Jim McBride: Bruins could make big move at trade deadline
On Monday’s edition of Toucher and Hardy, Jim McBride who covers the Bruins for the Boston Globe, joins the show and discusses if the Bruins could be active during the trade deadline.
I’m Being Told He Wants To Be In Boston…
Jon Wallach: How much is the injury to Hampus Lindholm hurting this team? I know Grzelcyk was down for a while. They’re playing guys that don’t ordinarily play, and there have been some games where they’ve had to play five defensemen for basically three periods and overtime, how much this is bothering this team?
Jim McBride: Yeah, it’s very concerning because, you know, the defensive core as a whole hasn’t played like they did last year. I think, you know, Grzelcyk and Forbort both haven’t played up to last year standards. I think a lot of that’s injury related. But I think campus Lindholm’s injury. I think it’s really key because if he’s out for a longer period of time, I think they make a big move at the trade deadline because they can use his money. If it’s a shorter injury than that probably, you know, necessitates a lesser move at the deadline because of their cap situation. But certainly when you take your number two defenseman, a guy that plays 23, 24 minutes a game out of the mix, that’s going to hurt. So, you know, I think his injury is kind of the key, the to the trade deadline for the Bruins.
Fred Toucher: Okay. I wanted to get to that because Noah Hannifin, defenseman, Boston ties. I’m being told he wants to be in Boston. Last year of his contract. The Bruins got in what I believe you described in the Boston Globe, an ass load of cap money, going into next year. But 20 million in cap space with all the free agents, Grzelcyk, Debrusk, Forebert, Shattenkirk, Van Riemsdyk, I mean and the great Anthony Richard. But, they have all this cap money. How could they deal for Hannifin? Could he force a deal to Boston because of his ties here? Is that something that could happen? And if so, how much would it improve this team?
Jim McBride: Yeah. Because, he’s probably the big fish out there, right? He’s the guy that a lot of teams that are defensive-needy are looking at. He probably could force his hand to Boston much in the way Taylor Hall did a couple of years ago. I’ve heard rumors too that he really wants to play here. You know, fitting him under the cap for the rest of this year would be a little difficult. They’d need some help. Maybe Calgary, you know, absorbs a little bit of the money or a third team signing him beyond that, that’s probably not a problem because they, like you said, they have the, “ass load” of money to spend.
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Bruins dealt concerning news on defenseman Hampus Lindholm
BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 15: Hampus Lindholm #27 of the Boston Bruins checks Oliver Bjorkstrand #22 of the Seattle Kraken off the puck during the second period at TD Garden on February 15, 2024. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
In action for all 56 games this season, the 6-foot-4 Lindholm has recorded one goal and 19 points, along with a plus-19 rating, for the Bruins this season, and was being utilized in a defense-heavy role (and that may even be putting it lightly) opposite Brandon Carlo on the Black and Gold’s second pairing.
Among a group of 92 NHL defensemen to play at least 800 five-on-five minutes this season, Lindholm ranked first in defensive-zone starts (198), and fifth in defensive-zone faceoffs (367). Lindholm also logged the 19th-most minutes among that group of 92, at 1,001:57 five-on-five minutes prior to his injury.
Expanding that to ‘all situation’ minutes, factoring in Lindholm’s work on both the power play and penalty kill, Lindholm’s total time on ice jumps up to 14th, at 1,327:25.
And that workload almost always saw Lindholm and Carlo go against the opposition’s top offensive line.
In essence, the usage has been fast and furious for Lindholm.
Nov 25, 2023; New York, New York, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) looks to pass against the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden. (Danny Wild/USA TODAY Sports)
And for as frustrating a year as Lindholm has had, at least when it’s come to replicating last year’s 53-point and plus-49 campaign, that’s difficult usage to simply replace with a plug-and-play option.
Especially when looking at some of the game-to-game struggles the Bruins have dealt with elsewhere on the left side of their defense, with both Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort struggling at various points this season.
But this is just the latest tough hand dealt to the left side of the defense, and with two options back in the mix for Boston ahead of Wednesday’s stiff test against Connor McDavid’s club.
Oct. 3, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei (6) gets set for a face-off during overtime against the Washington Capitals at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
When it come to ‘replacing’ Lindholm, it appears that the freshly-recalled Mason Lohrei will be the first man up for the Bruins, as
AM lines:
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) February 21, 2024">he skated to the left of Carlo at Wednesday’s morning skate.
Marchand-Coyle-Heinen
DeBrusk-Zacha-Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk-Geekie-Richard
Frederic-Boqvist-Brazeau
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Lohrei-Carlo
Forbort-Wotherspoon
Lauko-Shattenkirk
Ullmark
SwaymanLohrei is back with the Bruins after a seven-game excursion back down in Providence, where he scored one goal and seven points, and returns to the NHL with three goals and six points in 27 NHL games this season.
🎥 Mason Lohrei on being back with the #NHLBruins for another stint: "I've been here a good amount this year, so I've had the luxury of working with [the coaches] all year. I know what they expect." pic.twitter.com/FIwJGLaZTC
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 21, 2024Now, this isn’t too dissimilar from when we first saw Lohrei, as the Bruins had to throw him into a top-four role against the Maple Leafs in his NHL debut.
Per NaturalStatTrick, the Lohrei-Carlo pairing has played almost 59 minutes of five-on-five time together. Over that span, the Bruins have outscored the opposition 4-3 despite being outshot 32-27 and out-chanced 29-21.
Dec 15, 2023; Elmont, New York, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon (29) during the second period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
The Bruins will also dress Parker Wotherspoon for tonight’s contest, though it appears that his reintroduction to the Boston lineup will come on the right side, with Wotherspoon slated to skate in Kevin Shattenkirk’s spot to the right of Derek Forbort.
Lindholm’s absence, meanwhile, means that the Bruins will not have a defenseman who appears in every game this season. The list of Boston skaters to appear in every game this season is also down to just four, with Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak the only players to go 56-for-56 thus far.
