The rampant rumors surrounding the Boston Bruins and potential trades have cooled in recent weeks.
The big, bad Bruins have emerged victorious in six of their last eight games and, more importantly, they've begun to look more like the Stanley Cup-caliber team many in the NHL world assumed they were prior to this season.
Despite the recent uptick in play and fading trade rumors, talk persists that there are still potential deals for Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to make ahead of the March trade deadline.
(Let's just get the limited cap caveat right out of the way - with only 1.989 million in space, Chiarelli and the Bruins will have to be creative in their efforts to bring in any player. But they'll have to be creative just to enact a deal in the first place).
One such deal that persists for Chiarelli is for Arizona Coyotes defenseman, Keith Yandle.
Yandle would be such a major addition that, even though he would cost an arm and a leg - or, more accurately, Loui Eriksson, Matt Bartkowski and Ryan Spooner, plus maybe more - it would be a worthwhile deal for Chiarelli to pull off, according to Joe Haggerty of CSN New England.
Yandle's addition would add an "offensive dimension" to an already deep, young Boston defensive corps that would make the Bruins more formidable than they already appear to be. He's expensive, but he has another year on his deal and at 28 he's just entering his prime with a proven track record of NHL success.
Another deal Chiarelli could look to enact, and which many in the media believe Boston has continued to eye for months now, is for Buffalo Sabres winger, Chris Stewart.
NHL neophyte, David Pastrnak, has played extremely well in his limited opportunities and seems to be sticking with the big club, first year of his entry-level year be damned.
Despite his overall positive play, he could be returned to Providence should his ice time diminish and, as Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe notes, this could be why the team hasn't yet given up on a potential deal for Stewart.
"In retrospect, Buffalo GM Tim Murray set the price too high on Stewart, thus preventing the deal from going through. But the Sabres may come back to the Bruins if they can't acquire enough futures elsewhere for the UFA-to-be. Stewart isn't exactly helping his GM by scoring just six goals in 45 games."
With Simon Gagne officially waived, Pastrnak's status still not completely defined and despite the Bruins looking more like their once-dominant selves, deals remain alive for Chiarelli to make.
