By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
In a flurry of trades made by Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on the March 7th Trade Deadline, one trade was seemingly quieter than most others. Boston traded a 2026 fourth-round draft pick, originally belonging to Edmonton, to Buffalo in return for defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Jokiharju, 25, is a defensive-centric player. He’s not going to score 50 points, but he’s going to remain steady on the blueline and play smart hockey. He does, however, jump up into offensive play occasionally and knows how to handle the puck. It isn’t anything fancy, but it can be effective. His best season offensively was the 2023-24 campaign, where he posted 3-17-20 numbers through 74 games played with Buffalo.
The Bruins’ blueline is certainly battered, having taken multiple hits throughout this season. Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy are sidelined with injuries and likely missing the remainder of the season. Jordan Oesterle was claimed by Nashville off of waivers, and Brandon Carlo was traded to Toronto. Despite all of the injuries and trades, the new acquisition has been a bright spot for the Bruins’ backend.
The most puzzling part of the move by Boston’s general manager is the term on Jokiharju’s contract. At the end of the 2024-25 season, the Finnish defender will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA), as he signed a one-year, $3.1 million contract with Buffalo last July. As the Bruins’ playoff picture becomes increasingly distant, it seems the acquisition of Jokiharju wasn’t intended to fill a gap for a potential push but rather an acquisition to add depth to a strong defensive corps (when fully healthy).
So far, Jokiharju has done just that, and the most enticing part of Jokiharju’s early showing in Boston is not just his defensive game but it’s his ability to balance out fellow defender Nikita Zadorov. While Zadorov has looked increasingly better as the season has gone on, Jokiharju has offered stability to Zadorov and allowed him to embrace the more physical side of his game. Since lining up alongside Jokiharju, Zadorov has looked much better. And they’ve improved on more than just the defensive side of things.
As Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub states, Jokiharju-Zadorov as a pairing certainly gave the Bruins’ offense some spark against Tampa Bay in their 4-0 shutout victory. Giving their team the edge in shots/shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger chances is a surprising feat from bottom-four pairing, but I believe it to be a testament to the way Jokiharju and Zadorov balance each other out and give the different opportunities to be successful, both offensively and defensively. That’s certainly something the Bruins’ management will keep in mind when entering contract negotiations with the right-handed defender.
Jokiharju’s future with the Black and Gold comes down to two questions: “Should they extend him?” and “Will they extend him?” We’ve yet to see if the Bruins and Jokiharju’s camp have entered contract negotiations, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t see a contract that locks the Finnish defender in with Boston, especially with how well he meshes with Zadorov, who’s with Boston for another five years.
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