It's somewhat ironic that the Bruins colors are black and yellow because general manager Peter Chiarelli continues to be a busy bee when it comes to NHL trade talks.
Awful attempt at a poetic comparison aside, Chiarelli truly has been been hitting the phones hard in recent days, with the latest shiny toy to catch his eye rumored to be currently residing in the far off land of Vancouver.
Head coach Willie Desjardins and the Canucks have made some minor style tweaks in response to a recent five-game skid. But could there be deeper changes in store - changes that could require the deft touch of general manager, Jim Benning, and involve the Boston hockey club?
"Jim Benning isn't a guy who spends a lot of time connecting with media and feeding the speculation and all of that," said TSN Insider Darren Dreger while appearing on a recent episode of Edmonton's TSN 1260, as transcribed by NicholsOnHockey.com. "But I do hear that he is in the market. I can't tell you exactly what he's looking for because it's not that specific. But I have heard rumblings that he and Pete Chiarelli are connecting in Boston. I know Boston is really hungry to do something. They're looking for a top-six, top-nine forward."
The Bruins' interest in secondary scoring has been well-known for some time now. Their interest in the Canucks as a possible trade partner has not.
Dreger believes that the recent down-swing in play by Vancouver could convince Benning to get a deal done after the holiday roster freeze.
"Maybe this type of setback will force management in Vancouver to take a harder look at what they've got. They're not going to get it done in the next 24 hours here, before the holiday freeze, but managers who stop trying to improve are usually managers who are looking for work in a short period of time and I know Benning is a hard worker."
There are any number of players the Bruins could be interested in - Alex Burrows, Chris Higgins, Jannik Hansen - but as always, the potential for a deal boils down to price.
