old winger that's averaged 20.6 goals per season in his NHL career for that reason alone stands as the type of "cut your nose off to spite your face" move that could haunt Boston if he heads elsewhere and begins to pot 30 goals per year (which, given his skillset and talent, could easily be the case).
Now, that's not to say that DeBrusk is untouchable. Boston has a good amount of cap space to work with this offseason, but if Boston hits a snag with DeBrusk and his party when it comes to contract negotiations (especially with the B's needing to allocate a healthy portion of that cap space elsewhere via trades/free agency), or if a team is willing to offer a legitimate top-four defenseman in return (likely taking over for Torey Krug), Boston could pull the trigger on such a trade.
Granted, such a move should not be taken lightly. Yes, DeBrusk's cold stretches are a cause for concern (a flaw in his game that should be ironed out with more service time in the NHL ranks), but Boston must also be cognizant of the fact that it better have some proven 5v5 scorers on this roster if DeBrusk is sent packing, given that the energetic winger ranked second on the B's last year in expected goals per 60 minutes (0.75) and high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes (3.66).
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Sean Tierney and HockeyViz.
