3 players the Boston Bruins should trade after humiliating postseason exit
The Boston Bruins need a shakeup after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
A year after losing to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins have fallen in the second round to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only that, but the series wasn’t truly that close – Tampa won in five games.
It’s clear the Bruins need to make some changes if they want to win another Stanley Cup with their current core of players. Tuukka Rask isn’t getting any younger. Neither is Zdeno Chara (who might have just played his last game). Nor are Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, or Brad Marchand.
The Bruins need a shakeup. Their supporting cast around their stars simply isn’t good enough. Here are three players they should trade this offseason.
3. Ondrej Kase
At the trade deadline, the Boston Bruins gave up a lot to get Ondrej Kase from the Anaheim Ducks. On paper, it looked like a good move. Kase was supposed to help fix the Bruins second line and give them a much-needed scoring punch. Instead, he had just 5 points in 20 games between the regular season and postseason with the Bruins. None of those 5 points were goals.
Considering they gave up a first-round pick for him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he stays on the roster for next season. But the Bruins should consider trading him to replenish some of the resources they gave up to get him. Sometimes, it’s best to just admit you screwed up and fix your mistake.
Kase still has a bit of value despite his injury history. He’s an undeniably impressive goal scorer. Also, Kase is relatively cheap, as he has a $2.6 million cap hit for next season before becoming a restricted free agent. Someone’s going to want him because if Kase is healthy, he has the talent to be a very good top-six forward. But he simply isn’t a fit with the Bruins.
2. John Moore
The Boston Bruins blue line is a bit crowded right now. Currently, the Bruins have five defensemen signed for next season. This doesn’t include Zdeno Chara (who still might come back for another season) or Matt Grzelcyk, who’s a restricted free agent. Nor does it include Torey Krug, who the Bruins might re-sign.
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Regardless of what happens with the players listed above, the Bruins should part ways with John Moore. He has three years left on his deal with a $2.75 million cap hit. Moore only played in 24 games during the regular season and in merely one during the postseason. It makes no sense to keep him around.
Of course, trading him might be impossible. But if the Bruins can persuade a team like the Ottawa Senators to take on his deal, they should do it. The Bruins will probably have to throw in a third-round or second-round pick to get rid of him at this point. But it would be worth it.
Moore’s contract was bad before the ink dried on the paper. Somehow, it looks even worse now. He has just 16 points in 85 regular season games and the Bruins clearly have six better defensemen than him. It makes no sense for the Bruins to have Moore on the roster at this point. Sure, he provides defensive depth, but you can find that for a heck of a lot cheaper than Moore.
1. Nick Ritchie
Surprisingly, the trade for Kase wasn’t the worst trade the Boston Bruins made at the trade deadline. That distinctive honor belongs to the Nick Ritchie trade. The Bruins sent Danton Heinen, a perfectly useful forward, to the Anaheim Ducks for Ritchie. They thought it would give them that “snarl” they sort of lacked last year. Instead, the trade blew up in their face.
In 15 games split between the regular season and postseason, Ritchie only had three points for the Bruins. His underlying stats were very unimpressive as well. Also, Ritchie was a liability to the team with 35 penalty minutes in those 15 games. Frankly, he should have gotten more penalty minutes too.
The thing about Ritchie is he’s tradeable. Teams are always looking for more size. Maybe there’s a team out there that thinks Ritchie is a skilled power forward. He has a pretty cheap contract for next season, as his cap hit is a shade under $1.5 million.
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Ritchie cost his team dearly in Game 4. Just when the Boston Bruins were starting to pick up some momentum, he did a lot of dumb stuff that handed the momentum right back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Though he wasn’t suspended for his actions in Game 4, he was a healthy scratch in Game 5. That says everything.