A poor start by the Boston Bruins is giving rise to early-season trade speculation.
Bruins gauging trade value of Chara and Marchand.
The Boston Bruins are reportedly gauging the trade value of veterans like Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara.
CSNNE.COM: Joe Haggerty reports sources claim the struggling Boston Bruins are working on contingency plans in case their fortunes fail to improve in the coming weeks. They’re quietly engaged in exploratory trade discussions with several teams regarding some of their high-priced veterans, including captain Zdeno Chara and winger Brad Marchand, if they decide to further overhaul their lineup this season. Haggerty notes there are “no-trade clauses and other road blocks before deals can be made.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s interesting to note that Chara and Marchand were mentioned, and not David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron or Tuukka Rask. It’s understandable why Chara is popping up in the rumor mill, as he’ll turn 39 in March, has lost a step or two and is carrying a cap hit of over $6.9 million annually through 2017-18. Marchand, currently sidelined by a concussion, is a skilled shift disturber earning $4.5 million annually through 2016-17, but his long-term future in Boston seems in doubt.
If the Bruins shop these guys, they could face picking up part of their respective salary-cap hits or taking back a toxic contract in return. Chara’s trade value is declining, but Marchand could fetch a good return.
Krecji, Bergeron and Rask are unquestionably the Bruins’ top players, signed to long-term deals and necessary as foundation players upon which to rebuild. Unless any of them start demanding trades, I doubt the Bruins will put them on the block.
As Haggerty points out, such significant moves won’t happen right away, but I suspect they could come by midseason if the Bruins continue to struggle. Such deals probably won’t be of the season-saving, quick-fix type, but rather the kind necessary to rebuild for the long term. That means promising and affordable young players, draft picks and prospects in return.
I think before any of those players get traded they will fire Claude Julien. It’s no secret Sweeney and Julien are not completely happy with each other, and this is the fallout Sweeney needs to let him go. That being said, even if they were to go the trade route first, there’s not much of a market for either. Chara is old, expensive, and is now the perfect case study of throwing a long term deal to someone of his age. Marchand’s abilities will be questioned and who knows how long he will be out. Even if he were to recover other GMs may look at him as damaged goods.
A couple of things Sweeney should eat 2.5M on Chara’s deal per season and trade him to Edmonton. He is still a suitable defenseman at that lower salary especially when you consider what EDM currently have on D. Take back in return Yak, this years first and thank Chara for his contributions. I would keep Marchand and Bergeron together but I would entertain offers on Rask. If you are truly hitting the reset then why do you need a 7M goalie mucking that up. Last but not least this mess is not Claude Julien’s fault not even close. The right guy was fired this summer problem is the wrong guy was also hired as the next GM. Sweeney trying to force a new system on Julien was/is absurd the talent is not there. Let Claude coach HIS system with some kind of defensive structure and I guarantee this team that they have right now will look better than what we’ve seen so far.
chris… did you really just say yak and a first for chara??
While I do believe there are a couple of more pieces the Bruins could afford to trade away, I don’t think Rask. Bergeron, or Krejeci should be on that list yet.
I’ve never liked Brad Marchand and feel that while he is skilled player on the ice, he gives you that vibe that he may not be greatest guy in the dressing room. I have a lot of respect for Chara and felt he would retire a Bruin, but very rarely do players get the privilege of playing with one team their entire careers. Just a shot in the dark but I wonder if a return to the Islander is a possibility? They have the young assets the Bruins need and Chara would be a big addition to their blueline.
Deer,
Chara will be fine, played pretty good yesterday. Trade him?/ Perhaps but that should have been done over the summer.
Shed salary? Agree but the chance to do that again was over the summer. What would have been wrong with keeping Martin Jones and moving Rask for some young talent. It all goes back to trading Seguin and screwing up the Boychuk situation. Those are screw ups that the team will not recover from for many years. If Neely stamped those trades he should be gone as well. Coach Julien is old school and a winner. None of this falls on him.
Seguin for Eikkson???
I think these 2 are exactly what the leafs need right now, 2 vets with cup experience, and they can mentor our prospects.
I completely disagree, for numerous reasons. #1: incredibly overpriced for what he now brings; #2: Boston would want only young assets in exchange, not anyone on the actual roster (look at the kind of returns they got for Hamilton, Lucic) and giving up any of our prospects for an over-the-hill vet with a heavy multi-year contract is ridiculous; #3: the rebuild will take numerous seasons and in the meantime Chara will be paying for a non-Cup competing team and he won’t actually be playing with the prospects as they’ll be developing in the system (except for Reilly); #4: Marchand is not the type of player who should be “mentoring” anyone.
@thirstydeer,
I agree with both of your posts. And I am truly starting to wonder if Leaf fans (not all, there are some level headed ones here) would pass on any player? I get coveting the shiny players like Stamkos, Weber, etc. But Chara on a rebuilding team? Mike Richards, Bickel, Marchand, Chara, Schenn??? Is there anyone out there that wouldn’t be a good fit for the Leafs?
when your team is as bad as the leafs, you tend to get a little desperate at times.
NYR4LIFE, those are the sort of “proposals” I used to comment on regularly saying, essentially, the same thing you did and invariably would draw responses accusing me of “trolling” and being a “LeafsHater.” I suppose some thought this was a Leafs only forum. And clearly some still do since, as you point out, any name that pops up from ANY franchise as a possible salary-dump trade in THEIR re-build, or is a pending UFA, automatically draws suggestions that Toronto would be a good location. I realize, as assbackwards says, “when your team is as bad as the Leafs you get a little desperate” but I’m sure he is as aware as just about everyone in here that such proposals have been going on for many years, more often than not based on the fact a player, especially a top-drawer UFA, was born somewhere in the GTA, and despite the fact that they have NEVER been able to attract such a player since the advent of the UFA system – whether their team was good or bad.
George, please don’t compare your past comments to NY4LIFE. He made one comment and it was pretty fair. You were accused of trolling because you were constantly bashing the Leafs and their fan base more than 2-3 times a day at one point. Since you slowed down people stopped bugging you, take a hint.
I agree George nyr4life every name that pops some leaf fan thinks he would be a good fit. don’t get me wrong some players would be a great fit but being a leafs fan also I know our team is terrible right now the only way we can get a top notch player is thru free agency we don’t have many trade chips yet! just stay the course on the rebuild and don’t worry about other players unless they are good young players not chara and marchand lol
Durtmchurtt, you can call it rolling and Leafs-bashing if you wish, but I prefer to view it as countering what I perceived to be “wishful-thinking” trades and signings rather than viable options. And I wasn’t the only one, although you seem to have had a burr under your saddle named “George” since it was invariably your proposals that I found to be far out in left field. And I will continue to do that whether you like it or not.
You’re entitled to our opinion George. But you’re also knowingly inciting a reaction with those types of comments, so you can’t exactly say you were being targeted. You reap what you sow.
In both your defense:
1. Ive seen george be bashed to the point Ive even joked to him hes a leaf basher (which hes not)
2. I’ve never seen NYR be unreasonable either.
I’d like to add:
Leafs are like god.
80% of the population are beleafers; 20% are rational.
You’ll find that commenting / arguing against MOST of them, generates the same responses / attitude.
So if I have to live with religion; you got to live with leafs.
Just the way god and leaf nation made it to be.
LOL. That’s probably THE best most rational explanation of the psyche of a LeafsNation denizen I have ever read assbackwards. I will have to keep that in mind from now on.
I really wasn’t trying to slap Leaf fans at all. Most NY fans come up with ridiculous trade proposals, Fa signings etc. as well. Especially when things were putrid in NY (98-04) and even in years following. They were just a bubble mediocre team. But I started to at least see some vision and direction from management. During that time I couldn’t wait to purge Leetch, Messier, Holik, Lindros, Kovalev etc. and just rebuild from scratch. The last thing I wanted (And most NY fans weren’t on the same page) was more broken down , past their prime overpaid garbage that still finished outside looking in every year. NY was famous for being a place to collect a check and put your feet up.
I was not at all trying to slap Toronto fans while they’re down. Patience grasshoppers. Patience. Every fan has been there. It SUCKS! I believe Healthy, successful, Montreal, Toronto, NY, Chicago, Boston, Detroit,Philly, Pittsburgh etc. franchises are essential for the NHL’s well being and growth. Good luck. It’s only 3-4 games in, keep your heads up.
Cheers!
screw that
i trade whole leaf team for chara & marchand
and then other team can keep there heads up
kinda joking; kinda not
I’m sorry Mr. but you’re wrong….For Lucic they got a good return(Jones-Miller-1st)cause at $6.5mil.he was too expensive and Hamilton didn’t want to play for the Bruins so….
I agree with you.
Lucic trade was at right time
Hamilton wanted to get paid like he has ray bourque’s pedigree. Bye Bye!
What Hamilton eventually signed for ($5.75M) is a bargain.
Here Here!
I was agreeing with Thirstydeer…
Wow no
You’ve got to be kidding. The Leafs are rebuilding. They need two things: (1) highly skilled young prospects/players and (2) vets on expiring deals that can be flipped at the deadline for more of number (1).
The absolute last thing they need is an overpriced, aging former great like Chara to chew up cap and make them marginally better for a couple years of the rebuild before he retires.
The whole mentor concept is bunk. You can’t mentor kids when you can barely play effectively. See Robidas, Steaphan – he was brought in for exactly this and is now just dead cap.
The problem with many leafs fans is that they are so use to way things were done in the past that they just cant wrap there minds around what they are presently trying to do.
While you take Chara and Marchand do you mind grabbing Cowen and Greening off my team aswell. We will be happy to take a series of number 1 picks and prospects for the two of them. Hahahaha
no jeff
ottawa is the enemy
Hahaha! Everytime any player is available there is a Leaf’s fan that says “we should take him.” I am sure there is a Leaf’s fan somewhere that thinks that Joey Crabb is the missing piece to the Cup. I gotta agree with thirstydeer on Chara. I don’t believe that it makes sense for ANY team to trade for Chara. His game has declined way too much to make him worth the cap hit for any team out there.
To all you Oiler fans, you better hope PC learned his lesson from Boston. These long term contract rarely work out for the team and the cap rising is as unstable as the Canadian Dollar. No one wants Chara because of the cap hit; but maybe because the actual dollars is down to 4m in the last year according to General Fanager. I would like to see Rask traded but over 7m with 6 or 7yrs probably not happening try Anahiem if they had a legit number 1 last year they would’ve won the cup. By trade dealing Kelly, Erickson gone. won’t fetch much; Erickson will get at least a second or maybe 2, Kelly a 3rd and Chara if goes will give cap relief.
can’t argue that BUT they have a cup which was well worth it…very few teams have been able to ..manoeuvre the long term deals wanted by these vets and long term success…Segway coming….which I will feel that Stamkos and the Lightning are not long for each other…the sum is always better than the parts…those big deals seldom make sense for one player
Yeah Oiler fans would hate to win a cup and then be forced into a rebuild due to cap restraints. What a horrible price to pay for a Stanley cup championship. – sarcasm
Really Jeff, they are ways to better managed the team. PC handed out contracts like candy, yes Boston won the cup but better cap management would’ve made this team more competitive for the long run. That’s the difference I guess, you want Ottawa to win one cup and never to be heard from again. I guess that’s better then never winning it at all.
It’s a little different tune being sang than the big bad Bruins making the playoffs in someone’s predictions.
I didn’t say the bruins won’t make the playoffs. I’ve been wanting Chara gone for a couple years now. The d will mold, the team will be better. The east is wide open.
caper… the east might be wide open but the bruins d is terrible and even rask has let in a couple of questionable goals already. imo the bruins don’t have a great shot at the playoffs
ya but you can;t have your cake and eat it to.
if you don;t pay until players win cup…then you should expect to pay once they do.
Boston did jst that. In fact that is a sign of good management.
Think of the reverse, pay up front before winning anything and getting no ROI. This is what 75% of teams do and now theyre finally trying to stop
If I had a choice between winning a cup like Boston has then struggling to get back to being a top team vs a series of Playoff loses to a division rival like Ottawa has and only one trip to a conference finals where they stunk the joint. I’d take Chiarelli’s method any day. Now granted Ottawa is a budget team so we need to put allowances in for that but I’d prefer a championship.
jeff, if they have a complete good season (better than last year)…be prepared for an active (trading) ottawa team and a 2nd tier contender. good luck
If I had the choice of winning like Bruins, I’d also take it. That said, if I had the choice of winning like Penguins I’d pass. Penguins had a nice core that could contend for many years but after the cup, the rest of the team AND assets was badly mismanaged. Perennial pretenders in no mans land.
Chiarelli didn’t create the team that won the cup.
He made a few moves but the core was already there.
He traded Seguin,Boychuk,Wheeler,Colbourne,Versteeg and Kessel. Thomas won the cup and was already there so was Lucic,Marchand,Bergeron,Boychuk and Krejci.
can’t argue that BUT they have a cup which was well worth it…very few teams have been able to ..manoeuvre the long term deals wanted by these vets and long term success…Segway coming….which I will feel that Stamkos and the Lightning are not long for each other…the sum is always better than the parts…those big deals seldom make sense for one player
Leaf fans – stay the course
I disagree. many teams would want Chara and Marchand, pens, nyr rangers and LA come to mind. How do know boston would not want prospects?? you have no idea what they want.
before nyr fans say no, every over-priced player has went there over the years. lindros, gaborik, brad richards, jagr, and yandle.
What’s your answer then leaf fans?? sit and wait, continue to buy over-priced lower bowl seats? throw waffles when needed?
Leafs4life; did you at least have a look at the cap situation of those two teams before you commented? Yandle currently costs the rangers just north of 2mil
Yes, the answer is sit and wait; develop the youth, draft better, get some homegrown talent and be competitive in 3-4 years.
Chara and Marchand are a terrible idea for the Leafs – just awful.
With Babcock behind the bench I don’t think the team has the need to pay 11M plus for Mentors
those three** teams
@taz. Babcock can only do so much as a coach, you are a fool if you think he can mentor a player the same way a team mate can. Nice try, but #fail.
lol….maybe read the sentence in it’s completion. But hey, you did use a hashtag so you must be really cool and funny.
Be careful taz, their think skin is now now the equivalent of cellophane.
Thin skin … damned auto-correct
At least you seem to agree to not trade away picks and youth for Chara and Marchand. Well I think you do.
Leafs4life, Nice name….
Yandle, 50% his salary cap hit retained by Arizona. Far from aging vet, or on his way out.
Jagr 50% salary retained by Washington…in NY, put up 123 points his first year, 96 his second year, 71 his final year. Cost for Jagr, Anson Carter.
Gaborik was a free agent, cost nothing but $$$’s. Put up 86 points first year, 48 second year (62 games), and 76 his 3rd year. He was about 25 when he cam to NY.
Richards, Free agent. Way overpaid, but in the end NY escaped him still sitting there sucking up cap space.
Lindros, Total gamble, didn’t pay off. But this was also before the salary cap. Cost Brendl, Johnsson, Hlavac.
You see the difference here?
If what you’re saying is NY,LA,Pitts would want Chara or Marchand, I totally disagree. And so do the numbers for any one of those teams to make it happen.
line them up and move as many as they can, clear cap space and hit reset…..The Bruins fans saw this coming this offseason, players that Sweeney brought in to help with goal scoring were overrated by the FO, the D even with Chara and Seids needed help ant least a top 4 D-Man and without them a top 2 & a 4…I believe Sweeney and Neely have done a very bad job here starting with the draft and getting pieces to help this team this year.
the Bruins should to into trading anyone not named Bergeron
Joe according to your previous comment, That Sweeney and Neely don’t know how to draft or trade, why would you suggest they do anything because they don’t know what to ask for in return.
If the Bruins get 80 points this year Rask should get the Hart—I have read this board a million times where I see posters rate him extremely low as a goaltender, yet at the time pumping up Price. Price is a stud there is no doubt, but so is Rask and the only difference between them from an accomplishment stand point is Price has a gold medal from an 5 game tournament in the Olympics. Put some solid D in front of Rask and you got a playoff team. You got to Keep Bergy as he is the face of the franchise (Brady, Papi), and there would be utter fan mutiny if he is traded. David Krejci can fetch a huge return for a Dman, but lets be honest, when he is playing and healthy he is one of the best. No so much for the captain who is still scary to play against, but at 39 he has less in front of him that behind.
price is a better goalie than rask he doesn’t need ppl to pump his tires he is the best goalie in the world
Yet here you are pumping up his tires.
lol..
as shticky would say just look at the stats lmao
Everyone knows Price is the best right now. You just made me laugh when you said
“price is a better goalie than rask he doesn’t need ppl to pump his tires he is the best goalie in the world”
Youre pumping his tires
You say one thing then do the exact opposite
Lol I see not pumping his tires just stating the obvious lol
OMG LMAO
Sportsnet has an article on the |Bruins kicking tires also.
I think the Bruins problems started when trading Seguin.Then you trade Boychuk and Hamilton.I thought keeping Mcquaid was silly also.If they kept Seguin and traded Krecji that woulda fetched alot of picks or prospects and trading Seidenberg and Chara would have gotten this team picks at least bad management and trades has ruined this team.
The Bruins current plight is falls squarely on Cam Neely. He has a “In my day son” attitude and that doesn’t work in todays NHL. IF he does not adapt, good players will continue to want out of Boston. Think about it, Hamilton leaves and gets 5.5 on a long term deal, which was affordable for Boston. He clearly wanted out.
Just like the Harry Sinden days, we are in for a long hall of mediocre seasons – get ready Boston fans, until they get some folks that understand todays game, it’s going to be a lot of the same ole same ole.
As for firing Julien, that’s crap. Julien is a MUCH better coach than Don Sweeny is a GM, or ever will be. Obviously Julien will be fired, but putting blame on him for this is just a typical scapegoat move. Can’t wait until Steve Kasper is the bench boss.
I loved Cam Neely as a player, but he doesn’t get todays NHL.
Amen to that! I’m glad someone really gets it. The management group there is toxic. Just research the inner goings of the Seguin trade.
Julien is quality coach.
if the players have no trade clauses and haven’t been approached to see if they are willing to move…& the following is true:
They’re quietly engaged in exploratory trade discussions with several teams regarding some of their high-priced veterans, including captain Zdeno Chara and winger Brad Marchand.
Then wouldn’t this suggest that:
1. Players have been approached about no trade clause and moving (no news reports of this)
2. teams are approaching the bruins about those players (contradicts everyone’s comments of these players being untradeable or no demand for them) (this seems unlikely)
3. boston management is proactively attempting to breach contracts without players consent. (this is likely but isn’t it illegal?)
The problem in Boston is Cam Neely – pure and simple. He has a “Back in my day” mentality and that doesn’t work in todays NHL – Hamilton clearly wanted out and they chased away Seguin as well.
Just like the Harry Sinden days, we are in for a long haul. Worst of all, Julien is going to have to bite the bullet for this and he is a WAY better coach than Don Sweeny OR Cam Neely are at their jobs.
Until Bruins start hiring people who get todays NHL and players, we are never going to be able to retain talent. Period. It’s Sinden all over again, and it honestly makes me sad to be a Bruins fan.
As a Leafs fan I feel for you. At let me tell you from experience, this period of needing a rebuild and trying to do a quick retool can go on for years and year.
You could go through two or three coaches and a GM or two before the team finally breaks down and starts a proper rebuild. Sad to see for a historied organization like Boston…
I agree Darryl what you say about neely worries me about shanny both are old school and really don’t have experience in there positions prior to getting the jobs. I still think all the strong headed people in the leafs mngmt is gonna come to a blow up eventually
Yeah, why don’t you weigh in on Babcock as well Bigbear? I’m sure he has some deficiency that you’ve identified that the management team in Toronto is not aware of. Always something negative on the Leafs from you…
if I didn’t say anything negative I would be lying wouldn’t I? 1 playoffs in a shortened season in the last decade the leafs have done nothing to change that except now with the rebuild
dan39… why don’t you ask commodore about babcock he played for him lol
I doubt Rask gets moved, but I wonder. I am very curious to see if modern analytics will show that the money spent on elite goalies could be better spent on a “very good” goalie (for 50% the price, or less) and a better roster ahead of him.
$8M x 7yrs for a goalie behind a weak team seems like a potential worse decision than, say, $3.5M x 3yrs for a worse goalie but behind better skaters.
As a Leaf fan..
stay the course..yes..unless a mid 20 star is available
I hate the Bruins but Neely and Sweeney – are idiots- yes
…should never have fired Chiarelli- he built the Bruins and simple coaching change would have changed this..so Chara is overpaid now- but he was so impactful for several years- cant complain now..
Marchand has value still..see Oilers …see Pens…
Bruins D isn’t that bad..really …remove Hedman from Tampa what do you have?
So if Chara is willing to be traded why not pull a Ray Borque and head to the AVS for said pieces and prospects. The AVS need a guy with his leadership and back end experience to settle their D and teach the young guns how to WIN. He mentors their guys for 2-3 yrs. The AVS have the cap space for the next 2-3 yrs and I do not see a better option for their D out there to be traded for. What say you? What would the AVS give up?
That’s one of the tough questions. Even if we assume the B’s would trade Chara, and that the Avs would want him, what is Chara’s trade value?
I’d rate him as a now-good-but-not-great dman with exceptional leadership & experience. So maybe a 7-7.5/10 in terms of player value.
His contract, however, is maybe for a 8-8.5/10 player.
So does a player who is being paid too much have any trade value in today’s market? Or is the team receiving the player doing the other team a favour by taking him off the books?
Maybe a B+ prospect and a high (but not 1st round) pick?
Meant to add the point that the Avs, in this example, are effectively trading cap space to the Bruins, too. That has very high value in a cap world.
It’s no going to happen because Chara is nowhere near the level Bourque was at when he was traded. The Bruins traded Bourque as a favor to give him a shot at a Cup. If I am not mistaken, Bourque was a runner up for the Norris in his last season with the AVs. Chara is no longer anywhere near that level.
Additionally, we are now in the cap era and even if the AVs are nowhere near the cap they likely have an internal cap to deal with. They just can’t afford to tie that much money up in an aging dman, whose best years are way behind him and is likely to get injured going forward.
I hope we have babcock until 2115, then re-build will be complete.
Bruins I thought were already in rebuild mode .today they are just braking it to their fan base.3 first and second rd picks at the draft .2 more firsts and counting . Bruins have been a team in the playoffs regularly for so long they are not use to missing out .
Cant see Chara agreeing to be moved to any team that isn’t a cup contender .and all of those teams are tight to the cap now or in the near future . best B fans can hope for is big Chara hangs em up .You will forever have those memories of him hoisting the cup HIGH up there .
Like others have said keep Bergereon and move whoever else you can who is not the future .
As a leaf fan we will take Chara off your hands for Lupul and Robidas if you throw in a pick or two cause we are in slow and steady rebuild in case you haven’t heard .
Julian isn’t at fault he’s playing the system his bosses are telling him to.
Defense is terrible and everyone with a brain knew it before the season started.
Team isn’t making playoffs so let the rebuild begin.
Move veterans for prospects and picks.
I would move Rask as the return could be good and we have goalie prospects coming up soon.
Build around Krejci and Bergeron.
You really think that management is telling Claude how to coach ?
You guys are hilarious..
Forget about the leafs cause they will be an after thought for the next 5 years!! I mean just absolutely pointless to talk about them.
As for Boston.. No one will take Chara unless they hold salary or give up an asset
All these scenarios are a bit ridiculous
My favourite is when people say trade the “vet” to Toronto.. Then they will flip him for a high pick at the deadline
@k. Let me guess what team you cheer for….canes??? No wait hawks and you’ve been hawks fan since they were founded in 1926 right?
I agree k it is pointless to talk about the leafs the team isn’t going anywhere In the near future and hasn’t done anything in a long time
Seriously has tried to start trouble with every one on here today…but don’t argue with him…lol what a joke.
lmao since when is an opinion starting trouble? is cause the all mighty shticky doesn’t agree with it?? what a joke
Am I banned? I tried to post a reply about 3 times now and it does not show up?
oooops, I guess not. But I probably should be banned! LOL
No, you weren’t banned. Our new anti-spam is a bit touchy. You tripped a word (sucks) which was part of one of our banned words.
what we can’t say suck!
how are we going to reference what the leafs & big bear are best at?
😛
apparently it blocks smiley faces too! : P
Bruins and Florida have already established a good relationship on trades to get the Panthers to the salary floor and if Florida stays competitive I could see them as a good trade partner again. Send both Marchand and Chara their way in return for Kulikov (still only 24) and Jokinen. It’s mainly a salary dump for the Bs but Kulikov was once a very highly regarded prospect, has been decent albeit inconsistent in the NHL, and is still only 24.
Then the Bs could overspend to bring in soon to be college free agent Jimmy Vesey.