Could the Bruins be in on Ryan Dzingel?
The trade deadline is 24 hours away. I repeat, the trade deadline is 24 hours away. Subsequently, it seems to be a popular notion that the Boston Bruins are not done exploring the market ahead of the 12pm EST deadline on Monday.
The Bruins shocked the league when acquiring Ondrej Kase from the Anaheim Ducks on Friday in exchange for a first round pick in 2020, prospect Axel Andersson, and David Backes - who's contract had put a stranglehold on the Bruins cap flexibility.
The acquisition of Kase allows the Bruins to play him on David Krejci's right-wing - or if the Bruins decide to continue their pursuit of a goal scorer, Kase would be a brilliant option to play with Charlie Coyle, too.
In terms of who the Bruins could be considering for further offensive depth, names such as Chris Kreider and Kyle Palmeiri continue to top the list. But with asking prices being astronomical for both forwards, one would question if the Bruins would pursue a forward they have already kicked the tires on in the past twelve months.
Ryan Dzingel, a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes, heavily peaked the interest of Don Sweeney last trade deadline. Currently, Dzingel has 8 goals and 21 assists for 29 points in 59 games. Since being traded from Ottawa, Dzingel has struggled to take control of his offensive numbers, as he hasn't had a 20+ goal season since being traded to the Blue Jackets in 2019. That being said, chemistry in Carolina appears to be a known issue, and it's a real possibility that Carolina looks to move on from the 27-year-old.
Here is where it gets interesting: on Saturday, Dzingel was a healthy scratch, indicating that it's likely asset protection and the Hurricanes are taking calls. Furthermore, the Bruins did have a scout in attendance for that game. And although it's not atypical for scouts to be traveling around the trade deadline, as mentioned above, the Bruins were heavily kicking the tires on Dzingel last year. And if the asking price for Palmieri and Kreider are just too high, it wouldn't be shocking if the Bruins acquired Dzingel before the noon-deadline.
But what is a fair trade for Dzingel? Scratch that, because "fair" tends to be more fanatic. How about, what is a realistic trade in which the Bruins acquire Dzingel?
Danton Heinen. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying do it. But what I will say, is that it makes sense. Heinen's name has been featured in just about every trade rumor linked to the Bruins, but with Carolina being a playoff-caliber team, they won't trade Dzingel unless they're receiving a quality player who can be an impact right out of the gate.
Dzingel needs a new environment to get back to scoring 20 goals per year. Some would suggest Heinen needs a new environment, as well. All I'm saying is, a trade like this wouldn't shock me.