Kyle Palmieri is a perfect solution to the Boston Bruins’ current woes.
Ah, this wasn’t the start to the 2020-21 NHL Season the Boston Bruins would have hoped for. Nope, without their most explosive weapon in David Pastrnak, the B’s have slumped to a sluggish 1-1-1 start and have yet to score a goal at 5-on-5 in three games this year.
What’s worst is the fact that the Bruins rank dead last in the NHL in Goals For Per Game (1.00) having scored just three goals in three games, while they are also without top-six forward Ondrej Kase who is on Injured Reserve and Pastrnak isn’t due back for another few weeks. Plus, the lack of scoring isn’t just a problem this season given that Boston ranked 18th in 5-on-5 goals last season.
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
All in all, it is a pretty bleak situation for the B’s who could have avoided all of this by signing renowned NHL goalscorer Mike Hoffman to a team-friendly contract earlier in the offseason, rather than standing pat and doing nothing with Hoffman eventually signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the St. Louis Blues.
However, there is still a way for Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney to remedy this situation… Go all out and trade for Kyle Palmieri from the New Jersey Devils. The forward would be a perfect fit for this team and would slot instantly into their top-six forward group.
Kyle Palmieri and the Boston Bruins are a match made in heaven
Boston Bruins and Kyle Palmieri just make a hell of a lot of sense as a dream couple. For starters, the B’s have craved a legitimate top-six winger for David Krejci on that second-line for years now and Palmieri would be a significant upgrade on anything they currently have, including Jake DeBrusk who is off to a slow start in 2020-21 with no points and just seven shots in three games. Yeah, not exactly ideal for a team desperate for secondary scoring.
It is also no secret that the Bruins have long had eyes for Palmieri and were reportedly kicking the tyres on the right winger at last year’s Trade Deadline, although no move came to fruition in the end. But, with the New Jersey Devils likely to be willing to trade one of their top forwards at the right price, the B’s should absolutely revisit this sooner rather than later.
In the final year of his five-year, $23,250,000 contract, which carries a cap hit of $4,650,000 this season, the Devils are unlikely going to want to pay Palmieri big dollars in the offseason given where they are at in their rebuild coupled with the fact that they should be surrounding the likes of Mackenzie Blackwood, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes with more young talent, plus they are still on the hook for P.K. Subban and his $9 million AAV for this season and next season and no team will want to go anywhere near that.
So, with that in mind, New Jersey could be tempted to part with Palmieri either now or at the Trade Deadline with the Bruins able to offer a First or Second Round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, along with a young player with upside perhaps in the ilk of forward Anders Bjork or defensemen Jakub Zboril or Urho Vaakanainen. Maybe the Bruins could be persuaded to include Jake DeBrusk as part of any deal if that’s what it takes to get a trade over the line.
At this point, any price is worth paying for the Boston Bruins given that, with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask still on the roster, coupled with a legitimate offensive star in David Pastrnak, the franchise owes it to those players to be all in on winning and this year could be the last chance for that core to add another ring to the one they won way back in 2011.
Projected to have around $19 million in cap space at the Trade Deadline and around $30 million next offseason, according to CapFriendly, the Bruins would also have the means to sign Palmieri to a new contract instantly, something the player himself would no doubt be interested in given that he would be playing for a legit contender who would give him the best chance of competing for and potentially winning a Stanley Cup.
Palmieri would just add a different dimension and a different scoring punch to this Bruins team too, finally giving Krecji a high-end offensive weapon on the right side of the second-line and providing a deadly one-two punch behind Pastrnak. Plus, Palmieri’s arrival would then bump Ondrej Kase down to the third-line which would just spread the scoring out and make this roster a much-deeper one overnight.
With two points (0 G, 2 A) in three games this season, Palmieri has 340 points (175 G, 165 A) in 564 career NHL games for both the Anaheim Ducks and the New Jersey Devils, and despite his 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds frame, the 29-year-old also plays a physical brand of hockey that would fit in with the aggressive style of hockey the Bruins pride themselves on.
Plus, with at least 40 points in each of his last five NHL seasons, including 50 or more points in three of those years, Palmieri is a consistent top-six forward who can both score and create, play on either power play unit, be relied on in clutch situations and his shot makes him a perfect weapon in 3-on-3 hockey.
Overall, the Bruins need scoring and they need a spark that will fire up their stagnant offense and they need it quick. Kyle Palmieri would be the missing piece to help take the pressure of that dynamic top line and he would lift this team to true contender status, while he could be re-signed to a longer deal and help stretch out the win-now window for another couple of years. Basically, Kyle Palmieri is both the perfect fit and the perfect solution for what the Boston Bruins need right now.