BHN Daily: The Boston Bruins Are In Plenty Of NHL Trade Rumors

‘Tis the season for NHL Trade rumors and the Boston Bruins are smack dab in the thick of them!

From top NHL Trade target, Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm to the new buzz name on the NHL Trade market, Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland, the Bruins have been and continue to be part of the trade chatter. 

A disturbing and sad end to NHL referee Tim Peel’s NHL career dominated the NHL headlines Wednesday morning. 

As of 1:45 PM ET, the Bruins were yet to announce if and when there would be a practice Wednesday or if they would even still be playing the New York Islanders on Thursday in front of fans at TD Garden. 

All that and more in your BHN Daily Links:

On Tuesday, Sportsnet NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest 31 Thoughts that the Nashville Predators are now reconsidering trading Ekholm and may replace him on the NHL Trade market with fellow rearguard Ryan Ellis instead. That combined with some reading between the tea leaves from Don Sweeney’s Zoom call Monday, prompted me to make some calls to some of my most trusted NHL sources and it appears whether it’s Ekholm or Ellis, the price is just too high for the Bruins right now. Once the favorites for Ekholm, the Bruins have now become a longshot for Ekholm based on conversations with the most trusted NHL sources. (Boston Hockey Now)

Been under the weather for the last 48 hours so I retired early Tuesday night to rest up for what will be an insane schedule starting Thursday if the Bruins and Islanders play. After I was dreaming of actually covering a game with fans at TD Garden again, the panel on TSN Insider Trading got into the price for any NHL team to acquire Ellis or Ekholm, as well as basically anyone on the Arizona Coyotes roster being available on the NHL Trade market. (TSN)

Speaking of the Coyotes, could Scituate, MA native and former Boston Junior Bruins star Conor Garland make more sense for the Bruins to trade for than UFAs like Kyle Palmieri or Taylor Hall? In that aforementioned 31 Thoughts column by Friedman, he also reported that Garland’s name was ‘out there’ on the NHL Trade market and suggested he might be another local kid that Sweeney tries to trade for. My partner-in-crime Joe Haggerty spoke to a source close to Garland about that potential scenario. (Boston Hockey Now)

Surely the Bruins and 29 other NHL clubs would love a second chance to trade for the ‘Finnish Flash 2’ but for now, don’t expect the Columbus Blue Jackets to put sniper Patrik Laine on the NHL Trade market after trading Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Winnipeg Jets for him back in January. (NHL)

Now on to as I described above, some disturbing and sad news but frankly not surprising news at all. In Tuesday’s game between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, longtime NHL referee Tim Peel left his mic on and got caught saying that he tried to issue a make-up call against the Preds.

Well, the NHL didn’t waste any time in laying down the hammer on Peel and banned him for life from ever reffing an NHL game again. Peel, 54, was set to ref his last game on April 24 and retire but now, this has become his final game, and sadly how he’ll be remembered after 1,334 games with the whistle. By no means am I condoning or excusing Peel’s actions but we all know this goes on every game and has for a long time. Peel deserved this harsh punishment but will the NHL now truly try to clean up its officiating mess or simply let Peel be the scapegoat? (ESPN) 

 The Boston Bruins and New York Islanders are still awaiting word on their scheduled game at TD Garden tomorrow. If they do play, here’s a list of players that could potentially return from injury to face a team the Bruins are yet to beat this season. (Boston Hockey Now)

The Bruins’ longtime rivals, the Montreal Canadiens are now in the same COVID boat as the Bruins. (Sportsnet)

Finally, in place of Murph’s Music Pick of The Day and since it would’ve been the late Steve McQueen’s 91st birthday today, we give you the greatest car chase in Hollywood history!