Boston Bruins
Bruins Have Deal in Hip Pocket For Tyler Toffoli
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins apparently have a deal in their hip pocket for Tyler Toffoli.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek spent a lot of time talking trades on the most recent episode of 31 Thoughts the podcast. And, as this site’s name suggests, we love talking hockey trades.
During the podcast (audio link) Friedman slipped in a big piece of news that he made sound somewhat trivial. He said that the Boston Bruins had a deal in their hip pocket to acquire Tyler Toffoli from the LA Kings and could make that trade any day they want. He added that, it appears they haven’t pulled the trigger on a deal yet because the Bruins are eyeing up Chris Kreider and the organization wants to see what happens between Kreider and the New York Rangers first.
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Toffoli to the Bruins?
What’s so interesting about the comment is that Friedman phrased it in such a way that it appears a deal has been in the works for a while and all but finalized. It sounds as though the Kings are waiting for the Bruins to make up their minds and then they can get the paperwork done.
This is noteworthy on a couple of fronts.
First, Toffoli was listed by one executive as the most-likely trade option on the market. The reason was that the Kings aren’t actually asking for all that much, speculation being a second-round pick and a prospect. Our assumption was that this low asking price would open up a bidding war for the Kings to pick and choose where they send Toffoli.
If the Kings have told Boston they can have Toffoli, that theory gets potentially thrown right out the window.
Second, why would the Bruins risk waiting if the asking price is low, or at the very least, fair? Sure, if the Bruins went the Toffoli route, they would need some salary cap assistance and for the Kings to retain a bit of his $4.6 million salary. That said, they’d need the same help with Kreider’s deal as well and there’s no guarantee the Rangers will move him. In fact, new speculation is that they’d like to keep him.
In short, the longer the Bruins wait on Toffoli, the more likely the price to acquire him goes up and/or another team makes the Kings a better offer. And, if you’re the Kings, Toffoli isn’t traded until he’s traded. Why not seek out the best possible deal?
Not often do you hear insiders report on possible trades with such confidence. Friedman certainly believes this deal is there if the Bruins want it.
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