Are the Bruins set to partner with Anaheim on another trade?
In February of 2020, with the season's NHL Trade Deadline approaching, the Boston Bruins and the Anaheim Ducks engaged in a pair of trades.
On the 21st, the Bruins sent all but 25% of David Backes' $3.425M salary and sweetened the pot by including their 1st Round pick (turned out to be Jacob Perreault) to the Ducks in exchange for Ondrej Kase. Then, three days later, they swapped Danton Heinen for Nick Ritchie.
With this season's cutoff date just around the corner (March 21), both teams find themselves in playoff contention. The Bruins are in fourth place in the Atlantic behind Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto, but have a solid eight-point differential ahead and three games in hand on Detroit for the Eastern Conference's second wild card position. Anaheim, meanwhile, is 5th in the very contentious Pacific, but they, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers trade positions on a nightly basis as each team has 55 points. Needless to say, both the Bruins and the Ducks will want to fine tune their rosters as much as possible for the final 40 days of the season after the deadline as a means of making the playoffs.
Here's a brief summary of the names we've heard as potential targets for the Bruins:
Anaheim Ducks
1. Rickard Rakell (F) is a UFA at season's end and his name has been circulating throughout the League. It's possible that ANA could re-sign him, especially if they're in serious playoff contention at deadline time, but based on his production dropping off in the past two seasons, it's likely that he and the team won't see eye-to-eye on salary/term and Rakell will likely be moved for something rather than being able to walk for nothing. He could add some secondary scoring for the Bruins if the change of scenery perks him up and he finds the touch that allowed him to twice be a 30-goal scorer in the League.
2. Maxime Comtois (F) was the Ducks' leading scorer during last year's abbreviated season but he's not been nearly as productive this year and has drawn the ire of Head Coach Dallas Eakins, who has healthy-scratched the 22-year old lately. A change might do both parties some good and with an AAV of just over $2M for the rest of this year and next, he's an inexpensive risk for the Bruins to take on a young player.
3. Hampus Lindholm (D) is the Ducks' 1st Round pick from the 2012 draft and now one of the longest-tenured Ducks, having been a regular in the lineup since the 2013-2014 season. We've heard his name quite a lot during this trade season. At 6'4" he's a big man and he has playoff experience which other playoff-bound teams covet. Much like Rickard Rakell, the Ducks won't want to move Lindholm if they're going to make the playoffs. If they aren't, he'll draw plenty of interest from other teams, including the Bruins, and the Ducks will have to decide if the return is worth moving him.
As for which Bruins might be headed the other way if something materializes between the two teams, Jake DeBrusk's is the name that is at the top of the list. After asking for a trade earlier in the season, he'll be the first to be included in any package going the other way.
Ian McLaren, host of the Locked On Bruins podcast, would like to see Max Comtois and Hampus Lindholm in the black and yellow before season's end.
What's your list of trade targets for GM Don Sweeney and the Bruins?
