The Boston View
Shortly after the Bergeron press conference, Cam Neely mentioned that the Bruins would do whatever they could to address the needs up the middle. While that is leaning toward talk of a trade, it still needs to make sense for both sides.
Boston has plenty of NHL ready defensemen on their roster and a glaring hole at 1C. We should make one thing clear, Boston WILL NOT be able to replace Bergeron. Anyone brought in will be a downgrade. Let’s save ourselves from comparing ahead of time.
So the question is, who could the Bruins target from Montreal? Sean Monahan has been in the Bruins rumor mill before, but highly unlikely at this point. Christian Dvorak, however, is a name previously linked to Boston that makes a whole lot of sense once again. Dvorak has two years left on his contract at $4.45m, and while being 27, fits in with the Bruins group. The most unfortunate part for Boston? Dvorak hasn’t lit up the stats sheet, but he hasn’t played on the most talented teams either.
The Montreal Side
The Montreal Canadiens have a problem that they thought they’d never have, and that’s the fact that they have too many centers heading into the 2023-24 season, as they have Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Sean Monahan, Christian Dvorak, Alex Newhook, Jake Evans, and Rem Pitlick who can all play up the middle including Owen Beck and Sean Farrell who will likely spend most of the season in Laval but could get the call-up if injuries start to pile up on the Canadiens roster. The Canadiens, however, could use some help on the blue line, and that’s where Boston comes into play.
Montreal’s biggest rival, the Boston Bruins, are in need of a center now that Patrice Bergeron has announced his retirement from the NHL. Montreal has a ton of young defencemen, but they don’t have someone who fits well in the top four, and that’s where Matt Grzelcyk comes into play. Grzelcyk doesn’t need to be the long-term fix for the Habs but could be a guy that could help out while a few of their younger defencemen begin to develop. He would be a very nice fit for the Habs in the top four and comes in at a little cheaper of a price tag than Dvorak and less term as Grzelcyk’s deal expires at the end of next season. Without Dvorak, Montreal could slot in a guy like Alex Newhook in the place of Dvorak, which would give Rafael Harvey-Pinard a chance at being an everyday player in the Habs lineup, which I think is well deserved after his place last season, and the Habs are going to want to take a look at some of their prospects this season.
