Thank God for the NHL Trade Deadline because I certainly did not want to write about a depressing 8-1 meltdown by the Bruins (21-12-6) tonight at the TD Garden against the Capitals (27-11-4) anymore than you wanted to read that drivel. Boston's top two goaltenders were out along with their four best defensemen, oh and they were playing their fifth game in seven days so honestly, what did you expect them to do vs. one of the best teams in the league? Nope, the real story came a few hours after that nightmare ended as Boston made two trades: first GM Don Sweeney flipped a third-round draft pick to Ottawa (13-25-4) for a defenseman named Mike Reilly (19 assists in 40 games this season) then he dealt winger Anders Bjork and a second-round pick to Buffalo (10-25-6) for left wing Taylor Hall and forward Curtis Lazar (5 goals, 4 assists in 33 games this season).
Everybody knew that Hall-the former No. 1 pick by Edmonton in the 2010 Draft (one spot ahead of Boston who selected Tyler Seguin) two-time All Star and MVP in 2017-18 was going to be moved by tomorrow, the question was to which desperate team? This is a guy with all the talent in the world but the Bruins will be his fifth NHL club before he's turned 30 and his fourth (Devils, Coyotes, Sabres, Bruins) in the last two seasons alone. His first and only season in Buffalo was nothing short of a complete disaster since in 37 games he had two goals and 17 assists. How much is that a product of being stuck in a hopeless situation or is it more about him checking out mentally which would be a troubling sign?
Whatever the case, this is a risk worth taking if you are the Bruins since how many more playoff berths will they have left with goaltender Tuukka Rask, left wing Brad Marchand and centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci among others? It feels like they are on borrowed time at this point so at least this bold move shows the players on the team that they are trying to go for it this season but at the same time not sacrificing much at all off of their current roster or mortgaging their future. Bjork had no real place here with two goals and three assists in 30 games this year so you probably won't even notice that he's gone.
Ultimately this comes down to Hall. Does he want to salvage his once very promising career and experience more of the playoffs (he has only appeared in 14 postseason games in his entire career) or keep burning bridges and becoming an NHL vagabond? Boston desperately needs secondary scoring and Krejci hasn't had a good winger to go with him in what feels like ages. It's silly to expect things to go smoothly right away but looking at the upcoming schedule, four of Boston's next seven games are against Buffalo including on Tuesday (7, NESN) at the Garden and six of their next 11 overall. How funny would it be to see Hall destroy the Sabres right away and the Black and Gold to go on a run sparked by him? That's probably wishful thinking but hell, I did not expect to have any hope after watching the B's get embarrassed on their home ice earlier this evening.
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