Tonight at midnight is the start of the NHL’s holiday roster freeze, which goes until Dec. 27 and keeps teams from trading, loaning, or waiving players.
So if the Boston Bruins are going to add a top-six right winger to play with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, as many believe they will and should, they’ll have to do it today or wait until the freeze ends.
Chances are, they’ll wait. Which is good, because it will give us more time to speculate about who they’ll add.
Buffalo’s Chris Stewart is one name that’s been out there for a while, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman named a couple more yesterday on FAN 590 radio.
According to Friedman, “in the right situation, T.J. Oshie is available” out of St. Louis.
This isn’t the first time Oshie’s name has been mentioned by a prominent member of the hockey media. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, among others, has raised the possibility.
Oshie, 27, is signed through 2016-17 for a cap hit of $4.175 million, raising the question of how the B’s would fit him in under the cap.
Which brings us to Vancouver’s Zack Kassian. While Friedman admits this is “a bit more of a longer shot,” Kassian’s $1.75 million cap hit is significantly lower than Oshie’s.
And hey, the Bruins have had success getting young power forwards out of Vancouver in the past, right?