Boston Bruins: Charlie Coyle trade should pay off in playoffs

At the NHL trade deadline, the Boston Bruins traded Ryan Donato to the Minnesota Wild for Charlie Coyle. This move should pay off in the coming weeks.

If you browse through Boston Bruins threads on Facebook, you’ll see there are fans who do not like the Ryan Donato for Charlie Coyle trade for the Bruins. And if the only thing you are basing this on is points, you have a valid reason to not like this trade. But let’s take a look at the reasons Bruins fans should like this trade.

First, it’s worthing noting Donato is having a great start to his time with the Minnesota Wild. He has 15 points in seventeen games with a plus-minus rating of +1. Which is pretty good, no doubt. After close inspection, the Wild won their first five games with Donato in the lineup.

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But since this five-game stretch, the Wild only have three wins in their last 12 games with Donato in the lineup, going 3-6-3. In that span of 12 games, he has 8 points and has a plus-minus rating of -4. That is not good enough for the Wild, as they are chasing the Colorado Avalanche for the last wild-card spot. As of the time of this writing, they trail the Avs by four points with just five games left.

On the flip side, Coyle has not produced on offense for the Bruins. However, he brings more to that table than Donato. For example, Coyle is a better defender and has more size. So, therefore, in the playoffs, he is better equipped for the physicality of the postseason. Donato might not be. He is a smaller player so the physicality of the playoffs would most likely wear him down. It seemed to last year.

Coyle was never meant to be a point producer for the Bruins. If he was, they would not have gone out and gotten Marcus Johansson at the trade deadline. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Johansson got injured with a bruised lung. He is due to come back shortly for the black and gold.

Coyle is best off in the third line role where he can contribute points here and there and provide depth down the middle. And the fact that he is good (not great) at faceoffs helps the Bruins because it gives them more options down the middle, which could be valuable come playoff time. Also, Coyle is also responsible in the defensive end. So not only does he have good size but he can help protect the lead late in games which is critical in the playoffs.

So while on paper it looks like the Wild got the better of this trade, this may not be the case. Donato likely would not have gotten a chance to play for the Bruins if he was still on the roster. All things being equal in this case, at the time he was traded, the Bruins were pretty healthy at forward.

Overall, Coyle brings more to the table. He is a more complete package than Donato. Which is not to take anything away from Donato’s offensive ability, which is better than Coyle’s, but he lacks in size and defensive ability. In the latter two measures, Coyle has an advantage by a wide margin.

And in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this should ultimately turn out to help the Bruins. They are not going to outscore Tampa Bay anyway, so the best thing they could do was add strength and defense to the team to try to offset the skill gap.

So, to recap, I really like this trade for the Bruins, I think Coyle could end up having a big impact for the Bruins. He may not light the lamp regularly or end up on the scoresheet. But I do believe he brings a certain set of intangibles to the table the Donato does not. And ultimately, this ought to set Coyle apart from Donato.

This may be the reason that the Bruins have a deep playoff run. Coyle wasn’t traded for to be a second liner, and when Johansson comes back, he won’t have to, which will serve the Bruins well.