5 quick thoughts on the Bruins moving on from Justin Brazeau

If 'selling' at the trade deadline for the Bruins meant moving on from the injured Trent Frederic and calling it a week, then did Don Sweeney really sell at the 2025 trade deadline? Fortunately for our wellness and thirst for some more excitement, Sweeney decided to throw that potential talking point out the window late Thursday night with a trade that sent Justin Brazeau to Minnesota.

In exchange for Brazeau, the Bruins received forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko, and also re-acquired the 2026 sixth-round pick originally sent out in the 2024 deadline move for Pat Maroon.

At the risk of oversimplifying things, getting not one, not two, but three pieces in exchange for a pending unrestricted free agent feels like a win more often than not. That feels especially true when talking about a 76-game NHLer who had not scored a goal since Jan. 5 and had just one goal in his last 20 games prior to the trade. I mean, to be completely honest, I had almost resigned myself to the idea that Brazeau would fetch a sixth- or fifth-round pick at the very best given his recent cold spell, which culminated in healthy scratches in three of his final seven games with the organization. So, to outdo that by two assets, even if they are not franchise-changing additions, is better than what you had anticipated.

That said, man, could Brazeau's cold spell have happened at a worse time?

When things first started slipping away from the Bruins out of the break, I thought to myself, "Well, if Brazeau can continue to pot some goals and remain a factor, that return should be pretty solid!" This was in late December, when Brazeau was on pace for a 20-goal, 38-point season. In my head, dreams of a return similar to the one the Capitals got for Anthony Mantha from the Golden Knights last season (a second-round pick and fourth-round pick) danced about. It seemed high, I admit, but in a market short on bonafide sellers, prices are/were at a premium and felt doable if the production followed.

Sadly, for the Bruins both on the ice and in the front office when the on-ice losses piled up, it did not. But even so, there's something to be said for turning what's been almost nothing from a production standpoint in three somethings. And that's before acknowledging that contract talks between the B's and Brazeau flamed out and set Brazeau up as someone absolutely leaving for nothing this July.

Here are some other quick-hitter thoughts on the late-night trade...

The 6-foot-5 Justin Brazeau's Bruins tenure may have kicked off with a roar and ended with a whimper, but let's not get things too twisted here: Brazeau was a Bruins success story.

Brought in on an AHL-only contract, Brazeau got himself into the best shape of his life, worked on his skating, and ultimately turned those efforts into an NHL contract and some big-time minutes with Boston over his 76-game run. And the Bruins did this while openly acknowledging Brazeau's weaknesses and shortcomings, but doing their absolute best to work around them and maximize what he did do well.

I think sometimes and especially in the late-stage Bergeron era of Bruins hockey, the Bruins were so hyper-focused on having a hole-free lineup that they did not accept anything less than a finished, three-zone product. Often to a detriment when it came to deploying AHL standouts turned NHL nothings. I think you still see that mindset creep into how they operate (especially up front), but with Brazeau, they said screw it and by all means said, "Hey. Focus on scoring those gross-ass, net-front goals you rack up so well. We'll find someone else to kill penalties and nail those defensive-zone reads."

It made Brazeau a frustrating talent towards the end of his time here, of course. When he was not scoring, he was having a hard time impacting the game in any sort of positive way. And boy oh boy did his final Bruins appearance feel like a borderline punishment to Matt Poitras trying to drag positive rushes into the offensive zone out of the sometimes-lumbering-himself-out-of-range Brazeau.

But the Bruins, for the most part, squeezed the proverbial orange of No. 55 successfully.

This is not just important because of the Bruins' current place in the standings and their need to develop some imperfect or not-fully-ready players down the stretch here, but also because of their drafting. The bill of countless 'buy' years has come due, and the Bruins are going to have to lift up every CHL, NCAA, and European couch cushion in search of additional help until the pipeline is fully rebuilt. That's the challenge for every team in this league, but it's especially important to teams that trade picks at the rate teams like Boston, Vegas, Colorado, and Tampa Bay have in recent campaigns.

For the Bruins, it's now about finding the next Brazeau and developing and deploying him the same way.

If you're looking for a headlining piece of the return coming back to Boston in the Brazeau trade, it's certainly forward Marat Khusnutdinov. Drafted by Minnesota in the second round (No. 37 overall) in 2020, Khusnutdinov is coming over as a player with an undoubtedly higher ceiling than what he's shown at the NHL level thus far, with just three goals and 11 points through 73 games played.

And usage could be a big reason as to why.

One of 10 Minnesota forwards to play at least 700 five-on-five minutes since the start of last season, nobody's had less offensive-zone run among that group than the 22-year-old Khusnutdinov. Expand it beyond just Minnesota and only 18 forwards (out of a group of 401) have had fewer offensive-zone starts per 60 than Khusnutdinov (5.38), with Boston fourth-line stalwart Johnny Beecher being one of them, in case you're wondering just how low of a rate we're talking about here.

It's one hell of an introduction to the NHL, and one that Khusnutdinov might be better off for having experienced, but not one the Bruins should commit themselves to furthering at this point in time. Going back to Khusnutdinov's pre-draft scouting reports, most analysts and prospects people lauded his blend of speed and skill, and thought he had legitimate top-six upside because of it.

You saw that in the KHL, too, headlined by a 2022-23 season that featured 11 goals and 41 points in 63 games for SKA St. Petersburg, making him the team's sixth-highest scorer and at just 20 years old.

The Bruins gotta get Khusnutdinov playing with that kind of offensive poise. That, infinitely more than mucking it up in defensive-zone deployment, is absolutely what they need more of in their system. It'll also be interesting to see how the B's project the 5-foot-11, 176-pound forward moving forward, be it as a wing or at his natural center spot, where he's struggled to win faceoffs out of the gate (44.2 percent).

Wherever it is, though, the Bruins owe it to themselves to try and find that spot above the fourth line.

Consider me among those happy to see Jakub Lauko back in Boston. Always a pleasant conversation, always smiling, always a good quote, and a guy who simply 'gets' it in his line of work. So, hey, you're not going to catch me complaining about grapes being back on the pregame snack menu.

But bringing Lauko back to the Bruins less than a year after trading him out of town is certainly enough to get my ears perked up and get me wondering about what's next.

In Boston, Lauko was an energy winger who spent the majority of his time on Boston's fourth line. He got some run on the third line at times, but the Black and Gold seemed pretty certain that he was a fourth-line type. The Wild clearly felt the same prior to sending him back to Boston, with the 24-year-old Lauko coming to town averaging 10:03 of time on ice per game this season.

My first thought: This is a trade you make when you plan on shedding more players from your NHL roster by the 3 p.m. deadline Friday. Could the Bruins be set to move on from someone like pending unrestricted free agent Cole Koepke if there's a contender who thinks he's of more use to them than the Bruins in 2025, or could they be ready to move on from 2019 first rounder Johnny Beecher? The Bruins have tons of options for their fourth line, so adding another fourth-line wing seems, again, a bit odd and addressing a need that you didn't need to address down the stretch.

My other thought? Maybe it's as simple as Lauko is the kind of personality a retooling team needs in their locker room to keep things light down the stretch. There's no doubt that this has been a trying year in that locker room. I mean, some nights it's been downright uncomfortable to go in there and talk about yet another, rip-your-heart-out-and-stomp-on-it-at-center-ice kind of loss. Guys like Lauko are able to keep guys laughing at tense moments, and he backs it up as best he can with 110% on every single shift.

There were so many times in Boston where Lauko was able to turn the tide with a good shift, a scrap, and not to mention his penchant for drawing penalties and putting the Bruins on the power play.

My read here is that the local media won't be the only ones happy to see No. 94 back in town. But whether or not he's back here for morale purposes and morale purposes alone is something that'll seemingly be determined by what the Bruins do or don't do between now and 3 p.m. Friday.

At the risk of my mentions flooding with people accusing me of being in love with Don Sweeney, I do like what he's been able to do through two trade deadline deals. An injured, underperforming Trent Frederic was turned into a second-round pick, fourth-round pick, and a 6-foot-3 defensive prospect. And then Brazeau, who had not scored a goal in forever, was also flipped into a three-asset return. Again, when discussing two players who clearly were not in your future plans, that's solid work.

But, let's be real, these were the easy moves of Sweeney's deadline. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I would know to ask for Khusnutdinov in the trade (zero percent chance I'm getting that name right on my call with Billy Guerin to even ask for him, I'd probably end up with Anton Khudobin instead by accident), but these are the trade decisions we all telegraphed as no-brainers for the Black and Gold.

In other words, now comes the truly hard part for Sweeney and the Bruins.

The situation between the Bruins and Brad Marchand continues to be one worth monitoring until 3 p.m. The latest reporting from NHL insider Chris Johnston seemed to indicate that teams around the league are of the belief that the Bruins will move the 36-year-old Marchand by the deadline even though both sides have mentioned wanting to get an extension signed. The belief is that Marchand will be traded to a team out West, but the potential suitors are beginning to drop, with the Avalanche making a move for Brock Nelson and the Stars closing in on a move for Mikko Rantanen. Teams can still get creative and find a way to sneak Marchand in, of course, but where is the question? Vegas, even after adding Reilly Smith, is a term that's always been lurking in the shadows on this one, I believe.

The Bruins are rightfully driving a hard price on Marchand, and that's probably only further emboldened by the Isles picking up a conditional first-round pick, third-round pick, and top Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie in the trade that sent Brock Nelson to the Avalanche on Thursday night.

I also wonder if the Bruins are willing to listen on a player like Charlie Coyle. The 33-year-old Coyle has this year and next at $5.25 million per season, and brings definite versatility to any contender's middle six as someone who can play both wing and center. If you're the Bruins, do you look at Coyle — and for as much as you love him and what's he brought to your team on and off the ice — acknowledge that last year's 25-goal and 60-point season is as good as it's going to get for him in town and that it's better to get something for him in the now with the market being what it is for sellers?

These are the difficult conversations that the Bruins have to have and potentially execute if they're hellbent on truly maximizing an on-the-fly retool. No time to be sentimental.