As NHL Trade Deadline Looms, Are The Bruins And Ducks Talking Again?

The NHL Trade Deadline is t-minus five days away and while there hasn’t been much action yet on the NHL Trade market, there has been a considerable pick up in the buzz and NHL trade rumors. 

Would former Northeastern University and current Anaheim Ducks defenseman Josh Manson be of interest to the Boston Bruins before next Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline?

As they have been for a while now, the Bruins are once again being linked to New Jersey Devils winger Kyle Palmieri and on Tuesday, my partner-in-crime Joe Haggerty confirmed that Bruins and Devils have had NHL trade discussions about the potential of Palmieri and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov being dealt to the Bruins in a multi-player trade. That’s apparently not the only team Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney and his staff are scouting ahead of next Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline as Asst. GM John Ferguson Jr. has been making the rounds in the once feared California Triangle, scouting his former team, the San Jose Sharks, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Anaheim Ducks.

Speaking of the Ducks, in the latest TSN Insider Trading, the panel reported that while he doesn’t really want to, Ducks GM Bob Murray has still taken calls on Manson, the 29-year-old, 6-foot-3, 224-pound, right-shot defenseman that once patrolled the blue line in the storied Matthews Arena. Boston Hockey Now could not confirm if Ferguson Jr. had his bird dog eyes focused on Manson, who has one year left after this season on his current contract that carries a $4.1 million cap hit. Manson also has a modified no-trade clause. What we can confirm though is that the Bruins have inquired about the rugged rearguard in the past so it would not be the least bit surprising if they had gotten wind that Murray would listen this time. 

According to TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun, the price would be expensive for Manson, whose best season came in 2017-18, when he had seven goals and 30 assists in 80 games. Manson has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons but he would still bring more size, grit, and depth to a Bruins blue line that needs that and can’t stay healthy. 

Just as Sweeney appears to be looking to kill two birds with one stone in his trade talks with Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, acquiring a top 6 scoring winger and potentially top 4 defensemen in one trade, could he be trying to do the same with Ducks? Could Manson be part of a bigger trade that could also net say? …winger Rickard Rakell? 

Don’t forget, Murray and Sweeney consummated two trades prior to the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline. Let’s just hope things don’t go the way it went for the Bruins in the trade that netted them winger Ondrej Kase, who has only played in eight regular-season games (0g, 1a) and 11 playoff games (0g, 4a) for the Bruins since being acquired by the Bruins just prior to the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline.