2023 NHL trade deadline: Ranking Bruins’ best assets to make deals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins are the class of the NHL with at least a 12-point lead over every other opponent in the standings entering Friday.
Boston has the look of an all-time team, and it’s currently on pace to break the league records for the most points and most wins by any team in regular season history.
Improving the roster before the March 3 trade deadline is a must for general manager Don Sweeney. He cannot afford to stand pat and not fortify a team with real championship potential.
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“You’ve got to hope you stay healthy, and I think we have a good hockey team. I think we’re deep, but we’re probably going to have to continue to add and supplement,” Sweeney said after a Jan. 14 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. “We’ve been blending in some of the players that have played particularly well down in Providence and earned an opportunity, so we’re going to continue to evaluate that if the opportunity presents itself.
“There haven’t been a lot of trades up until this point. We’ll have to see going forward. It’ll take some creativity for clubs like our own that have some cap challenges, but chances are that most of the teams that are hopefully going to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs generally have cap challenges, and we’re no different. We’re going to try to do our best to put the best team we possibly can.”
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The problem for the Bruins is they don’t have a large stockpile of quality assets to use in trades. The primary reason for that is they have traded three of their last five first-round picks. It’s hard to build a strong prospect pool when you are consistently absent from Round 1. The Athletic’s new prospect pool rankings released earlier this month had the B’s at No. 30 of 32 teams. Furthermore, the B’s also don’t have their own second-round pick in 2023 and 2024. Add in the fact that Boston is tight against the salary cap and Sweeney will have to get creative if he’s going to make a substantial upgrade to the roster.
What does Sweeney have at his disposal to make deals? Here’s a look at the Bruins’ best assets to use in potential trades between now and the March 3 deadline.
5. Matthew Poitras, C, Guelph Storm (OHL)
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Poitras was the Bruins’ second-round pick (54th…