Are Bruins legitimate contenders in Jakob Chychrun sweepstakes & other deadline thoughts

With less than two weeks to go until the trade deadline, the Bruins are reportedly still on the prowl for more help at the blue line.

As the rumors swirl across the NHL and the Bruins continue to explore any and every avenue to improve this roster, let’s gauge a few of the recent rumors circulating around Boston and some intriguing players out on the market, namely on the back end. 

B’s still gunning for Jakob Chychrun?

Jakob Chychrun, the crown jewel among the field of available D-corps targets, is a bit like that shiny new sports car parked out front of the local dealership. Everyone loves staring at. Plenty wish they had it. But very, very few have the means to actually acquire it. 

As of right now, the Bruins sure seem to be in that middle tier — willing to give the car a test drive, but shirking when it comes to paying the big bucks.

Of course, a fiscal crunch is far from an issue when it comes to Boston and especially Chychrun and his bargain contract ($4.6 million cap hit through 2025). The challenge is simply having the assets available to pry Chychrun out of the desert — and outbid the numerous other teams vying for the 23-year-old defenseman’s services.

But at this juncture, it seems like the Bruins are still in the mix. 

“Based on the amount that Bill Armstrong and the Arizona Coyotes need to move the 23-year-old defenseman … this could come right down to the wire on March 21, based on the package required,” TSN’s Darren Dreger said during the latest “Insider Trading” segment on Tuesday. "It’s Florida, it’s L.A., it’s Boston, it’s St. Louis, it’s Carolina, it’s Anaheim, among the primary suitors.”

Now, when it comes to a potential fit and the Bruins’ efforts at bridging the gap between this contention window and the next generation of black-and-gold leadership, a top-four stalwart like Chychrun makes a ton of sense.

He’s signed long-term. He eats a ton of minutes. He’s not even in his prime yet. And he wields a heavy shot from the blue line that helped him bury 18 goals in just 56 games last season. And even though his numbers have dipped some this year with a rebuilding Arizona club, it’s fair to assume that a young player with Chychrun’s ceiling should thrive on a stronger club.

So no, it’s not a surprise that the Bruins are still lurking around Chychrun. If you're planning for the future, and you've got a top-four grouping of Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, Chychrun and Brandon Carlo in place, you're doing pretty well for yourself. 

Still, I remain pretty skeptical about Boston’s ability to seal the deal and bring in a foundational piece like Chychrun ahead of March 21 — at least not without gutting their assets in the process.

Frankly, as soon as Tuukka Rask retired and Jeremy Swayman ascended to the No. 1 spot on the club’s goalie depth chart, I pretty much ruled Boston out of the Chychrun sweepstakes, because I’d be floored if Armstrong and the ‘Yotes would accept an offer from Boston that didn’t have Swayman as the primary piece in return. As we saw during Boston's extensive talks centered on Oliver Ekman-Larsson this past offseason, Arizona is more than willing to hold the line and not budge if an offer is below what they're looking for. 

And given that a fellow win-now club like the Panthers might be more willing to relinquish a young stud in net like Spencer Knight (with Sergei Bobrovsky already in place), I don't see how Boston can beat the hand that Florida GM Bill Zito has at the table. 

Perhaps Boston waits it out and they can get the Coyotes to bite on an offer that doesn’t involve Swayman … but I still think you’re giving up, what — one of Mason Lohrei/Fabian Lysell, a first-round pick (if not even more draft capital), perhaps Jake DeBrusk and likely another well-regarded prospect or two. If Boston truly believes Chychrun is the missing piece, perhaps they go for it. 

But it’s not going to come cheap (if that offer is even realistic), and with the Bruins potentially needing to use that boatload of assets elsewhere to improve other areas of the roster — Don Sweeney and Co. might opt to just walk away from the table if the cost is really that exorbitant.

Targets start to emerge for depth defensemen with some heft 

Even if the Bruins don’t come out of this deadline feeding frenzy with a legit top-four stalwart, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if the B’s scour the market for some size and stout D-zone play further down on the depth chart — with potential value adds like Justin Braun and Calvin de Haan making plenty of sense for the right price.

But TSN’s Pierre LeBrun linked Boston to another interesting candidate in Jacob Middleton — a 26-year-old, left-shot defenseman on the San Jose Sharks. 

“In the meantime, an under-the-radar name for the San Jose Sharks garnering some interest — defenseman Jacob Middleton, who has partnered with both Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns at times this year,” LeBrun said. “He’s part of that penalty-killing crew that’s ranked second in the NHL.

“He’s an RFA at the end of the year, he’s making only $725,000. He’s a bit of an old-school, physical brand that teams headed to the playoffs like to stash on their roster. Among the teams that have kicked tires, I’m told — Tampa Bay, Boston and St. Louis.”

Middleton, who measures out at 6-foot-3 and 219 pounds, is averaging 18:53 of ice time this season in what stands as his first full campaign up in the NHL ranks. His production next to Karlsson (403:55 of 5v5 ice time together) is encouraging, with the Sharks outscoring opponents, 15-10 during that stretch.

Granted, Middleton would likely be slotted further down the depth chart here in Boston. But the one sticking point with Boston acquiring a pretty useful piece in Middleton is where exactly you slot him in without moving a pretty entrenched left side with Grzelcyk, Mike Reilly and Derek Forbort. Granted, if Middleton can move to the right side, you can roll out a pretty heavy third pairing with him and Forbort, but that might be asking a lot.

Waiting game continues for Hertl

As for a guy that we’ve discussed countless times before on this website in Tomas Hertl, it appears as though the Sharks are doing everything in their power to make sure he isn’t playing elsewhere in a few weeks. But if they can’t get the franchise pivot to cross the t’s and dot the i’s on a new deal soon, expected a sprint to the finish next week ahead of the deadline. 

“They are hopeful,” LeBrun said of the Sharks’ efforts to sign Hertl before he hits free agency. “There’s been an offer, a counter-offer, and they’re going back and forth. But it’s not done yet. And when teams have called over the past week asking about making an offer for Tomas Hertl, I’m told the Sharks’ response to teams was, ‘Hey, we’re not taking offers right now. We’re trying to get this guy signed.’ 

“But here’s the other reality, they know they can’t go right to March 21 on this contract negotiation. They probably need an answer about seven days out so if they can’t sign him, they pivot and properly explore the trade market for Hertl.”

Ducks poised to sell?

We labeled the Ducks as one of the potential kingmakers on the trade market before this season commenced — due in large part to their rebuilding efforts and a slew of pending UFAs set to hit the market this summer.

But after overachieving through the first few months of the 2021-22 campaign, it looks as though Ducks GM Pat Verbeek might chart such a course in the coming weeks, with pending UFAs like Hampus Lindholm, Rickard Rakell and Josh Manson potentially available.  

I'm sure the Bruins are watching with keen interest, especially if a top-four option like Lindholm is up for grabs (even if he does seem dead-set on testing free agency in July). 

Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, HockeyViz and JFreshHockey.