By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The 2026 National Hockey League Trade Deadline is just one week away. As the league resumes following the Olympic break, the Boston Bruins currently sit in the second wild card spot, just three points outside of second place in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins are having a much better season than expected, and with just three games to go ahead of the trade deadline, and this deadline looking like a buyer’s deadline, we could see players come into Boston rather than players get shipped out.
The Bruins’ have been a part of a number of trade rumors within the last week, and were a major contender in the Rasmus Andersson trade. The only reason they were unable to acquire the Swedish defender was because he didn’t want to sign an extension, and Don Sweeney wasn’t interested in giving up assets for a rental player. For this current Bruins team, that’s the exact approach the front office needs to have.
Looking back, the 2025 trade deadline was hard for some to forget after the trading of former captain Brad Marchand, but Don Sweeney had an objectively excellent trade deadline overall.
Dealing out players such as Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle yielded fantastic returns, including forwards Fraser Minten and Will Zellers, as well as multiple first-round draft picks.
If the Bruins flip the script and are going to buy at the deadline, which seems to be the direction they’re learning, it should only be for players with term — a rental isn’t going to benefit this current roster. Selling, though, offers more flexibility, but not quite as much as last year’s deadline. The Bruins brought in so many assets, and now’s not the time to sell them off.
Last night, general manager Don Sweeney joined NESN’s pregame panel, and provided some clarity as to their vision for the March 6th trade deadline, stating that they’re going to “explore both sides of the fence.”
Rumors surrounding the Bruins and their deadline approach picked up today, after Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported that they’re reportedly kicking the tires heavily in St. Louis, having shown interest with Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas, as well as Calgary’s Mackenzie Weegar and Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett.
There’s certain wiggle room for the Bruins to be a mix of buyers and sellers, with trade chips like Andrew Peeke, Mason Lohrei, and recently thrown into the mix is forward Matthew Poitras, as The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported yesterday.
Along with Matthew Poitras’ name being in the mix, it was also reported by Anthony Di Marco that Dean Letourneau is in play. The Bruins prospect had a rough first year at Boston College, only recording three assists through 36 games played.
This year, though, he’s among the team’s leaders in goals and points, recording 18-15-33 through 30 games. Letourneau is certainly an asset that would be appealing to teams, especially considering his resurgence this year.
The big piece that Boston needs to hang on to is 2025 seventh overall pick James Hagens, but it doesn’t sound like his name is floating around out there.
With plenty of names in the mix that could potentially be on their way out of Boston — Peeke, Lohrei, Poitras, Letourneau, and more — the Bruins are seemingly heading into a busy week ahead of the deadline. Despite a number of their own players in the mix, Boston has seemingly flipped the script on their deadline approach and are eager to add more talent to their roster, but they’re interested in doing it with players with term, which is exactly the mentality they should have.
This team was never constructed to be a Stanley Cup contender, and the front office admitted that when they stated this year was going to be a retool year. But it’s clearly heading in the right direction, and there are several moves on the table that could allow for both success right now, as well as in the future.
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