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BHN Draft Blog: Bruins Still In Mix For Yandle, Draft Harrison 85th Overall

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NHL Trade

The Jack Eichel buzz on the NHL Trade market has picked up significantly with the 2021 NHL Entry Draft kicking off tonight (8 PM ET, ESPN2, Sportsnet, TVAS).

According to an NHL source close to the Eichel trade talks, the Boston Bruins are one of a group of NHL teams that have circled back with the Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to see if his price tag for the disgruntled Sabres Captain has gone down? The same source said there was a sense that Adams wants to resolve what has become ‘an untenable situation’ during the NHL Draft. In order to do so though, Adams will need to pull back from his gigantic initial trade ask.

“Plenty of teams, including the Bruins, have circled back this week,” the source told Boston Hockey Now early Friday afternoon. “I think Kevyn knows he may have to alter the price here and we could see that this weekend if he the right deal or fit comes along.”

What that new fit on the NHL trade market could be and whether the Bruins could meet it, is yet to be seen, but we could have some answers on that this weekend. As was reported in ‘Off The Record’ back on June 21, the initial ask was believed to be as much as six components, and there’s no way the prospect-starved Bruins would be able to meet that.

“They want six components for Eichel. …six!” an NHL executive explained then. “I get that Kevyn is in a really tough spot and needs to make sure he can get as close to Jack’s worth as possible, but this is just crazy. We’re talking a top-six center 25 years or under, a top 4 defenseman 25 or under, a first-round pick, and an assortment of three prospects. In this market and with so many teams trying to build from within because of the cap, how is he going to get that? Then, you don’t even know how Jack’s back will hold up.”

Speaking of that back, it’s apparently good enough for Eichel to be back skating and preparing for the 2021-22 NHL regular season. TSN Insider Darren Dreger had this promising tweet Friday that got the NHL Trade rumors surrounding Eichel buzzing again.

 

 

The Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Seattle Kraken, and Anaheim Ducks are all believed to still be in talks regarding Eichel with the Sabres.

UPDATED:

Habs Re-enter Eichel Sweepstake, Bruins-Coyotes NHL Trade Buzz

As mentioned above, the Boston Bruins and other teams have circled back and are back in on the Jack Eichel Sweepstakes. Just after the last post here, more than one source sent a heads up that Marc Bergevin and the Montreal Canadiens were supposedly poking around on Eichel again.

 

Just 35 minutes later, Dreger indicated the same thing regarding the Habs and Eichel.

 

 

Since Dreger’s tweet, a Canadiens source has confirmed to Boston Hockey Now, that Montreal does indeed still have interest in the Sabres captain but would not get into detail. Twitter has now exploded with rampant speculation of what the price would be for Bergevin to acquire Eichel, but it’s no secret they would love a 1-2 punch of Nick Suzuki and someone like Eichel up the middle.

Just spitballing here but would a package that includes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jonathan Drouin, either Jayden Struble, or Jordan Harris and a first-round pick get the job done for the Habs to acquire Eichel?

Per our friends at PuckPedia, the Canadiens currently have just over $14 million in salary-cap space but that’s expected to increase by as much as $18.3 million if and when Carey Price and Shea Weber go on long-term injury reserve.

Bruins And Coyotes Engaged In ‘Serious’ Trade Talks

David Pagnotta has been all over the ongoing NHL trade talks between the Coyotes and Bruins since the last offseason when the two teams came close to completing a trade that would’ve saw Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson become a Bruins defenseman. The deal never materialized but the trade talks between the two clubs picked up again heading into the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline and also included Scituate, MA native, and Coyotes forward Conor Garland.

Pagnotta tweeted earlier that the Bruins and Yotes remain in trade talks.

 

Our sources just confirmed this report and indicated to BHN that goalie Darcy Kuemper and Christian Dvorak (a former linemate of Taylor Hall), are now part of these ongoing convos between Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong and Bruins GM Don Sweeney.

UPDATE: The Coyotes and Canucks have pulled off a major trade that’s got Garland and Ekman-Larsson headed to Vancouver with a number of players and contracts moving out to the desert.

UPDATE: The Boston Bruins make it official. Taylor Hall has signed a four-year, $24 million contract with the Bruins. Hall will speak to the media at 7 PM ET.

UPDATE: Multiple NHL sources have confirmed to Boston Hockey Now that in the end, not only was Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s contract ($8.2 million cap hit for the next five years) a major sticking point but the Bruins could obviously not match up with the ninth overall pick that the Canucks were able to send back to the Coyotes. Thanks to eight teams passing on Dylan Guenther, the Coyotes were able to take a high-end prospect. That likely wasn’t going to happen when the Bruins picked at 21st overall.

UPDATE: Boston Bruins draft Swedish prospect Fabian Lysell 21st overall (20th thanks to the Arizona Coyotes) Numerous amateur scouts across the NHL have reached out to BHN and said he may end being a ‘major steal’. Joe Haggerty has the newser for BHN.

UPDATE: The Boston Bruins have selected 18-year-old center Brett Harrison with their third-round pick (85th overall). The six-foot-2, 185-pound Harrison had 21 goals and 37 points in 58 games for the Oshawa Generals in 2019-20 before heading over to Finland to play there during the pandemic.

Boston Hockey Now has confirmed that defenseman Keith Yandle is closing in on signing with a new team and that the Boston Bruins are still in the running for the 34-year-old Milton, MA native.

Haggs thinks that the first day of the NHL Draft was a success for the Bruins but I’m not so sure I’d agree with him. The NHL trade market was busier than it has been in recent memory and the Bruins came away with nothing on that front. Yes, they signed Hall and made a solid pick, but their biggest needs, defense, and goaltending haven’t been addressed yet.

 

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