Just two games into the 2015-16 NHL season, the Boston Bruins are beginning to take the steps necessary to transition to a new era of hockey. At this point, they seem to be just baby steps, but they're steps nonetheless. Last week, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet suggested that the Bruins may be willing to move certain expensive veterans as they look to the next phase of their roster rebuild. Now, Joe Haggerty of CSN New England has furthered that notion.
Haggerty reported Monday that the Bruins are "quietly" gauging trade value for players like Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand, among others.
"According to separate hockey sources, there has been some level of recent trade discussion about veterans Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand with other teams around the league, just to name a few B's players," Haggerty reports.
It seems talks remain in the "exploratory" phase, but it certainly seems that new Bruins GM Don Sweeney, along with team president Cam Neely, is seriously considering a full roster tear down should the difficult opening to the season - the Bruins have been outscored 10-4 in two home losses to the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens - continue.
Per Haggerty, there is a "sneaking suspicion" across the league that Sweeney could begin a sort of sell off should the season continue down the dark path it's already on. Of course, Chara, among other pricey Bruins vets, has a no-move clause. Marchand has a modified no-trade clause. And the team's difficult start to the season came with Chara, Marchand and Dennis Seidenberg on the shelf.
Still, while Chara returned to the Bruins lineup, making his season debut Monday night in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, it may not matter much unless his presence going forward proves a major boost to a team and defensive corps that simply looks outmatched against the league's playoff-worthy groups.
At 38 and increasingly injury-prone, Chara's no longer the player he once was. It's too early to suggest a sell-off, starting with a player like Chara, is inevitable. But if Boston can't right the ship soon, Sweeney and Neely will have to think long and hard about flipping whatever assets they can in order to aid themselves for the coming transition.
