Bruins Linked to Trading for $38.56M Center to Fill Major Need

The Boston Bruins are looking to be a playoff team again next season, but if that is the case, they need to add more talent to their roster.

The Bruins need to add more talent to their forward group if they are going to battle for a playoff spot. A clear area of need is center, as the Bruins have one of the worst center groups in the NHL.

With that, NHL analyst Rob Couch of NHLTradeRumors urges Boston to acquire Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Carolina Hurricanes.

“The Boston Bruins may be the weakest team at center in the entire league with Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt/Pavel Zacha, Sean Kuraly/Matthew Poitras, and John Beecher,” Couch wrote. “They have multiple options, but one isn’t clearly better than the other in each situation.

“The team is in a transitional period and they can’t rebuild with players like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman,” Couch added. “They need help, and a centerman would help. Kotkaniemi wouldn’t be their first choice, but he would be a cheaper and readily available one. Again, I stress that he could use a change in scenery and Boston could provide a different look that helps him break out.”

Kotkaniemi has five years left on his eight-year, $38.56 million deal with the Hurricanes. He’s the former third-overall pick who hasn’t lived up to expectations.

But with the Bruins, Kotkaniemi can be a second or third-line center and add some more secondary scoring to the lineup. He recorded 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points in 78 games.

Hurricanes Getting Trade Interest in Kotkaniemi

Carolina signed Kotkaniemi to a one-year offer sheet from the Montreal Canadiens and then extended him for eight years.

However, the signing of Kotkaniemi hasn’t worked out as he isn’t a top-six forward as Carolina had hoped. With that, the Hurricanes have been open to trading him and have gotten trade calls on him, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli.

“Kotkaniemi remains the cautionary tale of the unmatched offer sheet, the retribution gone wrong when they plucked him out of Montreal. His game has not progressed in a couple seasons. The cap hit will always look fine – and actually get better with age,” Seravalli wrote. “But Kotkaniemi isn’t a difference maker, and he’s nearly 500 games into his career already unbelievably enough. Teams have called Carolina about his availability but nothing has progressed to the point yet that they’ve taken any of those discussions seriously.”

Kotkaniemi has skated in 476 career games, recording 76 goals and 118 assists for 194 points.

Bruins Plan to Make Playoffs

Boston was one of the worst teams in the NHL this season, but is hoping that only lasts one season.

The Bruins are looking to be a playoff team this season, as before the offseason began, Boston’s front office and ownership made it clear the goal is to make the postseason, according to Bruins’ CEO Charlie Jacobs.

“We’ve spoken at great length about this: The team that we currently have, (if) healthy and with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate that we’ll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026,” Jacobs said.

However, making the playoffs for the Bruins will be easier said than done.