TAMPA, Fla. — The Boston Bruins got off to a good start in their new era.
Cole Koepke had a career-high two goals to lead Boston in a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday, one day after the team finished unloading multiple players leading up to the NHL trade deadline.
All three players are in their first season with the new-look Bruins.
Boston’s boldest move was dealing captain Brad Marchand, the last remaining player from its 2011 Stanley Cup championship team, to the Florida Panthers.
“It was a tough day,” said Bruins forward David Pastrnak, one of the last familiar faces still wearing the black and gold for Boston.
The rebuilding franchise will receive a second-round draft pick from Florida, and the compensation could become a first-rounder if the Panthers win two rounds in the playoffs and the 36-year-old wing plays in half their playoff games.
Boston also sent forward Justin Brazeau to Minnesota, forward Charlie Coyle to Colorado and forward Marc McLaughlin to New Jersey along with defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto. Forward Trent Frederic was traded to Edmonton earlier in the week, sparking the start of the fire sale.
“We didn’t burn it down,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney insisted.
The Bruins are in a pack of teams with a potential chance to earn a wild card in the playoffs, but they will have to move on without a lot of familiar faces.
“That’s the worst part of our business,” Pastrnak said on ESPN during an intermission interview.
Boston’s management clearly decided it was time to move on. But of all the calls, the one to move Marchand struck the hardest.
“That one goes back a long ways for me and cuts deeper than, really, any player that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know and watch thrive and become a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest Bruins ever,” Sweeney said. “So, a difficult day from that standpoint, personally.”
The Bruins earned 100-plus points in each of the past six non-pandemic seasons, including two years ago when they won an NHL-record 65 games, but their only extended playoff run was a trip to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.