Boston Bruins Rumors: 2 takeaways from big Taylor Hall trade to Chicago
By Zachary McMahon
In the first couple major moves of the Boston Bruins offseason the Bruins moved Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks for defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell. For the 2nd trade the Bruins traded forward Shane Bowers to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Reilly Walsh.
These moves come as Bruins try to release some cap room for the 2023-24 season, and Foligno was expected to become an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins only had $5 million before the trade to $11 million after the trade.
This could be the first of many moves of the offseason that the Bruins will have to make. The team has eight unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents coming up.
Hall will likely play alongside Connor Bedard, which is expected to be the first overall pick which Chicago has in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft on Wednesday.
Shane Bowers was previously acquired in the trade for goaltender Keith Kinkaid before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. After that Bowers played 20 games for the Providence Bruins.
Here’s a couple takeaways from the trade.
More defensemen in the minors to fill in when the Boston Bruins need it
Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell both had split their last three season in between the Blackhawks AHL affiliate the Rockford IronPigs and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Regula has played 22 games with the Blackhawks where he’s scored one goal, which was on April 18 when the Blackhawks lost against the Calgary Flames. Regula is likely going to start the season in Providence, but he would be one of the players that has NHL experience, so he’d be one of the first players to get called up to Boston.
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Mitchell has played 82 games in the last three seasons on the Blackhawks, where he scored four goals and racked up 12 assists. Mitchell could be on the 3rd line on defense if not in Providence to start the season.
The Framingham, Massachusetts native Reilly Walsh was drafted by the Blackhawks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft out of Harvard University in the 3rd round (81st overall). Walsh has played one game with the Devils which was in an overtime loss against the Ottawa Senators on April 26, 2022 where he assisted on a goal by Nolan Foote who scored his first goal of the season after being called up from the AHL affiliate Utica Comets.
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The Blackhawks meanwhile have $37 million in cap room with the Anaheim Ducks only having more, so they can afford Hall and Foligno.
This is the start of the large cloud hanging over the Boston Bruins this offseason, because there are rumors that they’ll lose Tyler Bertuzzi and possibly over stars like David Krejci.