After another disappointing ending to a once promising season, the Bruins are forced to head back to the drawing board and attempt to figure out who has to go, who has to stay, and who has to join the club as the Bruins look for better success in the 2020-21 season.
Could Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson be one of those names the Bruins look to add?
According to Elliotte Freidman the Bruins, Flames and Oilers have all checked in on the availability of the 29-year old Ekman-Larsson, Freidman revealed in his 31 thoughts column earlier this week.
The 6-foot-2 defenseman certainly fills a lot of needs for the Bruins given the uncertainty around free agents Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug.
He’s a left-shot defenseman, he logs big minutes each night, and plays key power play and penalty kill minutes, all things the Bruins would lose if they’re unable to sign Chara and Krug.
The situation in Arizona is a bit of a mess and the rumors surrounding their captain only adds to the mess, even if they are just that: rumors.
On Thursday the Coyotes named Blues assistant general manager Bill Armstrong their newest GM. The move comes nearly two months after former GM John Chayka unexpectedly left his position with the team.
In between Chayka leaving the organization and the hiring of Armstrong, the Coyotes were stripped of their 2020 2nd round and 2021 1st round picks due to violations conducted during the scouting combine.
Thanks to their trade with the New Jersey Devils, acquiring the services of Taylor Hall, the Coyotes will be without their 2020 1st and either 2021 2nd or 3rd round picks depending on if they can resign Hall or not.
Regardless of what happens with Hall, the Coyotes currently own just one total pick in the first three rounds of the 2020 and 2021 drafts.
While the Coyotes feature some young talented players such as Clayton Keller, Christian Dvorak, Barrett Hayton and Jakob Chychrun, moving Ekman-Larsson does make some sense.
The Coyotes are not winning a Stanley Cup anytime soon. Their embarrassing series with the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Playoffs showed how far off they are from being a competitive playoff team, never mind a Stanley Cup contender.
Armstrong could use Ekman-Larsson to restock their pool of draft picks and add some more young talent to the organization.
Ekman-Larsson is entering the second year of an eight-year $66 million contract, one that sees a $8.25 million cap hit accompanying Ekman-Larsson.
While Ekman-Larsson would undoubtedly upgrade a Bruins blueline that is on the verge of losing their top-two left shot defenseman, the price tag that accompanies Ekman-Larsson is steep.
It’s a trade that doesn’t make much sense to me. If you’re looking to pay a top left-shot defenseman $8.25 million per season, why not just resign Krug—presumably for less annually— and hold onto the assets that you would need to part with in a trade for Ekman-Larsson?
The Bruins enter the offseason needing new contracts for RFA’s Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk, and team president Cam Neely is on record saying the Bruins want to be players in the free agent and trade markets.
A trade for Ekman-Larsson would make the above goals difficult.
Of course trading for Ekman-Larsson would be one of the biggest splashes the Bruins have made in years, but given the cap hit associated with the Coyotes captain, the Bruins pending RFA’s and what it would take to pull of said trade, it’s a move that doesn’t make much sense to me.
But hey, crazier things have happened.
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