The Boston Bruins know what it’s like to have a super tall defenseman anchoring the blue line.
They could pursue such a vibe again if they want to trade for Simon Edvinsson of the Detroit Red Wings — who is discontent with his contract situation and not even with his team right now.
Edvinsson is young and talented, and there’s a lot of reason to think it might work.
On the flip side, though, it’s hard to know whether the Bruins would make an offer the Red Wings would deem acceptable.
Boston has good young players, like Fraser Minten and James Hagens. But those guys would be a huge price to pay. So if they’re off the table, then what?
Simon Edvinsson Logic for Bruins
The reason the Bruins would want Edvinsson is pretty simple to figure out — he’d make them better in a key area.
“The Bruins aren’t as Big and Bad as their reputation suggests,” Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin wrote on Tuesday. “They struggled to defend in their own end last season, with an expected goal differential that placed them among the league’s draft lottery contenders, and only goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s outstanding play kept the Bruins’ goals against at a manageable number. So far this season, the Bruins have been a bit better defensively, even with Charlie McAvoy serving a six-game suspension, but they still badly need another minute-munching stud to complement McAvoy.”
Some have suggested that the left-shot Edvinsson would be the ideal partner for McAvoy.
Certainly, if the Bruins felt that Edvinsson had a top-pairing ceiling for the long haul, it’d be easier to give up good young talent to get him.
Potential Dilemma
Still, Minten or Hagens would be quite a high price.
“Do the Bruins have a young player in the right age range whom they’d be willing to trade for Edvinsson?” Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin wonders. “Ideally they wouldn’t want to touch emerging forwards Fraser Minten and James Hagens, meaning GM Don Sweeney would more likely have to dip into his prospect pool. That could mean offering up someone like Dean Letourneau or Will Zellers, almost certainly packaged with defenseman Mason Lohrei, who has underachieved but has the kind of upside Detroit would presumably like to get back in a trade.”
Larkin goes on to write that if the Red Wings still want to compete right now, they’d probably only do this trade for Minten or Hagens.
If that’s the case, it becomes a bit of a staring contest or a game of chicken. Would either side blink?
So keep an eye on the Bruins here, even though nothing feels imminent.
Bruins’ Fraser Minten, James Hagens Matter Toward Simon Edvinsson Trade