Bruins facing tough reality ahead of trade deadline

To be fair, the comedown from the 4 Nations Face-Off could probably be worse. While it’s obviously an adjustment settling into "regular" hockey after seeing guys extract every ounce from their body on every shift wearing their countries' colours, we still have heated playoff races, Alex Ovechkin’s all-time goals chase and the excitement that precedes a looming trade deadline to keep us going.

That said, given the incredible stakes, drama and level of play, a letdown is inevitable.

That’s especially true in Boston, a city where hockey fans now make a hard pivot from seeing — right in their own barn — their national team lose a heartbreaker to the country their club captain plays for, to rooting for a Bruins squad that is no small state of flux.

By the way, their favourite American son, Bruin Charlie McAvoy, was injured in the tournament and there’s no clear timetable for his return. Related: On Sunday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney also said Hampus Lindholm — his second-best defenceman, who hasn’t played since mid-November — is unlikely to suit up again this season thanks to his serious knee injury.

Okay then.

In previous years, Lindholm was the kind of top-flight player Boston traded for at this time of year while gearing up for a playoff push. Heck, Sweeney even convinced guys like Lindholm — acquired in 2022 — and Charlie Coyle — a 2019 deadline pickup from the Wild — to stick around on long-term deals because, who wouldn’t want to play for a strong team in a great city?

Suffice it to say, the Bruins — who dropped a 3-2 extra-time decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday — won’t be buyers this time out. Sure, they’re only one point out of a wild card spot, but Boston’s minus-26 goal-differential is worse than all but four teams in the Eastern Conference. Now they’re down their best two defencemen for the foreseeable future in a year where goalie Jeremy Swayman, though better lately, has not played to the level expected after he inked a monster eight-year deal in September.

Boston is 24th in goals per game (2.74); 24th in goals against (3.17); 30th on the power play (14.8 per cent) and 24th on the penalty-kill (75.6 per cent).

What else would you like to know?

The only question is whether this is a soft or hard sell for Sweeney, with two pending-UFA players that teams will call about. One of those guys is the captain we referenced earlier, Brad Marchand. It’s as simple as this when it comes to the 36-year-old, lifelong Bruin; if his contract demands are reasonable, he can and should finish his career where it began. There's no scenario where Boston is about to enter a full rebuild, triggering an everything-must-go posture. The B's just signed the likes of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to long-term UFA pacts in the summer; none of McAvoy, Swayman or David Pastrnak have had their 29th birthday yet. This team may not be a true Cup contender next year, but there’s no world where it will be taking a knee and, in fact, could be a serious UFA player with a rising cap, a good sales pitch and some intriguing names potentially hitting the market in the next couple of summers.

That said, the system needs help. Boston has missed the playoffs just twice in 17 seasons, whiffing in back-to-back years in 2015 and '16. The Bruins also haven’t drafted in the top 15 picks since 2016, when they snagged McAvoy at No. 14. The organization can use an influx of young talent.

That need could be at least partially addressed by Boston trading its other pending UFA, Trent Frederic, a big-body centre who could certainly fetch an appealing asset from a playoff-bound club. And should the next few days reveal that Marchand’s money ask isn’t in line with what the team wants to give a guy on the wrong side of 35, deal him too. If the Avs can part with Mikko Rantanen, Boston can move on without Marchand.

It won’t be easy, but that’s the tough reality the Bruins find themselves in right now.

Weekend Takeaways

• You look at the result — three of four available points taken during two home games — and you think it was a pretty decent weekend for the Detroit Red Wings. Well, let’s just say coach Todd McLellan will still have lots to work with at the next practice. On Saturday, Detroit had a 3-1 advantage on the Wild with under seven minutes to go in the third period and wound up losing to Minnesota in extra time. A day later, Detroit built a 3-0 advantage on the Ducks five minutes into the game and led 4-2 with under three minutes to play before allowing Anaheim two 6-on-5 goals to tie the game. Luckily for the Wings, Patrick Kane saved them from another OTL by scoring on a breakaway just moments after Jackson LaCombe had a glorious chance to win it for Anaheim. Not exactly how you draw it up.

• At the top of the Atlantic, it sure looks like it’s going to be a three-team race for first place in the division after the Tampa Bay Lightning won their fifth straight contest over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. Tampa is four points back of first-place Toronto with a game in hand and three points behind second-place Florida with two contests in hand. Tampa’s plus-47 mark is better than every club in the NHL except for Washington (plus-65) and Winnipeg (plus-69). Andrei Vasilevskiy is 10-3-2 with a .931 save percentage since Jan. 7 and Brandon Hagel is 5-5-10 since the start of the winning streak, including an absolute beauty of a shorthanded marker to open the scoring against the Kraken.

The Week Ahead

• Blues forward Brayden Schenn is suddenly in the middle of trade rumours with less than two weeks to go before the March 7 deadline. The 2019 Cup champ scored in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Colorado and is slated to play his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday in Washington.

• The Panthers host the Oilers on Thursday in a re-match of the 2024 Cup final. Head coach Paul Maurice said Monday that Matthew Tkachuk could be out for a while after injuring his groin during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

• The top two Calder Trophy candidates will battle Thursday night in Montreal when Macklin Celebrini’s San Jose Sharks visit Lane Hutson and the Habs.

• An outdoor game is always a spectacle, but this Saturday will be extra special as the Blue Jackets host the Red Wings at Ohio Stadium. First off, this is the Jackets’ first-ever outdoor game. Then there’s the college football rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan fans can just port over to hockey. And, best of all, both teams really need the two points as they fight for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Red and White Power Rankings

1. Winnipeg Jets (40-14-3) A 15-day break did nothing to cool the Jets, who won their ninth straight game on Saturday thanks to a late goal from Gabe Vilardi that drew Winnipeg even with the Blues and allowed his team to snag a shootout win. Will Vilardi’s name be one we hear about for the 2026 Olympics? He’s up to 26 goals this year, more than all but four Canadians.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs (35-20-2) What a weekend for Toronto’s support staff, as the Buds picked up back-to-back W’s over Carolina and Chicago. Pontus Holmberg had three goals in two games; Nick Robertson bagged a pair versus the Hawks and the Leafs' defence corps — which ranks dead last in terms of goals scored this year — kicked in some offence when Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev both found the net in Chicago.

3. Edmonton Oilers (34-19-4) It was a rough re-entry from the 4 Nations break for the Oilers, who surrendered a total of 13 goals in road losses to Philadelphia and Washington. Things don’t get any easier for Edmonton, which now goes to Tampa, Florida and Carolina.

4. Calgary Flames (27-21-8) It always feels good to score a game-winner in the third, especially if you’re defenceman Joel Hanley and it’s your first tally in 11 months. Hanley’s late strike Sunday night gave the Flames a 3-2 victory over San Jose.

5. Vancouver Canucks (26-20-11) Two games back, two losses and a total of two goals scored for the Canucks, who are clinging to the final playoff spot in the West. Vancouver has scored three goals in a game just once in its past six outings.

6. Ottawa Senators (29-24-4) After falling 5-2 to the Habs on Saturday, Ottawa is now on its third four-game losing streak of the season.

7. Montreal Canadiens (26-26-5) Can Juraj Slafkovsky finish strong and establish himself as a valuable top-six guy? He was an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick in Saturday’s win over Ottawa.