As a Bruins fan I can say you can keep Gustafsson, Kempny, and your 3rd (plus we'd have to retain salary) NO THANK YOU! None of that sounds appealing... If CHI town wanted to make a serious offer on the big man it would almost certainly have to include Hartman... We're looking for help on the wing (top 6) not 2 unproven defensemen and a deep playoff pick

As a hawks fan I'd agree with you. Especially with...who's to say right now that the Bruins don't have a better chance than the Hawks. I think they do have a better shot. The Hawks are SOOO up and down and injured. At this point I'm not sure why Chara or any other Dman with his kind of roots would swap teams.

Boston will be in the playoff, No way are they dealing Chara.

I wouldn't even say Boston is looking for a top 6 winger. At this point their looking for a LHD that can be a top 4, maybe a replacement for Chara one day. Once Krejci returns, it actually forces Cassidy to sit someone whose been playing well....

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
Heinen - Krejci - Backes
DeBrusk - Spooner - Bjork

^That's your top 9 when Krejci returns and none of those guys have played so bad that Boston needs an upgrade.

Line 2 & 3 has amassed 34 goals between the 6 of them... (I know injuries have a lot to do with that for Krejci, Backes, & Spooner) but we're what 36 games in right now? that's not really something to be boasting about. That said I think they've been playing good, but we could stand some help in the goal scoring department...

Maybe you are right though a LHD is something we should be shopping for, though I think Chara may have a couple years in him (not a 4.0 cap hit) but maybe a 2 yr extension at a friendlier cap hit. The problem is there isn't much in the way of LHD in the UFA and we don't have much in the way of trade chips. I think an extension until a deeper UFA pool opens up might be the best way to go. IDK what is your thoughts on acquiring said LHD?

Spooner - 16 of 36 games
Krejci - 18 of 36 games
Backes - 19 of 36 games
Bjork* - 28 of 36 games
Heinen* - 32 of 36 games
DeBrusk* - 32 of 36 games

*Denotes Rookie

So really its only 34 goals, but everyone has missed time and half the line-up is rookies. Development suggests that the rookies should improve in play year over year (although sometimes it doesn't happen) and IDK if Spooner is even on this team next year. Here are the OPTG for each of these guys

Spooner - 4 Goals
Krejci - 18 Goals
Backes - 24 Goals
Bjork* - 11 Goals
Heinen* - 22 Goals
DeBrusk* - 20 Goals

^Again this are just on pace totals and a lot can change, but this is what the averages say. I see 3 (almost 4) 20 goal scorers in that 2nd/3rd line, which most teams would love to have. Bjork is a sleeper that could get hot at any point and seems to be improving since coming back from a concussion. IDK I just don't see it the same way you do I guess.



Not many trade chips?

Senyshyn
JFK
Zboril
Lauzon
Frederic
Studnicka
Lindgren
Cehlarik

^just a few trade pieces the B's have in young talent that teams would ask for. Boston is loaded with prospects right now and honestly most wont stay in the organization because we simply don't have room for them. Also from that list you have guys like Zboril, Lauzon, Lindgren who are all LHD. Maybe not top pairing material (although Zboril has the talent), but we can stay in house if need be.

There are a few guys this year that maybe you peak at, but McAvoy, Carlo, JFK and Heinen are all due for extension in the next few seasons and McAvoy/Carlo wont come cheap and if Heinen keeps playing at a 60+ point pace, he wont either. Few guys off the top of my head though this off-season: Jack Johnson, Calvin De Hann. Then of course the following year is potentially the Dman Sweepstakes with EK, DD and OEL, of course only OEL is a LHD. If I'm Boston I try to get Chara on a year to year deal (shoot for 3 years of 1 year deals) and go hard for OEL when he hits UFA. There's options, but honestly I'm hoping that someone in the system can step up (i.e. Zboril).

I'm just curious, but what happens when Anisimov comes off IR in a few weeks, or month or two? You only have 450k in cap space, and no where to put him? You can't just leave him on IR all season when he's healthy.