Top decisions that ruined Bruins…..

At the NHL trade deadline, decisions have consequences. They ruin relationships, have an impact on families and professions, and give talented young skaters a persistent sense of self-worth.

It benefits other franchises. Frank Vatrano is one example. Vatrano is thriving as an Anaheim Duck after being passed up by the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers and just being hired by the New York Rangers. Will the Bruins’ selection of Jakub Lauko with the third-round pick they received in exchange for Vatrano ever have the same impact as Vatrano’s apparent arrogance?

Hundreds of thousands of miles of highway tires are burned and countless days and nights are spent in meat-locker hockey rinks by amateur scouts. After that, they provide their suggestions and hope that their boys are chosen.

If so, they intend for those players to grow and succeed in their careers. If they’re very lucky, they’ll raise the Stanley Cup at around one in the morning in front of a nearly empty rink—well after every player, even the black aces, has had a chance to play.

Formerly a stay-at-home defenseman, Dave Lewis is most known as the cakewalk (assistant) coach in Detroit who slipped and slid behind the bench of a patchwork Boston Bruins roster that the new site manager, Peter Chiarelli, was building.

Although young talent is typically regretfully let go by general managers in favor of seasoned veterans who have been shown to be successful in the treacherous game of playoff hockey, Lewis was a seasoned defenseman whose wife was nine months pregnant at the time of the deal.

Chiarelli sent Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to Atlanta in 2011 because a team more physical than the current Boston Bruins roster was thought to be insufficiently tough on the forward lines. Two players who, had they not been letter-wearing leaders, would have been franchise regulars ended up as Winnipeg Jets (the Thrashers moved in 2011) in two separate deadline trades.

Had Wheeler and his friend David Krejci not been suspended after Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome’s hit that eliminated Nathan Horton from the Cup final? Only Rich Peverley’s performance is known to exist, and Chris Kelly’s (Ottawa) invigorating play on the third line made it possible for 19-year-old Tyler Seguin to remain in the playoff lineup.

The takeaway: Winning the Stanley Cup for the lone time in the previous 50 seasons was worth missing out on the majority of Wheeler and Stuart’s careers.

Right now, Wheeler is playing out the string for the New York Rangers, who have emerged as the Eastern Conference’s midseason class and project as the team most likely to challenge Vegas for the Cup—that is, if they pay attention to their own history lesson from then-GM Neil Smith, whose deadline deals brought together the ensemble of scrappy characters who would win the Rangers’ only championship in the previous 83 years.

In two deadlines (1993 and 1994), Smith acquired Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan, and Esa Tikkanen for a 22-year-old Doug Weight and a 23-year-old Tony Amonte. Amonte would go on to record 438 NHL goals (postseason included), and Weight finished his career with 1,105 points and a Cup victory with Carolina.

What is GM Chris Drury going to do? He reportedly became intrigued by Boston’s embarrassing array of elite players last year, and he enhanced his skill set by adding wingers Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. In the seventh game of the first round, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers were eliminated.

Since then, Drury has parted ways with both of his top mercenaries and changed coaches, benching Gerard Gallant in favor of Peter Laviolette, a defenseman whose 12-game NHL coffee cup was with the Rangers.

Seldom have the Boston Bruins re-signed their own unrestricted free agents, of whom DeBrusk is still pending, unless career decisions are made by franchise luminaries on an annual basis. This year marks the expiration of his two-year, $8 million deal, which he signed on March 21, 2022. Following that, he will be a free agency and the Bruins will not be compensated.

The son of legendary Oiler Louie DeBrusk has had a career filled with adventures. After suffering injuries, he was given a place in the press box, his preseason (2021) trade request was made public, he received reparations, went on to have a fantastic 2022–2023 season skating with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, broke his leg in the second Winter Classic at Fenway.

Not to mention – must I? – his role as torchbearer for the 2015 draft (even though it more significantly yielded Brandon Carlo and, in a roundabout way, Pavel Zacha).

Irrespective of Bergeron’s absence, DeBrusk’s 2023 training camp was quiet and his fall quieter. Yes, Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery juggles line combinations but not if he achieves something compelling. It’s taken some time, but DeBrusk is now playing a compelling brand of hockey

Marchand snuck in on Vitek Vanecek’s puck play behind his own net in the second period of Saturday night’s 2-0 loss to New Jersey at home. He then solidified his disruption with a second attempt before moving the puck across the slot to DeBrusk, whose aggressive net crash and finish inside the far post set the boisterous TD Garden crowd on fire. The Bruins didn’t turn around.

This is the DeBrusk of Fenway Park, the player who, as the coach and management often remind us, is an important member of the core group of the Boston Bruins. He is the only one who isn’t signed, and players his age who aren’t signed by now usually never make it.

The Boston Bruins need Zacha to keep developing into an impact player worthy of his rangy speed down the middle, the kind the Boston Bruins have arguably never had, Joe Thornton notwithstanding. If the Devils are to go beyond simply being a never-ending, next-generation collection of talent, Haula must lead the way.

In hindsight, Haula for Zacha was essentially a classic hockey transaction that benefited both sides.

The late, great Ed Sandford, who became a centenarian early this year, was a player who looked terrific in black and gold in any era.

Ultimately, the jubilant sentiment on social media regarding 5-foot-8 Alex Debrincat’s decision to challenge Nashville captain Roman Josi (6-1, 201) and emerge victorious from their brief altercation is met with a resounding “meh.”

Debrincat is seven years younger than Josi, who is 33. Over his career, he has averaged 25 minutes per game and is considered one of the top six defenseman of the twenty-first century. If General Manager Barry Trotz is angry, it should be at Josi’s teammates for letting it go that way.