Retrospective Review of the Bruin's Trade Deadline Moves

We are a couple weeks out from the trade deadline and many (including myself) were skeptical about the moves that the Bruins made (and more importantly did not make) at the trade deadline. The Bs are notorious for underwhelming moves in key trade times, such as the regular season trade deadline and the draft. They are also notorious for being on the losing end of the trades they do make *cough* Tyler Seguin *cough*. The Seguin deal is the one they are most known for in recent past, but people are quick to forget that we actually traded for Martin Jones in the summer of 2015 for a first rounder and Sean Kuraly; a trade that while has not yet been totally seen through, appears to add yet another to the list of major losses. Not that we could have managed a contract to keep both Jones and Rask, but we easily could have fetched an NHL ready player to make an immediate impact, but I digress.

This year's trade deadline, as usual. could have been handled much better. The big name this year was obviously Rick Nash, a former three time 40-goal scorer. This was a good move to make, I am not discounting Nash's scoring ability, or his leadership ability and he will certainly add depth that we will need down the stretch. What was disappointing here was the price we paid. The benefit is that we got rid of Beleskey and his horrid contract, but we had to give up Spooner, a prospect, a 7th rounder AND a 1st rounder in the process. This year's first rounder isn't going to be all that valuable, but still, that is a big gamble on an aging pending free agent.

Nash has been decent in his first couple weeks in Boston. He has posted 5 points and a -4 rating in 10 games since his arrival; not terrible, but not great either. Meanwhile Spooner has gone to a struggling team and has posted 13 points in 9 games with a +2 rating. Ouch. Spooner hadn't had a bad year with the Bs at all and has shown his ability in the past. I can only imagine this move had the locker room atmosphere in play somewhere. It will be interesting to see where the rest of the regular season leaves Nash's numbers and to see if he can perform in the post-season...

The Brian Gionta move honestly shocked me. The guy was more or less a bum in the olympics and I mean, really he was never all that great. Not to mention that the guy is 39 years old. Some people around other blogs were saying that they picked him up for size and physicality. Those people clearly aren't paying much attention. He never got many hits and he is only 5'7". But to my surprise Gionta has actually been the silver lining on a minimum contract posting 6 points in 8 games with a +2 rating. He has been good on the powerplay and has been playing with some serious heart for a guy that never had much scoring consistency. He had an 89 point season back in 2005-2006 with the Devils, but otherwise averaged around the 40-point mark; pretty average. I've switched stances on Gionta and want this guy to show he has the grit left in him to put up some good numbers.

The last move I am going to talk about is the other trade with the Rangers for Nick Holden. We gave up O'Gara and a third rounder, and this kid seems like he could be well worth that. He has 4 points in 7 games with an even +/- and is filling in top pairing minutes in the absence of Chara and McAvoy. I like the looks of the kid and am rooting for him to show he has what it takes to be relied on. He should make a solid depth addition going into the playoffs.