NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins Looking To Add Goal Scoring

The Boston Bruins have been a chaotic team this season. A lot of turmoil has followed this team since the start of the season. It goes back to the end of last season with the goaltending tandem that was going to be broken up as Linus Ullmark was traded to Ottawa, while it took right before the season for Jeremy Swayman to be locked up.

That drama carried into the season, with players and coaches speaking through the media. This led to General Manager Don Sweeney making a coaching change. He fired Jim Montgomery and replaced him with Joe Sacco.

There was drama even with Montgomery, who was in the final year of his deal. Negotiations for an extension were just talks, nothing more. So, a coach who was on the hot seat at the beginning of the season was gone and found work quickly.

Bruins Need Scoring For Flawed Roster

But Sweeney put together a flawed roster. This past summer, Sweeney overspent on Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. Sweeney was looking for another big defenseman and a number one defenseman. Zadorov has fit in nicely with the Bruins, but Lindholm has not been the number center to get that offense clicking.

With the Bruins struggling, a Boston radio host created more drama about David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand; it has been an interesting season in Boston.

But that is not stopping Don Sweeney from looking to add. Not only does Sweeney believe that the Bruins are still a playoff team, but so does alternate governor Charlie Jacobs and President Cam Neely.

“We still feel like we have a playoff team here, and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize getting out of the playoffs because we’ve made some moves that may be good for the future but not good for the present,” Neely said to the media Wednesday night at the Bruins Black and Gold Gala. 

Vancouver Canucks: NHL Rumors: J.T. Miller Trade Talks Heating Up

Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Confirms He is Looking for a Center

New Jersey Devils: J.T. Miller Does Not Fit What the New Jersey Devils Are Building

So, if the Boston Bruins still believe they are a playoff team, what is their strategy heading into the trade deadline?

As Full Press Hockey has documented this season, the Bruins need more of a scoring punch to their lineup. Zig Fracassi joined Full Press Hockey after the Montgomery firing and stated what has been an obvious issue for this team for years: there are too many playmakers and not too many scorers. In other words “All Swedish and No Finnish.”

“What I don’t see, and I’ve harped on this, even when they were going really good, is you’ve got to put skill and development in there. You’ve got to have guys that are able to finish. I know it was Bruins Network that posted up a video yesterday; the kid the Bruins got in the first round this year (Dean), Letourneau from Boston College, is a big kid, a ton of size, but can’t finish. The cynics are saying, Oh, he blends right in with the Bruins.

The only player they have developed has been David Pastrnak, but they need more than him and Brad Marchand.

You got to develop guys that have skill and finish, and I’m not sure they do enough of that. And that’s where I’d really like to see, maybe a change of philosophy, a little bit more skill guys, and I think the character. Now,  I don’t want hoodlums playing for the Bruins, but I also want to see high-end skill guys that can finish, and I don’t know if they have enough of them on the pro and the other levels

Bruins Going After Scoring at the Deadline

Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, on last week on an episode of “The Latest,” stated the Bruins are positioning themselves to add at the deadline to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.

The roster, you could argue, is not as strong as it has been in the past. They haven’t replaced, and didn’t replace the goals that they lost from Jake DeBrusk signing in Vancouver. They would like to add some secondary scoring to their roster, and that’s something that Don Sweeney, their GM, is looking at. But they’re kind of cap strapped, so it’s going to take a little bit of juggling and creativity for them to do that. However, Boston is moving forward with the idea that they are a playoff-bound team.  How does Don Sweeney improve that? He’s got to add some scoring, and that’s what they’re looking at.

As Marco D’Amico of RG Media has reported, the Boston Bruins are looking at one of the two centers from the Vancouver Canucks, either Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller. The Bruins still have a hole at the number one center position. Adding a player like that will help them slot everyone where they belong, but if the Bruins can clear cap space, it is something they will look to do. Both sides have talked.

But again, with the Canucks in the mix, will this be a move that happens at the deadline or in the offseason. This is something to watch moving forward. However, as we have seen, the Canucks want a resolution to the Miller situation.

But for the Boston Bruins to make the playoffs, they need to add goal-scoring.