Bruins may be preparing to outbid the Leafs on one of their preferred targets
The March 3rd trade deadline is expected to be a busy one with a number of intriguing names rumoured to be available. Defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov are two of the defensemen whom the Leafs have checked in on and have at least a small degree of interest in. Well, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman suggested this week that the Boston Bruins may have checked in on each of them.
Naturally, with both teams competing within the same division, I'm sure they're both well aware of what's going on in the rumour mill and which players have been linked to which teams. It would only stand to reason that the Bruins may be looking to undercut the Leafs and land one of their preferred targets to throw a wrench into their plans.
If Boston was to add either defensemen it would upgrade an already highly skilled blueline. After defeating Toronto Wednesday night, Boston currently has 83 points through 51 games played. Their trajectory currently (on pace for 133 points) has them setting an NHL record for the most points in a single season (1976-77 Montreal Canadiens set the record with 132 points that season).
Gavrikov is on an expiring contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Given Columbus is struggling this year, it feels like a certainty that the Blue Jackets move him to the highest bidder. He only comes with a cap hit of $2.8 million, which could make him a highly appealing target given all the teams being in a cap crunch.
As for Chychrun, he comes with some cost certainly, as he is signed for two years after this season at a cap hit of $4.6 million. He also has a modified no trade clause that kicks in after this year, in which he submits a ten team no trade list, which could make things much more complicated for the Yotes, so they're likely to move him before that M-NTC comes into play.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 3 | 119 ANSWERS Bruins may be preparing to outbid the Leafs on one of their preferred targets Who will land in Boston? | ||
| Jakob Chychrun | 18 | 15.1 % |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | 18 | 15.1 % |
| Both | 8 | 6.7 % |
| Neither | 75 | 63 % |
| List of polls | ||
