The 2022 NHL trade deadline is just over a month away, and it’s a very important one for the Boston Bruins.
The B’s are a good but not great team. They have the potential to make a deep run in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that’s unlikely to happen with their current roster. Reinforcements up front and on the blue line are needed.
We should expect the Bruins to make at least one move. Why is that? Well, they have been one of the busier trade deadline teams in recent years, sometimes making multiple moves in the weeks leading up to the deadline. For example, the Bruins pulled off two trades before the 2021 trade deadline to add two forwards and a defenseman without giving up a top prospect or a first-round pick.
Elvis Merzlikins sustained a lower-body injury during practice Saturday and is not playing against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said Sunday that Merzlikins and backup Joonas Korpisalo, who missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury, are day to day. Goalie Daniil Tarasov has missed the past 19 games with a hip injury.
Jonathan Toews skated with the Blackhawks on Friday for the first time since being placed in concussion protocol Jan. 28.
The forward took part in a full 30-minute optional practice. He was placed on injured reserve Friday, retroactive to Jan. 26, when he had an assist in an 8-5 win against the Detroit Red Wings.
“I saw [Toews] this morning, I just said, ‘Love having you around,'” Blackhawks coach Derek King said. “We need it, we need a guy like that just kind of hanging around and just seeing him in the locker room is good for the guys.”
King said the Blackhawks will continue to monitor Toews, who scored 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 43 games this season.
“It’s just [based on] how he feels and if he’s feeling better,” King said. “Obviously he’s not 100 percent, so day by day. But it’s nice to see him on the ice.
J-F Berube made his first NHL start since April 6, 2018, when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks against the St. Louis Blues.
In 34 NHL games, he is 9-10-4 with a 3.39 goals-against average and .898 save percentage with the Blackhawks and New York Islanders.
“It’s been a long time since I was back in the NHL, and obviously I am more than ready for this opportunity and I’ll make the most of it,” Berube said. “I’m going to stick to what I do best.”
Berube was recalled Wednesday from Cleveland of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis and served as the backup at Chicago on Thursday, when Merzlikins made 28 saves in a 7-4 victory.
Jet Greaves, who signed a three-year, entry-level contract earlier Sunday, backed up Berube.
