According to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, he knows how to fix the Boston Bruins and find a solution to their offseason woes and disappointing exit in the first round of this year’s playoffs. He laid out eight steps to fixing the team and says the first step is trading left-winger Taylor Hall.
Shinzawa writes, “Because of the Bruins’ cap crunch, it might not be possible for them to use Hall and his $6 million AAV low in the lineup again.” He goes on to say, “Hall is 31 years old. He is signed for two more seasons. At his age, it’s difficult to project additional offensive growth.”
Shinzawa admits that Hall has some leverage in a trade because of his partial no-trade protection clause, and the scribe also admits that moving Hall would leave the Bruins short-handed at forward, but that’s where the rest of his plan comes into play and notes that moving Hall would give the Bruins “much-needed oxygen if Sweeney can move Hall for futures.”
The next step involved also trading Matt Grzelcyk which could compromise the defense, but the Bruins are “unlikely to re-sign the Charlestown native once his contract expires in 2024.” He then suggests the Bruins sign Jeremy Swayman to a short-term extension which budgets in Swayman at a cheaper price while they juggle their cap crisis. The Bruins would need to find a place to park Mike Reilly’s contract, hopes the prospects take a giant step forward, and sign at least one of Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, Connor Clifton, Tomas Nosek, or Garnet Hathaway.
The last step is waiting for the salary cap to jump significantly after next season.
If all of this comes to fruition, it sounds like we should be watching for Taylor Hall rumors to start surfacing right away.
More must-reads: