By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
We’re a quarter of the way through the 2025-26 season, and your Boston Bruins are performing better than expected. Morgan Geekie is lighting the lamp at a 60-goal pace, Jeremy Swayman is strong between the pipes, and Nikita Zadorov has emerged as a reliable defender and strong leader.
However, the Bruins are still riddled with the injury bug — most notably, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak are both sidelined with injuries, and now the trade talks have been starting to circulate the Bruins, specifically involving Vancouver’s Kiefer Sherwood. With reports of what Vancouver wants back for 30-year-old left-winger, it’s a trade conversation Boston should stay very far away from.
Per a report from Jimmy Murphy of the RG Media, “two players Sweeney has recently inquired about are Canucks wingers Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland.” This is following the Canucks general manager Jim Rutherford signaling to teams that they’re open for business in regards to their veteran players, but not captain Quinn Hughes.
The reason he’s gaining so much trade chatter is because he’s been scoring goals at a 36-goal pace through 82 games, and has already recorded the second-most goals in his career, only trailing his career high (19) by seven goals.
While it’s appealing, there are reasons to stay away from that kind of player profile. The first, and biggest, reason to stay away is an unrealistic level of performance. Sherwood is currently sitting with a 21.4% shooting percentage, while his career high is 13.1%. He’s just not performing at a sustainable level.
Additionally, both the return Vancouver wants and his upcoming contract are something Boston is going to want to steer clear from. First, the return. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the return is “a first-round pick plus,” meaning they’d likely have to pair a player or a couple of later draft picks. The Bruins are in the midst of a retool, and if they hope for it to be effective, and not turn into a full-blown rebuild, they need to hold on to the draft capital attained at last year’s trade deadline.
Two first-round picks in 2026, as well as two first-round picks in 2027, Boston shouldn’t be looking to sell those pieces, and potentially more, for a 30-year-old player. Especially considering that his next contract, while it’s incomplete and this is just a rumor, is expected to be in the five-to-six year range, with an average annual value of around $5 million.
With all of the factors that would go into this kind of move, it makes it more clear that it’s one Boston should stay away from. Sherwood is a talented player, but he’s just not performing at a level that’ll be sustainable for a long period of time. It’s likely that, if production continues this season, he’ll want a Morgan Geekie-style contract, and while it seems that Boston found a diamond in the rough in Geekie, taking that chance on another player wouldn’t be wise.
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