Don Sweeney and the Bruins did more than dump Taylor Hall and the rights to pending free agent Nick Foligno off on the rebuilding Blackhawks on Monday.

In fact, the dust had hardly settled on the B’s cap-clearing move to send Hall and Foligno to Chicago before Sweeney struck another deal, with pending restricted free agent Shane Bowers sent to New Jersey in exchange for defenseman Reilly Walsh.

• The #NHLBruins have acquired defenseman Reilly Walsh from New Jersey in exchange for Shane Bowers.
  
  📰: https://t.co/7Y5e5gcChw pic.twitter.com/Os0WrBMpQD

  — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) June 26, 2023

• Walsh, a Massachusetts native, will come to the Bruins after a 2022-23 season spent entirely with AHL Utica, and with nine goals and 41 points in 71 games for the Comets. His 41 points ranked second among all Utica skaters (tops among defensemen), and made him the 17th-highest scoring defenseman in the AHL.

  It was actually his second straight season of at least nine goals and 41 points for Walsh, too, as the 24-year-old put up nine goals and 43 points in his true breakthrough year for the Comets in 2021-22.

  A third-round pick (No. 81 overall) of the Devils in 2017, Walsh has put forth a strong AHL resume to date, with 23 goals and 99 points, along with 294 shots, in 174 career games.

  Walsh has also made one NHL appearance in his pro career, and he certainly made that contest count. In action for an Apr. 26 contest with Ottawa back in 2022, Walsh got on the board with his first career assist, and chipped in with two blocks and two shots, in 14:23 of time on ice in a losing effort for the Devils.

• 

• In a bit of an interesting footnote, the addition of Walsh was actually the Black and Gold’s third right-shooting defenseman added to the organization Monday, as they had already picked up Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula in the aforementioned cap-dump of a trade with the Blackhawks.

  Of course, whether or not that means anything is something that won’t be known — or even pick up steam, really — until the team reports to training camp in September. (It’s also worth noting that Mitchell, Regula, and Walsh are all pending restricted free agents and will need contracts for 2023-24, too.)

  But the addition of Walsh is an undeniably intriuging one.

  Watching film, it’s clear that there’s the potential for Walsh to be something for the Bruins. What that something is, again, completely unknown. But there’s enough to make you curious about what this player could do in Boston.

  As a defenseman who clearly likes to shoot the puck, Walsh would be a welcomed sight on the Bruins’ backend, and especially on the right side, which has always been a sore spot for the club from an organizational depth standpoint. It also appears that the 6-foot-0, 185-pound Walsh can and will throw the body around when presented a chance. Again, that’d be welcomed for a Boston club that is always looking for a bit more snarl.

  It’s especially intriguing with someone like Connor Clifton, who truly broke out for the Bruins in 2022-23 and largely in a third-pairing role, staring down an uncertain future as a pending unrestricted free agent. (Clifton’s preference is to stay with the Bruins, but the truth in the now is that even a hometown discount may not be enough to make the money work after what was a fantastic year for the versatile defender.)

• 

  Apr 26, 2022; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New Jersey Devils defenseman Reilly Walsh (8) looks up in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Marc DesRosiers.USA TODAY Sports)

• I can hear you now. “If he has any sort of promise, why the Devils are giving up on him and why has he played just one NHL game since turning pro?” I can’t explain the latter, I’ll admit, but the trade itself feels a bit like Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald doing Walsh a solid and sending him somewhere where he has a chance of earning legitimate NHL minutes. That could’ve at one point been in New Jersey, sure, but the Devils have added Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Simon Nemec (No. 2 overall pick in 2022) to their right-side depth chart in the last two years, and the team also has Luke Hughes (No. 4 overall in 2021), who can play both the left and right side.

  The door to Newark wasn’t suddenly opening on Walsh, even after another 40-plus point year in the AHL.

  From a B’s point of view, it’s the kind of shrewd move that may very well end up being the name of Sweeney’s offseason. Given the Bruins’ situation from a cap standpoint (yes, even after the trading of Hall), the Bruins are going to be hunting for diamonds in the rough and low-risk, high-reward signings. Walsh could very well be both.

  The Bruins also have to like what they’ve been able to find in Jersey’s pipeline to date, too, with a theft of Pavel Zacha in a one-for-one swap for Erik Haula and the signing of Utica standout A.J. Greer last offseason.

• 

  NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 30: Reilly Walsh #8 of the New Jersey Devils checks Ryan Reaves #75 of the New York Rangers during the third period at the Prudential Center on September 30, 2022. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

• At the very best, the Bruins have found a potential diamond in the rough who could jump into their NHL rotation as an intriguing No. 6 or No. 7 defenseman. And at its very worst, the Bruins flipped Bowers, who appeared in 20 games with the P-Bruins, into a much-needed No. 9 or No. 10 defenseman on the organizational depth chart.

  It’s also entirely possible that Bowers, a former first-round pick who was an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer, wasn’t in the Bruins’ plans after the Bruins added him in exchange for Keith Kinkaid ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. Turning that into something is much better than simply walking away ahead of a potential qualifying offer. That something being a right-side lottery ticket may very well file under ‘best case scenario’ for the Bruins.

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