The Boston Bruins are the NHL's most desperate team - they're desperate to win, desperate to deal, desperate to do something to kick start their floundering squad and get themselves back into the conversation for the league' elite.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli may be close to adding a piece that could potentially jump-start the team toward doing just that.
TSN Insider Elliotte Friedman, appearing on an episode of Calgary's Sportsnet 960 Monday morning, as transcribed by NicholsOnHockey.com, said that rumors have been making the rounds that Chiarelli and Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney are closing in on a deal that would send forward Antoine Vermette to the Bruins.
"I think Boston is really trying hard to do something," Friedman said. "Like, there was a rumor going around last night they were really trying to close a deal with Vermette. Some people I know who were at the world junior game from NHL teams had heard that. I don't know if it's going to happen or not, but that rumor was going around last night."
Vermette is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season and has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time.
He's got 10 goals and 15 assists this season and, according to Rotoworld.com, is carrying a cap hit of $3.75 million. The Bruins have about $1.775 million in space at the moment, so something would have to give in terms of the cap for Boston were this deal to actually go down.
In the meantime, Friedman, discussing the potential for beloved Bruins forward Milan Lucic to actually be moved ahead of the trade deadline, pointed to the question of what has gone wrong for Lucic this season - he's got only six goals and 12 assists and was recently criticized by head coach Claude Julien - in conjunction with his large cap figure.
"I think the question with Lucic is he's not a $6 million player right now, but he can be one. He is a guy who emotionally controls a team," Friedman said. "When Boston was at its best, Lucic was very much their emotional core. He can play a major role. I think the question is - there's two questions. No. 1, is something wrong with his body that it's finally breaking down because of the role he's played? No. 2, are they trying to get him to play whistle-to-whistle and he's simply lost his effectiveness."
Questionable effectiveness, breaking down - these are not things the Bruins faithful want to hear associated with their big power forward. Lucic is a monster when on his game, he simply hasn't been on his game for most, or all, of this season.
Would moving him signal a change in direction for the Bruins as an organization?
"I think one of the biggest questions being asked in Boston as an organization right now is, 'What has happened here?' and, 'How long-term is this? What does it mean?' I think the Bruins are being asked about him.
"I think there's a lot of hard, internal questions being asked about, 'Do we do it, or do we think that there's still a lot left to give because if we do trade him, we change the makeup of our team in a major way.'"
