The Boston Bruins are playing some of their worst hockey of 2023-24 at a terrible time. With the NHL Trade Deadline now just over a week away, the B's are mired in a three-game skid and have lost seven of nine dating back to Feb. 10. Remarkably, they've been past regulation in each of their last six games, a franchise record no one in Massachusetts will be too happy about considering four of them were losses.
The Bruins are still tied with the Florida Panthers at the top of the Atlantic Division — and Eastern Conference — with a 34-12-14 record through 60 games. But a well under .500 pace is not going to win either of those crowns, and this team needs to turn things around quickly if they hope to remain Stanley Cup contenders come April.
Going into the Mar. 8 deadline, president Cam Neely told The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa that his team has a ton of needs, although it'll be difficult to swing deals with the lack of draft capital and salary cap troubles.
Cam Neely looking for ‘stiff' defender, forward
“That’s a big list,” Neely told Shinzawa about his trade deadline plan. “That’s a big wish, that one, based on where we’re at. But we’ll try to figure something out that’s going to give us opportunities to improve upon, for sure. Another stiff defender would be good. And you could always use help on offense.”
Although neither Jeremy Swayman nor Linus Ullmark have been great during the current cold spell, the offense hasn't really been the problem. The Bruins have scored 20 goals over their last six games, losing four of them in either overtime or a shootout. With the luck this squad has had past regulation, things should start to correct themselves down the stretch.
Despite that, the Bruins' fatal flaw remains the same as it's been since the beginning of the season: center depth.
Bruins need another C after losing out on Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan
Neither Pavel Zacha nor Charlie Coyle has been bad this season. They just haven't been able to step into the huge shoes that Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci left when they retired. And that makes sense. But general manager Don Sweeney was unable to bring two of the top C's on the market to Beantown, watching as Elias Lindholm was dealt to Vancouver and Sean Monahan was shipped to Winnipeg. The former was a tougher pill to swallow, as Lindholm had been linked to Boston for months before he was traded to the Canucks.
Coyle has certainly been more impressive than Zacha this year, at least offensively. Coyle is third in team scoring with 21 goals and 49 points in 60 games, and seems poised to shatter career-highs across the board. Zacha has struggled in 2023-24, to the point of getting relegated from the top powerplay unit. He's recorded just 12 goals and 36 points in 56 games while largely playing with superstar David Pastrnak. Not great after a 50+ point campaign in 2022-23.
Either way, the Bruins should be looking for a C at the deadline, ideally one who could slot in on the powerplay or penalty kill. Special teams has become an increasingly concerning problem in Boston.
Fatal flaw is at center, but special teams must improve
After losing to the Seattle Kraken in a shootout on Monday, the Bruins head home 1-0-3 on their West Coast road trip. They haven't had a single practice since Feb. 18, which is likely a main catalyst of the recent poor powerplay and penalty killing numbers.
“Obviously our PK’s slipped a little here. Power play, same thing,” Neely explained. “And just putting games away. But that’s where the past few games, our power play could have won us hockey games. We’re better than we’ve showed as far as special teams go. So I’m not as hugely concerned about it. Because we showed earlier in the season we did a good job in both those areas. But it’s something we need to improve upon. Problem is, unfortunately, finding practice time.”
As Neely and Sweeney look to add a ‘stiff' defender and help up front, they'll have to get creative. After giving up a ton to bring Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway to Massachusetts at last year's trade deadline, the cupboards are pretty bare. And there isn't a lot of salary cap room to work with for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign.
“Our cupboards are a little thin considering what we did last year and in previous years,” asserted Neely. “So something really has to make sense for us. There’s other areas we can improve upon, whether it’s adding a little bit more grit at the bottom part of our lineup.”
It's on the current roster to bust the slump, but the Bruins badly need to trade for a top-six center for the stretch run. It could be the difference between the team winning the President's Trophy again, or barely holding a top-three berth in the Atlantic Division. It'll be intriguing to see what the front office can cook up after what happened last March.
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