Surprising Bruins trending toward being (cautious) buyers on trade market

The Boston Bruins have been one of the big surprises of the NHL season to this point, not because they have been good, but because of the extent to which they have excelled despite playing in the league’s toughest division.

Many pegged the Florida Panthers or Montreal Canadiens as favorites to finish atop the loaded Atlantic Division, but 10 days into November, it’s the Bruins who hold a two-point lead at the top with a record of 13-4-1.

The Bruins are led by David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Jeremy Swayman and an impressive core of young support pieces that could make them a formidable opponent in the postseason. As strong as the roster looks on paper, there are also plenty of areas that general manager Don Sweeney could look to improve his team’s positioning and go for a run at the Stanley Cup.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by NHL insider David Pagnotta to discuss the Bruins’ plans to improve the roster at the trade deadline.

Carter Hutton: Now Boston has been such a pleasant surprise, like where they’re at as a team compared to [Chicago] and their rebuild. Does this give them confidence as their first in the Atlantic, third in the league in points percentage, to like the management and staff to start trying to maybe sniff around and see where they can add to be a legit team? They’re 8-1 at home right now, Dave, they’ve been a powerhouse on home ice.

David Pagnotta: Yeah, and their group, Don Sweeney, Cam Neely and Co. would love to be able to add to this. They’re not rushing into anything, but it does sound like they’re exploring the market to see what options might be available to them, not necessarily now but a little bit later on down the road. They have another carrot to dangle, not just their first-round pick but Toronto’s first-round pick as well, that they can utilize to potentially move to bring in some additional assets for this club. I don’t think they’re looking at a short-term fix. I still think they want to bring in somebody, and they’re being responsible in this regard, looking to bring in somebody that can help insulate this club, not just this season… but beyond, so I think they’re exploring a lot of their options.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…