According to Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, the Boston Bruins are listening to offers on Ryan Spooner. Kennedy tweets that he’s heard New Jersey, Vancouver and Vegas already linked to the 25-year old center. Spooner has been considered a trade candidate for much of the season, after first clashing with head coach Claude Julien and generally underperforming expectations.
Spooner will be a restricted free agent this summer and eligible for arbitration, forcing the Bruins to make a decision on his future with the organization. While last year he showed the offensive potential of a second-line center, scoring 49 points in 80 games, this year he took a step backwards and at times looked lost in the defensive zone. The Bruins committed long-term to David Backes last summer and have an extension kicking in for Brad Marchand next year, meaning much of their forward capital is already tied up. Add in a new deal for pending RFA David Pastrnak who is coming off a 34-goal season, and the Bruins will likely need to clear out some cap space in the coming months.
After being eliminated by the Ottawa Senators this postseason, the Bruins lie at somewhat of a crossroads. Do they hope that Spooner can rebound and become the offensive dynamo that he has looked at times, or do they use him as a trade chip to bring in another defenseman to take some of the pressure off 19-year old Charlie McAvoy next year.
For all three potential landing spots, adding offense that isn’t on the wrong side of 30 is imperative this summer. Vegas will likely be in dire need of skill in their forward group after taking the overpaid or underperforming veterans from several squads in the expansion draft, and Spooner could likely slot into their top line immediately, and be a key part of their powerplay. In Vancouver, the team is looking for a quick rebuild and could use some center depth once Henrik Sedin finally leaves. New Jersey, likely the closest of the three to competing—especially after adding the top pick in the draft this year—have needed scoring for years and could use another dynamic player on the powerplay.
In all, Spooner’s availability should come as no surprise to teams around the league. His market though may be limited, as teams will not want to give up an established defenseman for him, not expect the Bruins to just give him away. It will be interesting to see if he is part of a bigger deal, or if the two sides can find some sort of one-for-one match.
The Sens like trading for their hometown guys, wouldn’t be surprised to see them connected.
I hope they are connected
I’ll take a bucket of pucks. He’s just so damn weak on the puck, constantly dispossessed, and an absolute disaster on the defensive end of the rink. All that could be ignored if he was putting pucks in the back of the net consistently. Hopefully someone thinks they can turn him around but the Bruins will definitely be better without him.
But can we get a solid RW or Left-side D for him?
Boston is already set to be close to the cap, unless they can unload Krejci, in which case they would still need a top 6 forward, if not two, they couldn’t fit him in. Personally I would like to keep him one more year and give him a chance to figure this out. This seems like a Seguin type scenario. Offensive forward who struggled in the playoffs and is given up on too soon. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite them.