NHL Trade Deadline Rumors: Is Boston Going Big At Deadline? Leafs, Lightning Looking For Depth, Kings Interest In Talbot?    

Bruins Fall Short On Horvat, Now Looking At Larkin, Chychrun

The Boston Bruins reached the All-Star break with the NHL’s best record and a 13-point lead in the Atlantic Division, but that has not stopped GM Don Sweeney from looking to make a big move before the March 3^rd trade deadline. Reports indicate that the Bruins were in on Bo Horvat, but lost out to the New York Islanders because their 2023 first-round pick potentially being in the middle of the first round.

Now there is speculation that the Bruins could kick tires on Detroit’s Dylan Larkin if the impasse continues between the Wings and their team captain, and have entered the discussion with Arizona about blueliner Jakob Chychrun.

Larkin is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the presumption is that Sweeney would acquire and sign the 26-year-old center, as the Bruins did at the deadline last season after acquiring blueliner Hampus Lindholm from Anaheim.

Sources out of Boston have indicated that the Bruins may not anxious to mess with team chemistry and their current roster, other than possibly moving out pending UFA Craig Smith or defenseman Mike Reilly to make depth moves at the deadline, but adding Larkin would be to take the spot of either Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci if they retire, while Chychrun would give the Bruins another top pairing blueliner on top of Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy.

“I don’t think we’re too concerned about adding or keeping it the same. We’re trying to build towards something.” Bruins forward Nick Foligno said earlier this week. “Management knows that we’re trying to build towards (being) Stanley Cup champions, so if they feel there’s a need to put somebody in, we’re gonna trust that guy. A lot of times, they’ve talked to (Bergeron) about who they’re bringing in and the communication you can see is there.”

Leafs Looking For Size And Depth Up Front

The injury to Auston Matthews has the Toronto Maple Leafs in the position of treading water until the Hart Trophy winner returns later this month, but in recent games the lack of production in the club’s bottom six may be altering the focus of GM Kyle Dubas from acquiring a forward and defenseman before the deadline to the necessity of adding more up front before March 3^rd.

David Kampf has not scored in 24 games, Alex Kerfoot has one goal in 16 games, and Zach Aston-Reese has scored twice in 29 games, putting more pressure on the Leafs core group to score every night. While the chatter is constant that Dubas should go all-in and try to acquire top-six forwards like Ryan O’Reilly or Timo Meier at the cost of their first-round pick and/or top prospect Matthew Knies, there are rumors of Toronto looking to make more than one move to get bigger at forward in anticipation of playing Tampa in the first round and perhaps the Bruins in round two.

One name that is being mentioned is Maxime Comtois of the Anaheim Ducks. Comtois led the Ducks in scoring during the shortened season two years ago. The 24-year-old is two years away from unrestricted free agency, is arbitration-eligible this summer, and his 6-foot-2, 210 lb. frame would add some bulk to the Leafs’ forward depth.  After two disappointing years in a row, new Ducks GM Pat Verbeek might not give Comtois a qualifying offer, whereas Toronto with seven UFA forwards after the season likely would.

Another name that might be on the radar of the cap-strapped Leafs and Tampa Bay is Chicago depth forward Sam Lafferty. The former Penguin has eight goals in 42 games for the Hawks, can play all three forward positions, and is signed through 2023-24 at $1.15 million. Both Toronto and the Lightning were involved in trade talks with Chicago GM Kyle Davidson for forward Brandon Hagel before last year’s deadline, (with Tampa winning out at the cost of two first-round picks and two prospects). Although the cost for the 6’1”, 195 lb forward will be considerably less than Hagel (who has 41 points in Tampa this year), it could escalate if the two clubs are in competition with each other.

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February Trade Winds

Ottawa may be one of those teams that both buy and sell at the deadline. GM Pierre Dorion has been looking for a right-shot defenseman and was in Los Angeles last week at the Kings – Hawks game.  L.A. has righties in ample supply in Matt Roy, Sean Walker, and Sean Durzi, and recent reports of goalie Cam Talbot possibly being available make sense for GM Rob Blake, with Cal Petersen in the AHL and Pheonix Copley the de facto starter ahead of the aging Jonathan Quick.