Bruins already linked to some of market’s top centers

The expected return of Patrice Bergeron will keep the Bruins in the hunt for a championship.

But Don Sweeney and the Bruins have to know that running it back with the same crew that came up short against the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the first round will do little to change the club’s ceiling for 2022-23.

Even if they felt that ‘they left something on the table’ against Carolina, this is a team in need of some legitimate upgrades on their roster.

Perhaps that’s why the Bruins aren’t waiting to ‘find the right deal’ and are instead finding themselves mentioned among those linked to a pair of high-end centers expected to hit the open market when free agency begins on July 13.

DENVER, COLORADO – OCTOBER 10: Nazem Kadri #91 of the Colorado Avalanche sets up a shot on goal against the Boston Bruins in the second period at the Pepsi Center on October 10, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

This year, there’s perhaps no center on the market who will get a bigger bag than Nazem Kadri.

In addition to his Stanley Cup championship with the Avalanche, the 31-year-old Kadri is coming off a career-year that included 28 goals and a career-high 59 assists and 87 points. Kadri also established career-best marks in power-play points (29), shots on goal (247), and averaged a career-best 19:15 of time on ice per night.

Kadri kept that pace in the postseason, too, with seven goals and 15 points in 16 playoff games, and with thumb surgery in the middle of that run.

In other words, Kadri is indeed going to get paaaaaaaid. And the Bruins are one of the teams that could pay him.

“The number I hear is it starts at eight and it could go as high as 10 [million],” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said in an interview. “The teams that I’m hearing out there, two teams that can stroke that cheque right now are Seattle and the Boston Bruins.”

Kadri is a fit for the Bruins’ needs, no doubt. The team needs a second-line center, and they could also use a player that brings the two-way tenacity of Kadri to help ease the burden on Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Kadri would especially help Marchand, too, as the Bruins would have one more forward teams would have to worry about getting under their skin. (Though it goes without saying that Kadri, much like Marchand, has had an issue with walking that line.)

But $8-to-10 million is a big, big ask.

And contrary to what Kypreos is saying, it’s not possible for the Bruins to sign that check without moving money out.

For the Bruins, who currently have less than $2.5 million in cap space, that would likely mean moving out Mike Reilly ($3 million), Nick Foligno ($3.8 million), and Tomas Nosek ($1.75 million) at the very least.It’s no secret that some of those contracts will be harder to move than others, and that the returns will be minimal at best, and that’s assuming it doesn’t require eating money, which seems hard to believe when it comes to Foligno, for example.

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 02: Vincent Trocheck #16 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the third period of Game 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

In addition to Kadri, the Bruins have an interest in Hurricanes center Vinny Trocheck, according to Elliotte Friedman.

The 5-foot-10 center, who will turn 29 next week, is coming off a 2021-22 season that featured 20 goals and 51 points for a Carolina squad that finished the year as the Metropolitan’s top team. Trocheck also straight-up tormented the Bruins in their first-round head-to-head, with three goals and seven points in seven games.

The 2021-22 season was Trocheck’s best since putting up a ridiculous 31 goals and 75 points with the Panthers in 2017-18.

With Trocheck, the Bruins would get a righty-shooting center, which is probably the ideal fit between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak, and a player who could move to the wing if and when necessary. And similar to Kadri, there’s the physical element that comes with Trocheck despite his frame, as Trocheck racked up a career-high 185 hits this past season.

The Hurricanes have talked about wanting to keep Trocheck around, and that’s seemingly doable with over $19 million in cap space. But the Hurricanes also have to make calls on winger Nino Neiderreiter, defensemen Ian Cole and Tony DeAngelo, and notable restricted free agent Martin Necas. A squeeze is coming for someone in Raleigh.