Boston Bruins

Montgomery Firing Likely Leads to Bruins Selling Big Names in Trades

Following the firing of head coach Jim Montgomery, the only next move for the Boston Bruins is to become trade sellers.

by
Jim Parsons
November 20, 2024

The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa appeared on What Chaos! podcast this week and discussed the next moves for the Boston Bruins after firing head coach Jim Montgomery. After being asked if the team might have little choice but to start making trades, potentially even becoming sellers, Shinzawa responded, “You have to as a GM.”

Could the Bruins become… sellers?

"Let's just assume this poor play continues. You'd have to."@FlutoShinzawa on the *big* names Boston could explore

?: https://t.co/O2RWktTraE pic.twitter.com/gLPyawMLuN
— What Chaos! (@WhatChaosShow) November 19, 2024

“Let’s just assume this continues, this poor play. You have to, because, where’s the help?” Shinzawa asked. He went on to say:

“Is Poitras going to come in and save the day sometime? Who knows. Lohrei, is he going to be a difference-maker? We don’t know. Swayman, when is he going to get his game in gear? We don’t know. You have to look at Brad, you have to look at Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Trent Frederic, he’s in the last years of his deal. Yes, Carlo. Maybe there’s somebody out there who wants Morgan Geekie to be a depth player… Those are the moves. Those are the players you really have to consider…”

Following the firing of head coach Jim Montgomery, the only next move for the Boston Bruins is to become trade sellers. — Montgomery Blowup at Marchand Raises Issue of Fallout with Bruins

Who Can’t the Bruins Move?

Shinzawa then dug into a list of players the Bruins would have no luck moving. He said that David Pastrnak isn’t going anywhere. Charlie McAvoy isn’t going anywhere. He said nobody wants this version of Jeremy Swayman at his new contract. Nobody will want the new arrivals of Nikita Zadorov or Elias Lindholm either.

Shinzawak said there are not many cards to play with for the organization and they can’t trade pics or prospects right now just because there are so few of them. ” So yeah they’re up against it.”

How quickly the Bruins start to make a move may depend on how Joe Sacco fares as interim head coach. A string of bad performances could leave the Bruins well outside the playoff picture and they’ll quickly become sellers. Whereas, if the coaching change leads to a temporary boost, the organization might hold off until it’s absolutely necessary to make changes.

Next: Did the Bruins Make the Right Choice in Firing Jim Montgomery?