Bruins Can Acquire LTIR Player Like Nyquist And Stash For Playoffs

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist (shoulder), is currently on injured reserve and has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season, but not the 2023 Stanley Cup Playioffs. As TSN NHL Insider Chris Johnston pointed out on the most recent episode of TSN Insider Trading, that ironically, may elevate not decrease the NHL trade value of the 33-year-old pending unrestricted free agent forward.

“It’s complicated and interesting,” Johnston said Thursday night. “Nyquist suffered a shoulder injury last week and may be out for the rest of the regular season. This could actually make him be a more compelling trade deadline chip for teams who have a chance to go for it. That’s because a lot of those teams are already using their long-term injury reserve and have the ability to add Nyquist before the deadline and if he’s not available until after the regular season, they can stash him on LTIR and activate him in the playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, have star forward Auston Matthews on LTIR, they can acquire him and have him there for one day and when Matthews is activated off LTIR, they would have essentially added a player without hurting their cap position whatsoever.

This is something to watch but the player does want to get healthy again. He is open to a move and wants a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. I think he’ll still be traded even though he is injured at the moment.”

Nyquist has 10 goals and 22 points in 48 games this season. The two-way forward known for his defensive prowess, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round (121st overall), of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Like so many other contending and potential NHL trade suitors, the Boston Bruins have limited salary cap space. Per our friends at PuckPedia, the Bruins had $3.2 million in cap space as of Friday, and exactly one month away from the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. Would a move like this be beneficial to the Bruins? They wouldn’t gain any cap space but they could still gain a solid middle-six forward and pull what’s become known as a ‘Kucherov’ by letting him stay on LTIR until the end of the regular season, and then activate him for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Another player on long-term injured reserve that’s getting tons of NHL trade interest is Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan, but as our compadres at Montreal Hockey Now reported, there’s still a strong chance that Monahan will be healthy before or just after the trade deadline.

As reported here, the Bruins were in on the Bo Horvat NHL trade sweepstakes but ultimately lost out to the New York Islanders, likely due to the asking price and salary cap ramifications. They have also been linked in NHL trade rumors to Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jacob Chychrun, and St. Louis Blues center Ryan O’Reilly.