Bruins Searching For A Defenseman On Trade Market

The Boston Bruins have, are, and will continue to scour the NHL trade market for a two-way defenseman, according to an NHL executive source.

As previously said, Donny is interested in adding a defenseman, preferably a physical one, according to the source, who spoke with Boston Hockey Now late on Tuesday morning. “I understand that he will always be associated with [Noah] Hanifin, but I believe they are looking for a player that moves the puck and plays a more muscular style. He’s been searching for some time now, and the way they’re playing right now makes you think that search will get more intense.

That would make sense considering that over their previous five games, the Boston Bruins have gone 1-3-1 and have turned into a sieve coming out of the neutral zone. The Bruins have let up five goals or more in four of those five games, and they don’t resemble the squad that won 14 of their first 16 games to begin the 2023–24 regular season. The Bruins were winning most of those first 16 games because to a combination of timely goals, stingy team defense, and outstanding goaltending from Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.

But after losing 3-2 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens on November 11, they started to stray from their tried-and-true brand of hockey, and head coach Jim Montgomery started to voice concerns that his club was losing its identity ever since.

Unfortunately, the forecast came true and was evident in the team’s dismal 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Monday night.

To be honest, I felt that every aspect of our game was difficult. Following his team’s third consecutive defeat, Montgomery told reporters, “I thought we had a pretty good start to the first eight or ten minutes, and then they slowly but surely started to take over the game.” “I believed we were losing stick fights. We weren’t, I don’t think. Thus, there were numerous instances in which we just fell short in our game.

I watched the video again, and the main takeaway is that we’re not playing to the level we think is appropriate, both when using and not using the puck. Thus, there are many issues to resolve before moving forward, but progress is necessary.

Now, the question is whether the Bruins will resolve it internally or if they will look to the NHL trade market for a solution.

There were rumors during that November 11 loss to the Canadiens that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney may investigate a possible NHL trade fit for tough, puck-moving defenseman Nikita Zadorov with the Calgary Flames. Zadorov had asked to be traded to Calgary the day before.