Kiefer Sherwood (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)
According to numerous NHL sources, even before recent injuries to wingers David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has been on the hunt for depth scoring to help the surprising Bruins stay in the hunt in the tight Eastern Conference standings.
RG has learned through an NHL source close to the situation that two players Sweeney has recently inquired about are Canucks wingers Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland.
“They have 100 percent called on both players,” the source said of the Bruins’ interest in Sherwood and Garland. “They want scoring and believe that with some more, this team can definitely stay in the race and make some noise.”
As reported by multiple outlets over the last week, Vancouver President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford, recently informed the 31 other NHL clubs that multiple veteran players on his club are available via trade. Rutherford made it abundantly clear that the list of available players does not include star defenseman Quinn Hughes and goalie Thatcher Demko, but other than them, at the right price, any of the Canucks current top-nine forwards or defensemen, besides Hughes, could be dealt in the coming weeks and months.
One forward who was already garnering NHL trade interest and is now in high demand after Rutherford’s memo is Sherwood. The 30-year-old, undrafted, Columbus, Ohio native entered Saturday night’s tilt with the Los Angeles Kings leading the team with 12 goals in 25 games and sat tied for second in points with Brock Boeser with 16. Sherwood’s early production, combined with a very digestible $1.5 million cap hit and the fact that he is in the final year of a two-year, $3 million contract, has made him a highly desirable commodity on the NHL trade market, specifically with Eastern Conference teams.
“I was told the Islanders, Sabres, and Red Wings also expressed interest in Sherwood, too,” another source told RG.
As for Garland, this is not the first time that Sweeney has expressed NHL trade interest in the 29-year-old Scituate, MA native. As reported by Boston Hockey Now leading into the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline, the Bruins looked into acquiring Garland, who the Canucks chose to keep for three more seasons and recently signed to a six-year, $36 million ($6M AAV) contract back on July 1. According to the same source, though, as the Bruins were told by the Canucks three years ago, Garland, 29, is not one of the players that Vancouver is looking to trade at this time.
“They still really consider him a core player and a heart-and-soul guy that can score, so right now, they’re not moving him,” the second source told RG. “Of course, if the Canucks really go into the tank and someone knocks their socks off with an offer, you never know.”
Garland enters Saturday’s game with six goals and nine assists in 21 games.
