According to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa, he knows how to fix the Boston Bruins and find a solution to their off-season woes and disappointing first round exit to the playoffs this year. He laid out eight steps to overhaul the team and says the first step is to trade left winger Taylor Hall.
Shinzawa writes, “Due to the Bruins’ cover crisis, it may not be possible for them to use Hall and AAV’s low $6 million in the lineup again.” He went on to say, “Hall is 31 years old. He has signed for two more seasons. At his age, it is difficult to expect additional offensive growth.”
Shinzawa admits that Hall has some leverage in the trade due to the partial no-trade protective clause, the transcriptor also admits that moving Hall would leave the Bruins in a short forward position, but that is where the rest of his plan plays out and notes that moving Hall would It gives the Bruins “much-needed oxygen if Sweeney can move the hall to futures.”
The next move also involved trading Matt Grzelcyk which could jeopardize the defense, but it’s unlikely the Bruins will re-sign the Charlestown native once his contract expires in 2024.” He then suggests that the Bruins sign Jeremy Swayman to a short-term extension that marks in Swayman at a cheaper rate while They’re dealing with their cap crisis.The Bruins will need to find a place to block Mike Reilly’s contract, and hope the prospects take a giant step forward, signing at least one of Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, Connor Clifton, Tomas Nosek, or Garnet Hathaway.
The last step is to wait for the salary cap to rise significantly after the next season.
If all of this comes to fruition, it looks like we should be watching for the Taylor Hall rumors to start surfacing right away.
Next: Bertuzzi hasn’t spoken to the Bruins about a contract extension