The Broken Stick That Broke The Boston Bruins

The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline had the potential to be more entertaining than the league has seen in recent history, and it did not disappoint.

26-total trades were completed on March 7, which included names like Dylan Cozens, Brock Nelson, and Scott Laughton being dealt on the last day of eligibility.

The trade deadline was so entertaining, that Mikko Rantanen decided to change jerseys twice in a week, leaving most experts claiming that this was the highest-profile player in NHL history to be traded midseason by two serenade teams.

The most shocking moves of the deadline were in buzzer-beater fashion, as the Boston Bruins decided to waive the white flag on the season and sell all of their expiring contracts.

But, if it were not for a heartbreaking loss the night before, could the Bruins’ mentality at the deadline have been different?

It is no secret that the Bruins’ roster was not as talented as the team that won the President’s Trophy in 2023.

Ahead of the regular season, the Bruins were ranked 11th in terms of Stanley Cup odds, with their preseason points over/under set at 99.5.

After starting the season struggling to tread water in a competitive Atlantic Division, Boston relieved Jim Montgomery of his coaching duties, only for Interim Head Coach Joe Sacco to get his team to the deadline on a 20-19-5 stretch.

This kept the Bruins head above water entering the week of the trade deadline, with three games in the past five days to sway General Manager Don Sweeney one way or another for the team’s direction.

Those first two games did not optimistically point the needle, getting shut out by Minnesota before losing at home to Nashville.

However, with the Eastern Wild Card teams continuing to prey amongst themselves, the Bruins entered their last game before the deadline with a chance to win and be one point removed from a playoff spot.

And, with less than a minute remaining in the third period, Boston looked destined to at least collect a point on the road against Carolina. But on what should have been a simple clear by defenseman Nikita Zadorov, a broken stick caused a golden opportunity to be buried by Seth Jarvis of the Hurricanes to steal the win in regulation.

That loss marked three in a row for Boston, keeping them separated by three points of the final Wild Card spot, and seemingly ending their attempt to win in 2025.

The future of the organization was not hanging on the results of this three-game stretch, as the Bruins had already traded away NHL talent in the form of Justin Brazeau ahead of last night’s loss.

However, the assumption can be made that this stretch, or specifically that heartbreaking loss, caused the Bruins ‘ makers to make more drastic moves than they may have made.

The first move came earlier on Friday, as the Bruins shipped Charlie Coyle and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Avalanche for Casey Mittelstadt and William Zellers, and a 2025 2nd-round pick.

Coyle has two years remaining on his former extension he signed in Boston, which was a six-year, $31.5 million contract. With Mittelstadt joining the Bruins after already signing a three year, $17.25 million contract with Colorado before being dealt, the Bruins are not responsible for covering any of Coyle’s contract.

As the morning and early afternoon went by, speculations continued around the team without any other players being sent out of town.

The next move after trading away Coyle was trading low-impact resources for a young defenseman under team control, which came in the names of Henri Jokiharju and Daniil Misyul.

But, similar to the last minute aspect of their most recent loss before the deadline, the Bruins faithful lost household names with just an hour to spare ahead of the 3:00 PM EST trade deadline.

One of two shocking moves from Boston was Brandon Carlo being sent to Toronto for a 2026 first-round pick and 2025 fourth-round pick.

The 28-year-old defenseman was on contract for $4.1 million AAV for the next two seasons, so Boston will retain 15% of Carlo’s contract for the rest of the year.

Minutes after the career Bruin was sent to their Original Six rival, Boston buried that headline by trading away their captain to their division rival.

Brad Marchand was sent to the Florida Panthers for a 2027 second-round pick. Boston also agreed to retain 50% of Marchand’s contract, which after he is paid $6.125 million for this season, the 36-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent.

This marked the end of the trade deadline and more specifically the end of an era in Boston.

While the specific returns for these players could be debated, and even though the thought of Marchand, Carlo and Coyle is difficult for any Bruins fan to swallow, the self-recognition by Boston will be appreciated in years to come.

After the 2023 season, which saw the Presidents Trophy-winning Bruins lose in the first round and then lose key pieces like Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins were rewarded for still attempting to win now, as they made it further in the postseason than the season prior.

Sweeney realizes his current team is different than that team, and is looking towards to future.

The only issue now is to still stay competitive enough for David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman, which will make their offseason even more important than it would have been if Friday went differently.