I think the Bruins should add a number 1 d-man and a number 2 guy, but if they could only add one defenseman, who would it be? On the poll, this is in a trade. So please don't vote for someone unless you think they're worth paying the price for. Now, i'm not saying all these guys will be available, but the Bruins might make a CRAZY offer on someone.

I don't really understand some of the names you listed. You said you think Boston NEED to add BOTH a #1 and #2 (which I disagree) but then list guys who are 4-6 quality. The actual guy I'd like them to pursue wasn't listed in Cam Fowler.

Oh yeah, i forgot about Fowler, he would take a lot to get though. What would they have to give up do you think?

I like Fowler too, but I picked Lindholm out of the guys available. I think I'd rather have Lindholm because he's younger and Fowler could be a 1 and done guy who flees as a UFA. The guy we don't need is Kevin Klein.

Lindholm was also just re-signed in ANA for a great contract and is the reason the team will probably move on from Fowler. Cam is a guy I want them to pursue either this off-season in trade (and an extension) or when he hits the open market in 2018....The same year Chara is up, and seemingly done. That'll be Carlo's 2nd season and McAvoy's first (both have looked good this season). Sign Fowler, and your top 4 is:

Fowler -- McAvoy
Krug -- Carlo

Which would be a dream setup.

Don't sleep on Chara resigning. We do have Tom Brady playing into his 40s as well. Right now I'd say it's clear cut that Chara is our #1. If he's still in the same position next year I'd rather just keep resigning Chara to 1 year deals until he hangs them up, then just to have a shot at Cam Fowler in UFA. Gotta think he'll cost over 6M as a UFA and I gotta think Anaheim would ask for the Moon in a trade. He's basically had a breakout year playing great. They'd want Marchand or Pastrnak in a 1 for 1 or a handful of prospects that equate to his value. If I was Anaheims GM and Sweeny called and offered me something like Zboril a 2nd and Heinen for Fowler, I'd probably laugh hysterically for 2 minutes, then ask hello? then say I can't believe you're still there! and laugh for another 2 minutes until my message sunk in. Also, you've got your years off. in 2018, when Fowler would be available as a UFA it would be Carlo's 3rd season and McAvoy's 2nd, assuming they both play this coming year of 2017-2018. Fowler is a ufa after the season commences, which would make both of them have another year under their belt. If you want to get even more technical, to a level of pure genius, you could say it's McAvoy's 3rd season as well. Because McAvoy will be in the 3rd year of his ELC, due to burning a year in the playoffs this year. After they both play next year they'd both be in their last year of ELC when we signed Fowler, which could make things dicey. Are we going to be able to swing Trouba style bridge deals with them or do we have to show them the money? It'd be kinda foolish to spend around 25M on 4 defenseman. If you sign Fowler for over 6M, you better be positive you can strong arm Carlo and McAvoy into taking bridge deals. McAvoy should earn like 5M+ and Carlo 4M+ at the rate they are playing if they don't go up or down much. Then the McQuaid and Kevan Miller deals really become cancerous. 5.25 Krug 6.5 Fowler 5 McAvoy 4 Carlo 2.75 McQuaid 2.5 Miller thats 26 million on 6 defenders..... somethings gotta give in that scenario. Add in the overpaying contracts we have to Bergy, Krejci, Backes, Rask and thats like 53M. Pasta 6 Marshy 6 ..... 65M Are we gonna spend <1M per contract for everyone else? thats 7 more forwards and a backup goalie needed with whatevers left just to get to 20 roster spots. Not sure this is gonna get it done.

I love Fowler and would clearly take him for even the cap hit of 7M if there wasn't so many moving parts. It's not a bad idea for us to go after him in the GM game either, but that's based on the fact that I already moved Kevan Miller before you joined, so we gained cap flexibility. I also got something in return for Joe Morrow who I had assessed as not having a future with us because he's thrown up to level 9 before freakin JML. I haven't drank the last couple of nights and I feel like My half week bender is finally wearing off. Time to do some more scouting and see what else we can fit on our roster to give us a greater chance at a cup next season.

Well i think the same thing with Kevin Klein, as he's a UFA soon. But he's a pretty good player. Still though i don't think the Bruins need Kevin Klein as much as he's maybe more of a middle-pairing guy when i think they need a top pairing guy. So i think that also takes out Nathan Beaulieu, Jacob Trouba, maybe Olli Maatta, and POSSIBLY Brent Seabrook. I really think they need two new d-men. I'm not sure if Chara is as good as he used to be and i think he's a 2nd/3rd pairing guy. I think they go with Barrie and, if they can get him, Hedman. I think if you trade for Barrie and Hedman, you can have Barrie and Hedman both on the top pairing, then the middle pairing being Krug and Carlo. Assuming McAvoy would need to be in the Hedman trade, he wouldn't be there any more. And i see Chara as part of that trade too probably. Then they're left with both Millers on the 3rd pairing (Kevan Miller, Colin Miller). Then the defence is fixed.

I know a lot of people think the Bruins just need maybe one middle pairing guy or maybe a top pairing guy, but i think they need a number 1 defenseman and a number 2 defenseman. I know a lot of people see Krug as a number 2 guy or even a number 1 guy, but i see both Krug and Carlo as middle-pairing defensemen. At this point in his career i actually see Chara as a 3rd pairing guy, or maybe middle pairing but next year he'll probably fall off so yeah, probably 2nd pairing now, 3rd pairing next year. I mean, i can't say how he does next year, but i have a feeling he'll start to play like a 3rd pairing guy next year. So i think they're maybe stuck with 2 middle pairing guys and no top 2 guys. Of course Hedman would be a number 1 guy, but he would definitely be hard to acquire. Believe it or not, i think of Tyson Barrie as a number 2 guy, not a middle pairing guy. I mean, he has a bad plus-minus, but he plays on a horrible team. And the thing is, apparently Sakic asked for Mikhail Sergachev, Alexander Galchenyuk, and a 1st round pick all for Matt Duchene. And Duchene's plus-minus is the same as Barrie's this year. Now i'm not saying they could get that much for Barrie. I don't think that's what they're getting for Duchene as he has REALLY struggled lately. I know he plays on a bad team too, the same team as Barrie, but i think plus-minus more tells you how you're team's doing than points. I mean, Barrie has more than a point every 2 games, but he's a defenseman, and Matt Duchene has 3 more points than Tyson Barrie in 3 more games, and Barrie is a defenseman. So i actually, believe it or not, i actually think they could get more for Tyson Barrie than they could for Matt Duchene, but that's just my opinion.

Jacob Trouba doesn't seem to want to stay with the Jets and i don't know why, but since the Jets need defence, i really don't know why they'd trade him. Like, they might, but the price might be too high for the Bruins as he might cost a lot, and i see him as a middle-pairing defenseman. I think whatever the price is they'd rather go for a guy like Lindholm, so i agree with you that Lindholm would be a good option, but it might cost them more than they'd want to give up. Another guy i forgot to put on the list is Mattias Ekholm. I think they could get him for David Krejci and a good prospect and a pick.

So the only problem with Lindholm in my opinion is the asking price. That is also true with Hedman though, but i think with Hedman it might be worth paying the price from Boston. I mean, Tampa Bay doesn't have the best defence, but they could always decide to rebuild after the way the year went. They got better near the end of the year, but they were bad for too long. Believe it or not, i think Boston and Tampa Bay could make a Hedman deal in-season next year IF Tampa Bay is willing to, which could be quite unlikely.

I guess it's the fact that I talk Bruins hockey a lot on different sites. I don't know what it is with this place, but I get drained just by reading these responses and don't even want to discuss. The main takeaways that I'll mention:

Bruins are going a route that seems to be drafting and developing their defenseman. They have McAvoy and Carlo, two players who are going to be top 4 defenseman for a long time....They're already proving it. Right handed defenseman, they're set on. Left handed gets complicated once Chara leaves, but they have Zboril/Lauzon in the minors and both have top 4 upside as well. The Bruins could go out and trade for a top pairing LHD with a package of prospects and picks, or wait and see what free agency brings; Fowler as a perfect example.

The guys you listed are all untouchable to me. Hedman? Nope. Not going anywhere.... You keep bringing him up, but it's just not going to happen. Lindholm? Nope...He's not going anywhere. ANA just re-signed him and he's a stud young top 4 defenseman in the league. Trouba is a RHD, something the Bruins won't need. He doesn't like playing his off-side, part of the issue in WPG. The rest of the guys listed are nothing more than middle pairing guys....The Bruins 2nd pairing seems to be pretty set for a while in Krug/Carlo.

Like, I just don't understand the discussion. You think the Bruins need 2 top defenseman, but as a Bruins fan, that's not the case.

Chara is our top 2 next year and who says Lauzon or Zboril won't blossom after a year likely spent in the AHL? We're got premium young guys to step up and one of them is going to have to emerge. If we lose faith in both of those guys and Lindgren isn't ready yet either we would need to trade a package for a LHD if Chara retires. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Right now we have Chara McAvoy Krug Carlo as our top 4. That's as legit as I can think of in the NHL. I mean maybe Minnesota is better with Suter Spergeon Dumba Brodin, but they likely lose one. Nashville is legit too, but I think we're pretty set and stable just going with the guys we have. I'd rate our top 4 as a top 5 NHL wide if Chara stays good and our young guys take baby steps forward.

The thing with the wild is, they have Suter, Brodin, Spurgeon, Dumba, and Scandella who i'd also call a top 4 defenseman. They'll probably lose Dumba in the expansion draft, but the thing is, at least they have a top 2 defenseman. Where i see Krug and Carlo as middle pairing guys. Minnesota could be the team to acquire a defenseman from, as i see minnesota as having 3 top 2 guys, but only 2 that might be available, those being Spurgeon and Brodin. I don't believe Suter is available, but you never know. So maybe they go for Spurgeon/Brodin. Or they could always talk to Nashville about Ekholm.

First of all, they don't need any #1 or 2's because they already have that in Carlo and McAvoy. Those two are going to be absolute gems.

Second of all, Hedman? Really? It would take like their whole team to get him.

No, i'm not saying the lightning should trade Hedman, i'm just saying that the Bruins could put together an offer that Tampa Bay just can't say no to. Imagine, what if Tampa Bay got offered Pastrnak, Mcavoy, Chara, Zboril, and 2 1st rounders? Or something like that.

Would you trade Hedman if it meant you got Marchand, Mcavoy, Chara, and a 2nd?

We're not trading those guys, this is fantasy and impaired dreaming of stuff that should never happen. Why overpay for Hedman when we have 3 LHD prospects coming up and 2 stud RHD's already there. I wouldn't even pay Marchand for Hedman, we have Krug Chara McAvoy Carlo as the top 4? Wheres the freakin hole there? I see one of the best top 4's in the league.

Chara i don't see as the player he used to be, and he might even retire this offseason. Krug i see as a middle-pairing guy. I see Chara as a middle-pairing guy at best. I see Carlo as another middle-pairing guy, and i see Mcavoy as a 3rd pairing guy RIGHT NOW. Obviously i think Mcavoy will turn into a top 4 guy, but i don't think he's there yet. I mean, i haven't watched much Bruins-Senators this playoff, but he's only played 3 games, so how can we know if he's ready to be NHL top 4 yet?

Because McAvoy has played 24+ minutes a night and looked very good. He's already better than a 3rd pairing guy. Krug and Carlo are probably middle pairing guys. They're both 3-4's. MAYBE Carlo has a higher ceiling but at worst he's a 2nd pairing defenseman who can play big minutes and play a solid defensive game. Chara isn't retiring this off-season. He has 1 more season left. THEN he may very well retire, but he has at least another year.

Lmao IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED HIM, THEN WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE'S A BOTTOM PAIRING DMAN????

They need to stretch for that #1 LHD. The right side for the future is set with McAvoy /Carlo and Krug will most likely be paired with Carlo for a few years, their styles just make sense to be played together. 5/6 D will be slotted with one of 4 guys (Zboril, Lauzon, O'Gara, Gryzleck) in the future along with a McQuaid or Miller. I know most of this is pretty obvious to you guys but I don't see why there is even RHD on this poll. They need that #1 LHD and thats it, any other acquisitions on D is just a waste of space and money.

Ok, you're right about Chara, but Mcavoy has played 3 games, and you're acting like he's their best d-man already.

I've seen a bit of him, just not much.

So did you vote for Hedman?

Of course. The Bruins wouldnt do it in a million years because he'll be with the lightning for years but if he's one of the options up to trade for, he's 100% who they should trade for. More realistic option for me would be Marc Staal who can play the shutdown game and I'm sure it would not cost the farm for the Bruins to get him.

So do you see Marc Staal as a top 4 defenseman? I do, unlike a lot of people.

wait, did someone seriously just vote for they don't need a defenseman? ok.

I don't touch Marc Staal with a 10 foot pole with his contract, and concussion history. Bruins can't be taking a risk with him. I think he's slowly moving into a "borderline" 2nd pair type.