2020 Bruins Trades Have Potential
The 2020 trade deadline has come to an end. What Don Sweeney did with his remaining time was honestly quite shocking.
A lot of fans hounded the Bruins management, hoping they would go all out this year. In years past, Cam Neely and Sweeney have been playing things safe. They have continued to acquire depth and rentals. This year, the B's gave up a little more than anyone ever anticipated.
And that is not necessarily a bad thing. The Bruins were able to trade David Backes to Anaheim while only having to keep a fourth of his salary. That is huge. Backes, who is on the back end of his career, was originally signed for $6 million a year for five years. The veteran was stellar in the locker room but due to the number of injuries he has sustained in his playing career, he has become much softer and not as fast. Yes, they also gave up Axel Andersson and a 2020 first round pick, but the exchange was overall a success. In return, the Bruins got Ondrej Kase. He will fill in on the right side of David Krejci and hopefully be a great addition and the second line help we have been looking for this past decade.
The Bruins certainly had a recurring theme this season, trading with the Ducks once again. Just before the end of the deadline, Danton Heinen was traded for Nick Ritchie - Brett Ritchie's brother. Nick Ritchie is also a winger and will most likely be placed on the fourth line as not to disturb the third. Reports say that Heinen was visibly upset and shocked about the news of him being traded as he loves Boston so much. He is aware that he will be just fine, but will indeed miss wearing the spoked B.
Rumors had been out there of the possibility to either trade for Kyle Palmeiri or Chris Kreider. Kreider extended his contract with the New York Rangers to seven years while Palmeiri also did not go anywhere. Personally, I believe management could not come to an agreement for Palmeiri otherwise he could very well be a Bruin. Also, because Palmeiri is such a dominant player and person he may not have meshed well with the guys on the ice.
Sure, the Bruins didn't do anything extreme. But they did clear up a significant amount of cap space to potentially resign Torey Krug and give him the pay raise he deserves. It will be very exciting to see what happens in the coming games and as Diehards, we wish Backes, Heinen and Andersson the best!