“The Bruins Are Talking to Them”: Boston’s Interest in Canucks Centers Confirmed

Quinn Hughes #43, J.T. Miller #9, Brock Boeser #6 and Elias Pettersson #40 of the Vancouver Canucks (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

If the Vancouver Canucks are indeed willing to trade either of centers J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, the Boston Bruins are one of a handful of teams expected to pursue one of the reportedly feuding players.

“They’re talking to them,” an NHL executive source confirmed when asked if the Bruins were one of the suspected multiple teams calling Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin on Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

RG reached out to this source after a report from Anthony Marcotte of BPM Sports confirmed that Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, and Utah Hockey Club GM Bill Armstrong were all scouting the AHL game between the Montreal Canadiens farm club, the Laval Rocket, and the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks in Laval, QC this past Friday.

As for which one of the Canucks’ top-6 centers the Bruins could be targeting?

“I don’t know who for sure, but I know the Bruins want to get deeper and younger up the middle and not older,” the source said. “That seems like Pettersson, but it’s not about who they want; it’s about who the Canucks decide to move on from.”

Pettersson, 26, is in the first year of an eight-year $92.8 million ($11.6M AAV), contract. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound pivot, drafted fifth overall at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, has struggled this season. Pettersson, expected to come off injured reserve this week, has struggled this season with ten goals and 18 assists in 34 games. His best season was 2022-23, when he scored 39 goals and had 63 assists.

Pettersson has been reportedly entangled in an ongoing spat with 32-year-old Canucks center J.T. Miller. Hence, the teams above, including the Bruins, inquiring about what it would take to acquire Pettersson or Miller, who has eight goals and 21 assists in 29 games.

Miller, 31, is in the second season of a seven-year, $56 million ($8M AAV) contract. The six-foot-1, 218-pound center was drafted 15th overall by the Rangers at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Last season was Miller’s best when he had 37 goals and 66 assists.

Bruins Trade Chips

The Boston Bruins would need to assemble quite a package to acquire Pettersson. According to another source with knowledge of trade talks regarding the two centers, the Vancouver Canucks would want the following:

1. A top-6 center or top-4 defenseman
2. A top prospect or a first-round pick ‘depending on where the acquiring team would likely be picking.’

Bruins forward Trent Frederic, who has six goals and six assists in 41 games, has been the subject of recent NHL trade speculation. According to this source, it would take more than Frederic, the 29th overall pick at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, to get a deal done.

“I’m thinking [Mason] Lohrei or Matt Poitras on top of a player like Frederic or Zacha,” the first source said.

Lohrei, 23, was drafted by the Bruins in the second round (58th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-5, 212-pound rearguard is in the final season of his two-year, $1.85 million ($925K AAV), entry-level contract. Lohrei has four goals and nine assists in 41 games.

Poitras, 20, was drafted by the Bruins in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound natural center has a goal and three assists in 14 games with the Boston Bruins this season. However, he has been ripping it up with the Providence Bruins (AHL) with eight goals and ten assists in 20 games.

The second source, however, didn’t believe that would be enough and also pointed out that the cap space coming in would be a significant hurdle for the Bruins.

“I just don’t think the Bruins are positioned well, cap-wise and roster-wise, to make a trade like this,” the second source said. “The only way they pull it off is by creating a hole to fill a hole.”