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Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has made it known that he’s open to making moves before, during, and after the draft this summer. Both the expansion and the entry one, too. And with each slated about two weeks from now, Sweeney’s summertime plans are beginning to take shape.
According to CSNNE, the Bruins have had trade talks with the Wild regarding defenseman Jonas Brodin.
Unable to protect every member of their loaded defense corps from Vegas expansion, and with raises due for both Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter, the source told CSNNE that Brodin fits what the B’s need (a left-shot, top-four capable defenseman) and that the Bruins could offer what the Wild would want in a deal (namely a first-round pick, which Minnesota traded for Martin Hanzal this past season).
Set for his third offseason as the B’s general manager, Sweeney has already made it known that he would be willing to move the club’s first-round pick (No. 18 overall), if he can find a deal that makes sense for his team.
“It’s an effort to try and improve our hockey club,” Sweeney, who has reloaded the B’s system with numerous high draft picks — including three in the first round of the 2015 NHL draft — of late, said of his willingness to move the pick. “We have had a number of selections the last couple of years and we feel that they’ll all materialize into very good players for the Boston Bruins and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t explore what could improve our hockey club now in the shorter term.
“I owe it to our players and the organization to continue to do that. Whether or not it happens, I don’t know.”
The 23-year-old Brodin recorded three goals and a career-high 25 points in 68 games for the Wild this past season, and averaged 19:34 of time on ice per contest, while his 1:50 of shorthanded time on ice ranked as the third-most among Wild skaters. The 6-foot-1 defender first broke into the league as a teenager in the lockout-delayed 2013 season, and has totaled 18 goals and 79 points in 331 games. Those totals spell out the obvious fact that Brodin is not an elite playmaking defenseman, but rather one that the B’s could depend on for some hard minutes, and strong support for a right-side young gun like Brandon Carlo or Charlie McAvoy.
Brodin’s appeal also comes with the fact that he is under contract at a manageable $4.166 million cap hit until 2021.
The Bruins currently have seven NHL defensemen under contract for next season.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.