Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli continues to scour the NHL marketplace for a big right-winger ahead of the league's March trade deadline.
Bruins rookie, David Pastrnak, has performed admirably despite his youth and diminutive stature, but he's not a player the team feels they can count on for the season's grueling latter half, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.
"And all season long, even before things were good, bad, indifferent - I mean, they've been looking for that right-winger to replace Jarome Iginla, said McKenzie, according NicholsOnHockey.com's transcript. "David Pastrnak, the kid, has come up and done a nice job. But I don't think Pete Chiarelli and Claude Julien are in a position where they necessarily want to get into a situation where you have to trust an 18-year-old in the playoffs,"
"So yes, they are continuing to look for a scoring winger."
They've been linked to a variety of names and places but it seems they may have found their man - a player they've long been rumored to have interest in - in Buffalo Sabres forward Chris Stewart.
"They really are looking for a top prospect in return, and right now the sense is the Boston Bruins may be the closest to getting him," said TSN's Nick Kypreos, per NicholsOnHockey.com. "The feeling is Ryan Spooner, top prospect with the Boston Bruins, may be in play. But still, Tim Murray may want one more piece added."
Stewart is a big-bodied forward who, when he's on his game, is a wrecking ball akin to Milan Lucic that the opposition struggles to contain. The problem is that he's rarely been on his game this season, leading to long stretches as a healthy scratch.
Spooner is a 23-year-old center who has seen sporadic NHL minutes over the past three seasons. Last year, in 23 games with the big club, he managed 11 assists and zero goals. This season, the former second round pick has appeared in five games and has yet to log a point.
His minus-two rating in that time is less than ideal, but he's a fast, talented forward with a significant scoring touch. If there's a hole in his game, it's on the defensive end of the ice, but the same can be said of many young NHL forwards.
While he wasn't able to stick in the NHL this season, Spooner is nearly ready to make the jump - if Kypreos' report is accurate, it may be with Buffalo and not Boston.
