The 2022 NHL trade deadline is fast approaching and moves already are being made throughout the league.
While the professional teams are busy bolstering their rosters, we at NESN decided to put together a few blockbuster deals of our own — ones we’d love to see happen.
Obviously, the logistics of any trade can be tricky. So, we focused on the main aspect of each deal, just to give a sense of how certain clubs can make a splash before Monday’s deadline.
Let’s get wild.
Mike Cole: Rickard Rakell to the Boston Bruins
Rakell is the perfect type of player for the Bruins to acquire. They’re always looking to boost their scoring capability, and Rakell checks that box. He’s also capable of playing center, so he’d add valuable depth in that regard, especially if Erik Haula isn’t the long-term answer on the second line. The cost might be high — likely a first-round pick for a rental — but Boston has shown a willingness and ability to re-sign and extend players for whom it trades.
Scott Edwards: Marc-Andre Fleury to the Toronto Maple Leafs
If Toronto wants to win a playoff series for once, then this feels like the splash to get it done. Fleury, for those who might not remember, is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner who is stuck on a Chicago Blackhawks team that isn’t going anywhere. The netminder has shown, despite his team’s poor play, he still is a goalie who can win his team games when it needs him. The Maple Leafs have watched their playoff hopes fade away year after year thanks to poor goalie play (and poor play overall, for that matter). Fleury to Toronto feels like a no-brainer. It could be the move of the NHL trade deadline if the Maple Leafs, at the very least, win an actual playoff series.
Ricky Doyle: Marc-Andre Fleury to the Vegas Golden Knights
What can I say? I’m a sucker for a storybook ending. I know Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon last month squashed rumors of a possible reunion with Fleury, who spent four seasons in Vegas before landing with Chicago ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. But it now sounds like Robin Lehner could miss the rest of the regular season, and the Knights therefore need a goalie as they fight to make the playoffs. Flower is the best netminder available. Make it happen.
Lauren Campbell: Claude Giroux to the Colorado Avalanche
It’s essentially a matter of when Giroux will be traded from the Philadelphia Flyers, and he’d be a great fit for an already stacked Avalanche team. Gabriel Landeskog likely will be out until the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Giroux would help fill that void and make the dangerous Avs even more dangerous. The Avalanche have the assets to get this deal done, and they should do it.
