In a development that is pretty much par for the course, the Boston Bruins are seeing any NHL trade deadline plans they might have had evaporate right in front of them. The B’s biggest trade chip, Trent Frederic, was injured earlier this week and is now week-to-week with an upper body injury that likely put a serious dent in his trade value as a rental forward.
Frederic could still be moved, of course. After all, we saw it last season when the B’s traded for Pat Maroon coming off back surgery and had the heavy-duty forward in the fold by the time the Stanley Cup playoffs rolled around. But it’s doubtful the B’s are going to get the first or second round pick they might have been hoping for if Frederic is out of commission at the time of the deadline.
There had also been whispers that perhaps the Bruins would entertain dealing captain Brad Marchand if the team and the star player couldn’t come to terms on a contract extension with No. 63 in the last year of his deal. Don Sweeney had consistently indicated that the B’s top priority was to keep Marchand in the Black and Gold fold for the entirety of his NHL career, but that intention seemed a little less ironclad in recent days with his long-term future in Boston undecided at this point.
pic.twitter.com/VUORVHrJVH How ESPN, the refs, or the NHL didn't see Joseph's stick spreading Marchand's skates before the hit is beyond me.
— Capt. Marchy (@TheMaster_Plan_) March 1, 2025
Easy penalty to call and a dirty fucking hit
All of that may also be moot ahead of next week’s NHL trade deadline as Marchand likewise went down with an injury in Saturday afternoon’s 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Just three shifts into the game, P.O. Joseph clobbered Marchand from behind in the corner in a collision that looked like it bounced the B’s forward’s head off the dasher before he tumbled down the ice.
“I didn’t see the play until I saw the play. It’s never good to lose your captain, especially a player like Marchand who never lays on the ice. That not being called a penalty is pretty crazy to me,” said David Pastrnak. “I thought it was a hit from behind and especially with a player that got injured. Marchy is pretty tough. Hopefully he’s alright and he’s back soon because he’s a pretty big part of our group.”
There was no penalty call on the play and no review by the officials with Marchand being helped off the ice with what pretty clearly looked like a head injury. The non-call had Joe Sacco rankled after the game and leaves the B’s with another injury to their forward group to a player the organization might have been considering for a trade away to a contender ahead of the deadline.
"I haven't heard anything yet... I'll probably know more tomorrow,” said Sacco. “I thought we should've at least been on the power play from there."
Though a Marchand trade could be in some doubt now if the 36-year-old misses some time with an upper body injury that looked pretty nasty on first blush, it certainly doesn’t take away from the gutsy way the Bruins played in getting the two points on Saturday afternoon against a Penguins team that has fully dropped out of the playoff hunt.
“We’re gonna fight to the end. We’re not gonna give up here,” said Pastrnak, who scored a goal in the win and now has 19 goals and 38 points in 22 games since the calendar turned over to 2025. “We know where we stand and how tight the standings are. We have to embrace that and have fun with these games.
“We were just focused on our game. Super excited that we got the lead early and we got the better of it in their building.”
One player that has been held out of the last few games as a healthy scratch is Justin Brazeau, who is another player that would appear headed to be moved at the NHL trade deadline. Perhaps the latest rash of injuries to guys like Frederic and Marchand will push Brazeau into the lineup or will convince the Bruins not to play him lest they risk losing all of their potential trade chips so close to the NHL trade deadline.
The Bruins are doing well to keep pace with the other wild card playoff suitors and will probably be in it right down to the wire, but it would be a Bruins front office fail if they don’t move some players and collect some draft and prospect assets back ahead of an NHL trade deadline where they should not be buyers in any way, shape or form.
But like everything else this season, it’s not coming easy for the Bruins ahead of the deadline with all of the wrong players suffering injuries at the worst possible time.