UPDATE (Saturday): The Bruins have acquired defenseman Hampus Lindholm from the Ducks. Click here to read more about the trade.

The Anaheim Ducks are resting one of their top-4 defensemen, and a possible Bruins trade target, as they prep for a potential move ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

Hampus Lindholm is sitting for Anaheim's game on Friday night against the Florida Panthers as the Ducks "focus on a trade for him," according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Lindholm, 28, is in the final year of his deal with the Ducks.

LeBrun said on TSN's "Insider Trading" this week that "there's been no progress" on an extension with the Ducks and Lindholm, and noted the Bruins and Blues as potential fits. Lindholm is a 6-foot-4, left-shot defenseman who is averaging 22:32 of ice time this season for the Ducks, and is squarely in his prime physical years.

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That means he will come at a hefty price. According to Darren Dreger, the ask for Lindholm is a "top prospect" plus first- and third-round picks. Dreger noted that "there's always wiggle room," and perhaps the Bruins could find that in the prospect department. Otherwise, they could be looking at moving 21-year-old right-shot defenseman Mason Lohrei, a 2020 second-round pick.

Urho Vaakanainen, a 2017 first-round pick who has played a career-best 15 games so far in the 2021-22 season, seems like a fit for the Ducks in that he's a left shot with a similar playing style.

Lindholm will never be an offensive force, but he's scored between 20 and 34 points in all but one of his nine NHL seasons. His strength is more at the defensive end of the ice, where the Bruins could certainly use his 6-foot-4 frame in the top-4 mix.

He ranks middle-of-the-pack in some advanced defensive metrics, but he's done it for a Ducks team that's allowed the 10th-most goals (201) in the league. Anaheim is allowing 57 five-on-five shot attempts per 60 minutes with Lindholm on the ice, which ranks him 13th among 20 blue liners with at least 1,100 minutes in that situation. Lindholm is also an effective penalty killer; he's allowed 4.4 power play goals per 60 minutes, which is fourth-best among all left-shot defensemen with at least 120 shorthanded minutes.

Lindholm seems like a solid complement for No. 1 right-shot defenseman Charlie McAvoy, but can also slide right in next to Brandon Carlo to form a possible shutdown pairing. Carlo could use a boost in what's been a down year for him defensively.

The 2022 NHL trade deadline passes at 3 p.m. on Monday, March 21. Keep reading below for more possible targets for the Bruins.

Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @mattydsays. You can also email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

The 2022 trade deadline is officially one week away and the Bruins remain a team with more than a few needs.

Fortunately for them, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is no stranger to deadline deals. In fact, the trade deadline has proved to be Sweeney's busiest time of year on the job, with 13 different trades made on or around the trade deadline (over six deadlines in all) since Sweeney took over for Peter Chiarelli in 2015.

Sweeney's moves have ranged from depth moves to home run swings, and there's a legit case to be made that the Bruins need both ahead of this year's deadline. From a potentially glaring second-line hole to a freakishly-thin depth chart on the right side of their defense, Sweeney's deadline resume should probably featured at least two deals by this time week.

But what does his deadline history tell us about what's ahead of the Bruins?

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Lee Stempniak from Devils in exchange for 2016 fourth-round pick and 2017 second-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 34-23-6 (third in Atlantic Division, seven points above ninth place).

Sweeney's first crack at addressing the Black and Gold's constant need for help on the wings, Stempniak was brought to the Bruins in the midst of a Jersey run that included 16 goals and 41 points in 63 games. In Boston, Stempniak put up three goals and 10 points over 19 games, as the Bruins went 8-8-3 to finish the year and finished a tiebreaker short of the postseason.

Trade: Bruins acquire defenseman John-Michael Liles from Hurricanes in exchange for forward Anthony Camara, 2016 third-round pick, and 2017 fifth-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 34-23-6 (third in Atlantic Division, seven points above ninth place).

A depth defenseman pickup, Liles put up six assists in 17 games with the Bruins to round out the 2016 stretch run, and re-upped with the B’s on a one-year deal for the 2016-17 season.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Drew Stafford from Jets in exchange for conditional sixth-round pick in 2018.

Bruins record when acquired: 33-24-6 (second in Atlantic Division, four points above ninth place).

Another attempt at addressing the team's middle-six scoring woes, Stafford was a worthwhile addition for the Bruins, with four goals and eight points in 18 games with the Bruins. That sixth-round pick turned to a fifth-round pick sent to Winnipeg (and later landing in Nashville) when the Bruins clinched a playoff spot. Stafford would score two goals in six playoff games with the Bruins, and spent the final two years of his NHL career with the Devils. He's also the only Bruins player to appear in an Every Time I Die music video, though that came during his Buffalo tenure.

Trade: Bruins acquire defenseman Nick Holden from Rangers in exchange for defenseman Rob O'Gara and 2018 third-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 36-13-8 (second place in Atlantic Division, one point out of first place).

The first move of what has been Sweeney's busiest deadline of his general managing career, the Bruins brought Nick Holden to town as a third-pairing stabilizer. A 6-foot-4 left-shot defenseman, Holden tallied one goal and five points in 18 games with the B's, and appeared in two postseason games with the team. Holden has since bounced between Vegas and Ottawa.

Trade: Bruins trade winger Frank Vatrano to Panthers for 2018 third-round pick

Bruins record when traded: 37-13-8 (second place in Atlantic Division, one point out of first place).

A space-making move for the Bruins, Sweeney recouped the third-round pick he lost in the Holden deal by sending Frank Vatrano to the Panthers. Vatrano has stuck with the Panthers, too, and tallied 71 goals and 124 points in 269 games with Florida over the last five seasons. The Bruins later used that third-round pick to draft Jakub Lauko.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Rick Nash from Rangers in exchange for forward Ryan Spooner, winger Matt Beleskey, defenseman Ryan Lindgren, 2018 first-round pick, and 2019 seventh-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 37-14-8 (third place in Atlantic Division, five points out of first place).

Sweeney's first try at a big home run swing, the Bruins sent out five pieces in exchange for Nash, and No. 61 finished with three goals and six points in 11 regular-season appearances, and added three goals and five points in 12 playoff games. A concussion suffered on a high hit from the Lighting’s Cedric Paquette interrupted and derailed Nash’s Boston run, and ultimately forced Nash to retire at the end of the season. The trade will always be one of the biggest 'what if' scenarios involving this core, as both Nash and the B's were interested in a potential long-term partnership.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Tommy Wingels from Blackhawks in exchange for conditional fifth-round pick in 2019.

Bruins record when acquired: 37-15-8 (third place in Atlantic Division, five points out of first place).

A depth move at the deadline, Wingels scored two goals and five points in 18 games with the B’s, and appeared in four postseason games. The conditional fifth-round pick the B's sent to Chicago in that deal ultimately became a fourth when the Bruins advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Wingels had a direct hand in that, too, as he absorbed the hit that got the Leafs' Nazem Kadri suspended for three games in the middle of the first round.

Trade: Bruins acquire center Charlie Coyle from Wild in exchange for winger Ryan Donato and 2019 fifth-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 35-17-8 (second place in Atlantic Division, 18 points out of first place).

Certainly the most impactful trade of the Sweeney era in terms of its direct impact on a long playoff run, the Bruins made out like bandits when they acquired Coyle from the Wild in exchange for Ryan Donato and a late-round pick. Slotted behind Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci on the B's center depth chart, Coyle excelled as a puck-possession pivot, and racked up nine goals and 16 points in 24 playoff games for the Bruins on the way to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. His nine goals were tied for the most on the team, while his 16 points were the fifth-most among all B's.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Marcus Johansson from Devils in exchange for 2019 second-round pick and 2020 fourth-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 36-17-9 (second place in Atlantic Division, 17 points out of first place).

Originally acquired to skate to the right of David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk on Boston's second line, Johansson's best fit ultimately came on the B's third line with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen. The Swedish wing put up one goal and three points in 10 regular season games with the Bruins, and added four goals and 11 points in 22 playoff games.

Johansson has played for the Sabres, Wild, and Kraken since leaving the Bruins as a free agent in 2019, and could very well be on the move again this deadline with the Kraken out of contention.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Ondrej Kase from Ducks in exchange for forward David Backes, defenseman Axel Andersson, and 2020 first-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 38-11-12 (first place in Atlantic Division, three points above second place).

The Bruins tried to make their best out of a garbage situation when they had to attach a first-round pick to rid themselves of the David Backes contract. Rather than just dumping him with the pick and moving on in the name of cap space after Backes' role entered an uncomfortable territory for the Bruins and led to the veteran landing on waivers, the Bruins ditched Backes but took a chance on the oft-injured Ondrej Kase in the process.

But after Kase had a stop-and-start jump into life with the Bruins in a COVID-interrupted 2020 campaign, the Czech wing's concussion woes return and limited Kase to just three games during the 2021 season.

The Bruins ultimately decided not to extend a qualifying offer to Kase and let him walk to the Maple Leafs, where he's battled injuries but been productive when healthy, with 12 goals and 25 points in 47 games this season.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Nick Ritchie from Ducks in exchange for forward Danton Heinen.

Bruins record when acquired: 39-12-12 (first place in Atlantic Division, five points above second place).

A 'change of scenery' trade for both Ritchie and Heinen, the Bruins thought that adding the big-bodied Ritchie would help the team score some of the more dirty, high-danger area postseason goals that the team struggled to produce when going up against bigger defenses. And though Ritchie's 2020 fit with the Bruins proved to be a troubling one, Ritchie bounced back in 2021 with a career-high 15 goals and five power-play goals and 7th Player Award honors.

But the Bruins ultimately decided not to bring Ritchie back for another round after a disappointing 2021 playoff run, and Ritchie landed with the Maple Leafs on a two-year, $5 million deal. That deal turned out to be a disaster for all involved, really, as Ritchie would fail to fit on the Leafs' top line and score just two goals in 33 games with Toronto before the team waived him, and ultimately sent him to Arizona in a cap-clearing move.

Heinen, meanwhile, would score just 10 goals and eight assists in 52 games with the Ducks, but has since rebounded with the Penguins, with 13 goals and 24 points through 54 games this season.

Trade: Bruins acquire defenseman Mike Reilly from Senators in exchange for 2022 third-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 21-12-6 (fourth in East Division, four point above fifth place).

When the Bruins' decision to go with a youth movement and walk away from Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug failed to pan out the way the Bruins envisioned, Sweeney made a call to Ottawa and swung a deadline deal for Mike Reilly. An underrated puck-moving threat, Reilly put up eight assists in 15 games with the Bruins to close out the regular season, and added another four helpers in 11 postseason games.

The Bruins ultimately kept Reilly around on a three-year, $9 million extension, and are currently playing him next to Charlie McAvoy on the Black and Gold's top defensive pairing.

Trade: Bruins acquire winger Taylor Hall and forward Curtis Lazar from Sabres in exchange for winger Anders Bjork and 2021 second-round pick.

Bruins record when acquired: 21-12-6 (fourth in East Division, four point above fifth place).

Aided greatly by the fact that Taylor Hall had a full no-movement clause and made it clear that he wanted to go to Boston, the Hall-to-Boston trade remains Sweeney's greatest deadline heist as the B's general manager. Finally solving the team's never-ending quest to acquire that high-ceiling second-line wing, Hall was productive and immediately bought in on what the Bruins were selling him, and has since emerged as a core piece for the team.

The Bruins also acquired valuable fourth-line piece Curtis Lazar in that deal, while Anders Bjork has put up seven goals and 12 points in 66 games with the Sabres.

For what felt like a billion seasons in a row, the Bruins had the second-line center, but needed the second-line winger.

Last year, they finally got the winger with their heist of Taylor Hall, and actually managed to keep Hall around on a four-year extension, only to lose the center with David Krejci's decision to leave the NHL for a return to the Czech Republic. Because of course. Why should any of us have nice things? Now, nobody within the locker room or organization faulted Krejci for leaving the Bruins. When you wanna go home, you go home. And he only told us about this plan about six years in advance.

But it did create one gigantic hole for the Bruins to fill on their second line.

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The Bruins did not address that in the offseason, and when training camp failed to produce a legitimate winner for that vacancy, the Bruins decided to tweak the line by pairing Hall with David Pastrnak on the second line. And with that combo needing a center, the Bruins tabbed Erik Haula as the man the middle of the that one-two winger punch. It's a combo that's worked, too, with the Bruins outshooting opponents 151-127 and outscoring them 14-10 in 278 five-on-five minutes together.

“I mean yeah, I guess until you have a better option to consider, right?" Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said earlier this week when asked about Haula 'cementing' his role as the team's second-line center."We’ve had other guys up there, [but] this seems to work the best for the team. He’s embraced it. Done a nice job away from the puck and a nice job in the circle, complementing those guys on the rush .. He seems to have relished that, so we’ll leave him there for now.”

It's a role that is somewhat familiar to Haula, too, as the Finnish centerman tallied a career-best 29 goals and 55 points as the Golden Knights' second-line center on their run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

But while this trio has worked, there's a natural belief that the Bruins may very well be a second-line center upgrade away from legitimate contention, and this trade market may very well have its share of options on that front.

So, who is and could be on the Bruins' radar between now and the upcoming trade deadline?

An under-the-radar option ahead of the 2022 trade deadline: Jets center Andrew Copp.

A do-it-all threat for Winnipeg, the 27-year-old Copp is on the market in the midst of a season that's included a career-high 20:05 per night, which ranks as the third-most among all Jet forwards, and makes Copp one of just 23 NHL forwards averaging at least 20 minutes per night in 2021-22. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound center has certainly made use of that ice time, too, with 13 goals and 32 points through 53 games, which has him paced for what would be a career-high 19 goals and 50 points. (Not tooooo shabby when you consider his previous career-high marks on both fronts, with 15 goals and 39 points last season.)

It's likely that a good chunk of the Bruins' interest in Copp, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, comes back to his status as a relatively complete player. Copp enters the weekend with the 24th-best faceoff percentage in the league (minimum 500 faceoffs), and has logged the sixth-most penalty kill time on ice among all forwards this season. With those numbers and that potential usage in mind for the Black and Gold, the Bruins would absolutely welcome Copp and his 54.4 defensive-zone faceoff percentage, which is the 16th-best in hockey.

If you're asking me who I believe in as the perfect rental for the Bruins, it's Claude Giroux. (Disclaimer: I'm an OG Giroux Fanboy and wish this guy spent his entire career in Boston, so there's that.) But even at 34 years old, this is still a highly productive player, with 17 goals and 41 points through 54 games. And the type of all-zone threat that makes him the perfect replacement for David Krejci and perfect complement to Patrice Bergeron as Boston's one-two punch down the middle.

An offensive threat throughout his career, Giroux has proven that he can still create and finish at an acceptable rate. He'd be asked to do both as the driver of Boston's second line with David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall.

But Giroux would also provide the Bruins with yet another downright dominant faceoff option.

While Bergeron ranks atop the NHL with a 62.2 faceoff percentage, Giroux sits right behind him, at 61.4 percent. Giroux has dominated draws in the defensive zone, too, at a league-best 64.2 percentage (Bergeron is right behind him there, at 61.5 percent), and is also top five in offensive-zone faceoff percentage and power-play faceoff percentage among qualifying threats. The ability to roll back-to-back lines with dominant faceoff options (equating to puck possession) and a grinding third line could be simply devastating in the playoffs.

Giroux would also come to town with significant playoff performance, with 85 career postseason appearances, and with his 73 playoff points the 23rd-most among all active NHLers.

Now, Giroux does possess a full no-movement clause, so the ball is entirely in his court. It's been tough for many to forecast where Giroux will go (if he goes at all between now and Mar. 21 deadline), and the Bruins have not been mentioned at the same rate as teams like the Avalanche and Panthers. That's understandable given their dominance this year, as well as the fact that Giroux would only leave Philly for a legitimate chance at a Stanley Cup given how much being a Flyer has meant to him.

But honestly, plugging Giroux between Hall and Pastrnak may be enough to make the B's legit as the rest.

This is perhaps the most interesting situation to watch between now and the deadline.

The word around the league is that the Sharks want to keep pending unrestricted free agent Tomas Hertl in San Jose. That's no surprise. Emerging as one of the better all-around centers in the league, Hertl has put up 23 goals and 44 points through 57 games this year, and has been a constant bright spot in a Sharks season that's short on 'em.

But if the sides can't pull a Chris Kreider-Rangers circa 2020 and come to terms on an extension before the deadline, the 28-year-old Hertl would be the top prize of the trade deadline, and the Bruins would be first in line. Because, boy, would Hertl solve a lot of their problems and in the future as a potential long-term to the impending doom that is the future of the center position once the 36-year-old Patrice Bergeron calls it quits.

Like Giroux, Hertl would immediately slot into the middle of the Black and Gold's second line with Hall and Pastrnak with absolutely no questions asked, and represent a clear upgrade over Haula given his takeover abilities.

The big question with acquiring a player like Hertl would be the price going out the door. This isn't a player the Bruins would be able to acquire for pennies on the dollar. This would be a top-dollar acquisition (and that's before you even hammer out an extension that could pay the Czech pivot as much as $8 million a year), and would likely test the Bruins' limits when it comes to parting with prospects they consider untouchable (Fabian Lysell and Mason Lohrei) as well as a future first-round pick.

The Canucks are in a real weird spot this deadline.

Since making the switch from Travis Green to Bruce Boudreau behind the bench in early December, the Canucks are a sizzlin' 21-8-5, and only five teams have posted a better point percentage (the Bruins are one of them, in case you're wondering). But even with that surge, the Canucks sit three points out third place in the Pacific Division and two points out of the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Moneypuck's playoff probability model gives them a 25.4 percent chance of making the playoffs, and that's certainly understandable when looking at the teams in front of Vancouver. But when you've been that hot for 34 games, it's awfully hard to suddenly reverse course and decide that you wanna sell, no?

Now, let's throw in the J.T. Miller situation and make things real weird.

A gritty-but-talented center seemingly made for playoff play, the 28-year-old center signed through 2022-23 at a manageable $5.25 million cap hit has been brought up in trade rumors from the moment the Canucks struggled out of the gate this year, and is considered to have a potentially robust market. Miller's success — the 29-year-old's 69 points are the ninth-most in the NHL this year, while his 30 power-play points trail only Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid for the most in the NHL — would create an obvious bidding war this deadline, and the Bruins would be stupid not to get involved.

That said, Miller himself doesn't believe that he's going to be traded.

“I don’t think I’m getting traded," Miller said earlier this week. "I never thought I was getting traded. Everybody is speculating, so I never even looked into that [the Canucks] were trying to trade me to begin with.”

Reading between the lines here, getting the Canucks, who are facing a slight cap crunch of sorts up ahead, to bite on a Miller trade would require a good ol' fashioned hockey trade.

Those have been rare under this leadership in Boston.

Not a sexy pick by any stretch, it's fair to wonder if Jack Roslovic would be considered an option for the Bruins if they're priced out of, well, just about everybody else this deadline.

A 25-year-old right-shot center, Roslovic hasn't exactly thrived with his move from Winnipeg to his hometown Blue Jackets, with 22 goals and 60 points in 106 games with Columbus.The 2021-22 season has been an especially trying one for Roslovic, as Roslovic has averaged his lowest nightly time on ice (12:24) since 2018-19, and has struggled to find his fit under new Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen.

But for the Bruins, Roslovic, who is a pending restricted free agent making a hair over $1.8 million this year, may be a potentially perfect return if they want to go with a change of scenery for change of scenery swap involving Jake DeBrusk by the deadline.

It's unlikely that Roslovic is a long-term answer at center, of course, but he would give the Bruins another right-handed faceoff option, with Charlie Coyle and Curtis Lazar currently the only two on the roster right now. And his ability to also play right wing (arguably where he played his best hockey in Columbus) only adds value to a potential Boston fit.

This isn't the first time we've talked about Dylan Strome. When word of Jake DeBrusk's trade request went public, and with the Blackhawks among those mentioned as potentially interested in DeBrusk, a potential Strome-for-DeBrusk swap just seemed to make sense for both sides, especially with Strome's name also in the rumor mill around that time. But Strome has since found his footing this season, and has tallied 12 goals and 24 points in 26 games since the start of January. Strome’s contract and his obvious fit between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, two players that certainly figure in the Blackhawks’ future plans even with the Hawks approaching an obvious rebuild, only further complicates Strome’s status.

The No. 3 overall pick 2015 NHL Draft (a.k.a the first player taken after the Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel one-two), the 6-foot-3 Strome has tallied 60 goals and 153 points in 250 career games between the Coyotes and Blackhawks since 2016.

Similar to a guy like Roslovic (and maybe Copp to a lesser degree), perhaps the Bruins circle to Chicago and inquire on Strome should the asking price for the top-tier targets prove to be a little too high for 'em this deadline.

The Boston Bruins are less than two weeks from the NHL trade deadline and will be buyers.

Now, their level of buying remains to be seen. The Bruins have their needs — and then some — but are also operating with limited trade capital after repeated buys in pursuit of a Stanley Cup championship.

The Bruins have also done their part to replenish what was a barren prospect cupboard, and are entering this deadline with what has to be their lengthiest list of potential non-starters and untouchables in recent memory.

It's all enough to get you wondering who and what the Bruins are willing to dangle out there in any trade talks, and what teams interested in swinging a deal with the Bruins will ask for between now and the Mar. 21 trade deadline.

So, let's try and take a stab at it...

This is an obvious one. Jake DeBrusk wants out and the Bruins want to make that happen for him.

But they've also made it clear that they're not going to simply give him away just to put this behind them, so a deadline deal with some inflated value is certainly the best bet.

The 25-year-old DeBrusk has certainly done his part to boost his stock of late, too, and has tallied eight goals and 10 points over his last nine games. That production will only help a trade market that was at one point considered rather robust, too, with as many as eight teams linked to the Edmonton native when word of his request first went public.

But because nothing is ever easy, in addition to what's been a topsy-turvy road of production over the last three years, interested teams (and uninterested teams for that matter) have been a bit spooked by DeBrusk's heavy qualifying offer due as a pending restricted free agent this summer. DeBrusk's camp has, however, made it known that they're willing to negotiate an extension ahead of that deadline if it makes sense for both parties.

That's potential good news for the Bruins getting the most bang for their buck in any DeBrusk trade.

If the Bruins are to deal from a position of strength, it's at left wing. The position is headlined by Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall, features Anton Blidh, and left wing is Nick Foligno's natural position. The Bruins could also move centers Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek to left wing if and when push comes to shove. Both players have considerable experience there. But if left wing shuffling extends beyond DeBrusk this deadline, Trent Frederic is the name that would make most to a potential seller.

Finally appearing to look like the player the Bruins viewed as a first-round talent back in 2016, the 6-foot-2 Frederic has started to round out his game on a new-look third line with Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith, and has recorded a goal and four points over his last three appearances, and has four goals and 10 points through 37 games this season. The Bruins have also worked with Frederic's mindset as an offensive threat, and encouraged him to put himself in stronger shooting positions.

Of course, the Bruins wouldn't want to trade Frederic now given their investment in him as a capable NHLer, but he's a name that'll certainly be of interest given his age, contract status, and always desired game as a player with some nasty.

This season has finally seen the Bruins reap the rewards of the promise of 2017 first-round pick Urho Vaakanainen.

In action for 15 games this year, the 6-foot-1 Vaakanainen has fit with Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins’ top pairing, played his off side on Boston’s third pairing when asked, and tallied a career-best four assists and 19:17 of time on ice per night. The Finnish defenseman has also stayed true to his roots as a potential stopper of a defender, with 10 hits and 12 blocked shots. But similar to Jakub Zboril, the numbers game is working against Vaakanainen at 'LHD' beyond this year, and this year's sample may be promising enough for the Bruins to maximize their return on Vaak in a potential trade.

One problem for Vaakanainen and the Bruins? He has played just two games since Kraken forward Yanni Gourde tried boarding him into another dimension and gave him a concussion, and was a late scratch from what would've been his third game after telling team trainers that he 'wasn't feeling right' after the pregame warm-up.

Bit of a weird one here. The Bruins' top pick from the forgettable 2015 NHL Draft, Zboril is done for the season with a torn ACL and is actually staring down a potential jump into unrestricted free agency as a Group 6 free agent.

Given the way the B's defense looks long term (all three left-shot defensemen in front of Zboril on the Boston depth chart have multiple years left on their deal), perhaps Zboril is wondering if it's time for a fresh start himself. (It wouldn't be the first time he's thought about this.) And if you're a team looking for a potential low-risk sweetener in a deadline deal, Zboril may be your guy. Especially if the Bruins don't feel that he's likely to return to the club in 2022-23.

Prior to his season-ending injury, the Czech-born defender was appearing to have turned a corner in his development, with three assists to go with 24 hits and 10 blocked shots in 10 appearances.

Jeremy Swayman is one of the Bruins' few untouchables on the 'prospect' front. I honestly think that became official when they effectively chose Swayman over Daniel Vladar last summer instead of putting Swayman in the minors to begin the year, and Swayman's only become more important to the Bruins since Tuukka Rask's retirement. Oh, and he's playing some lights out hockey. But if you're a general manager looking to make a deal with the Bruins, you wouldn't be doing your job if you didn't at least ask about the 23-year-old netminder. You're just gonna be told to piss off, so be prepared for that.

It's worth wondering if the Bruins are finally ready to cut bait with Jack Studnicka.

While patience is certainly a virtue, this is Studnicka's third full season as a pro, and he doesn't look any closer to grabbing hold of a full-time NHL spot. The Bruins even season with an open second-line center vacancy, and still, Studnicka's push didn't come when the competition ramped up. The 23-year-old Studnicka has totaled two assists in 10 NHL appearances this year, and has one goal and six points in 32 NHL contests over the last three campaigns. In Providence, Studnicka's tallied 10 goals and 30 points in 34 games this year, and has 34 goals and 91 points in 110 AHL contests over the last four seasons.

Winger Oskar Steen's fall out of frame at the NHL level is a bit unusual. The Swedish Quadzilla, Steen has put put up two goals and six points in 19 appearances with the Big B's this season, and the Bruins have outshot opponents 109-86 when Steen is on the ice at five-on-five play. But Steen hasn't made an NHL appearance since Feb. 8, and the B's coaching staff didn't seem to believe in the idea of plugging Steen to the right of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand on the top line. The 5-foot-9 Steen has lit it up in Providence this year, with 14 goals and 26 points in 27 AHL contests this year.

A third-round pick (No. 77 overall) in 2018, winger Jakub Lauko has produced 13 goals and 41 points in 75 games since turning pro in 2019. This year has been a big time struggle for the Czech-born Lauko, too, with a Providence-worst minus-19 rating and a career-worst 4.2 shooting percentage to his name through 30 appearances this season. Lauko, who turns 22 later this month, is also on the wrong end of a numbers game as a left-shot forward.

Another first-round pick who wants out of Boston, Zach Senyshyn is dying for an opportunity he doesn't see himself getting with the Bruins. At this point, it feels obvious that the Bruins aren't going to give it to him (they've decided to play natural left wings at right wing multiple times this season), especially with Senyshyn in the midst of a career year in Providence, with career-highs in goals (17), points (29), power-play goals (5), and game-winning goals (4) through 45 games played.

An underrated weapon this deadline: Cap space possessed by teams like the Sabres and Coyotes. The Sabres are currently slated to have almost $40 million in cap space this summer, while the Coyotes will have nearly $44 million. The 31-year-old Moore, meanwhile, is in the fourth year of a five-year deal that pays him $2.75 million per season, and has spent the majority of the season in Providence as a cap-saving casualty for the Bruins. Moore has totaled one goal and six points in 11 games with the P-Bruins, and could be a potential acquire-and-flip-next-year talent for a team like Arizona or Buffalo.

Boston's first-round pick from the 2019 NHL Draft, Beecher, a 6-foot-3 left-shot center, has recorded 19 goals and 37 points in 76 games at the University of Michigan over the last three seasons. Beecher's ceiling remains a considerable mystery, as he hasn't looked close to matching his 16-point output as a freshman, but is obviously buried down the depth chart on what's a simply stacked Wolverine forward grouping in terms of high-end talent.

The B's lucked into something special with 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell. Drafted by the Bruins with the No. 21 overall pick, Lysell has dazzled in his first year with the WHL's Vancouver Giants, with 18 goals and 42 points through 37 games. A player with a tremendous blend of speed and skill, Lysell should be damn near untouchable for the Bruins, if only because he possesses a skillset that the Bruins severely lack in their organizational ranks. But he's certainly a name that other teams will ask about, especially if the Bruins are going to take a home run swing or two this deadline.

Drafted by the Bruins with the No. 58 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Lohrei's development has been an interesting one. At one point considered a reach by the Bruins, Lohrei has quickly developed into a player that certainly looks NHL capable, and has recorded four goals and 29 points, along with a plus-16 rating, in 31 games as a freshman at Ohio State. Scouts have raved about Lohrei's skating game, and with a 6-foot-4 frame to go with that, the B's are going to fight like hell to keep him out of any sort of trade talks this deadline and beyond. Lohrei and Lysell may very well be the only non-pro untouchables they have.

The Bruins have traded a first-round pick in a deadline deal on two separate occasions under Sweeney's watch, with Sweeney including a first-round pick in the team's 2018 deal for the Rangers' Rick Nash and then again in 2020 in a deal for Anaheim's Ondrej Kase. You can understand why the B's would prefer not to part with a first-round pick — the pick sent to New York in the Nash deal was later used in a move-up deal that ultimately ended with K'Andre Miller in Manhattan while the Ducks selected right winger Jacob Perreault with the No. 27 overall pick in 2020 — but sometimes it's the price of a bidding war.

For the Bruins, their willingness to part with a first-round pick may very well come down to who and what they're getting in return. I can't see Sweeney moving with a first-round pick for a pure rental, but if it's a player who is under 30 and has years left on their deal? That makes more sense. After all, a win-now team operating within this tight window could use that player more than they could use a late first-round pick who's probably unlikely to crack an NHL roster within the next two years.

Second-round picks have been common trade fodder for the Bruins under Sweeney. They moved a second (and a fourth) in a 2016 trade for Lee Stempniak, did the same in a 2019 deal for Marcus Johansson, and parted with a second-round pick to bring Taylor Hall to Boston from Buffalo last deadline.

Another popular round frequently traded by Sweeney for deadline help, the B's traded their 2022 third-round pick in last year's deadline deal for Mike Reilly, but they do possess the Flames' third-round selection in 2022 as a result of last summer's Daniel Vladar trade. The Bruins have moved a third-round pick at or near the deadline on three separate occasions, parting with such an asset in their 2016 deadline trade for John-Michael Liles, in 2018 for Nick Holden, and for Reilly last year.

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