The Bruins didn’t land Kirill Marchenko, and now they’re staring at the ripple effect of seeing him go to one of their biggest rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. That part stings.
But Boston shouldn’t rush into a move just to answer Toronto’s addition. The bigger question is whether Marchenko makes the Leafs enough better to change what that first-round pick from Toronto could become down the road.
Boston still controls Toronto’s first-round pick for next season, and there’s a real possibility the Leafs are an even stronger team in 2027-28. That’s why the Bruins should be thinking about how to squeeze maximum value out of that 2028 first-round pick instead of reacting emotionally to what Toronto just did.
One path could run through Detroit.
The Red Wings are dealing with a mess of their own, with front-office problems, a trade request from former captain Dylan Larkin, and a holdout from Simon Edvinsson. Shawn Horcoff has been handed the interim general manager job, and it’s not exactly an easy first assignment. Larkin is also beginning to widen his no-trade list after the team failed to reach a deal with his preferred destinations over the summer.
Boston isn’t reported to be on that list yet, but Detroit’s asking price is starting to look like something the Bruins can actually meet. The Red Wings don’t want a deal built entirely around futures. They want a young center who can help now, and the uncertainty around Matthew Poitras’ role makes a package built around Poitras, Mason Lohrei, and the Leafs’ first-round pick worth wondering about.
The Bruins already showed they’re willing to go big with picks when they landed a young winger in JJ Peterka for two first-round selections. That makes it easier to believe they could put together something strong enough to get Detroit’s attention. It would take more to pull Edvinsson away, especially if the contract situation stays unsettled, but Boston may have the kind of pieces that could move the conversation forward.
Two first-round picks would get the Red Wings to listen. The real question is whether they’d also want Poitras and/or Lohrei to push the deal over the line. From Boston’s side, that wouldn’t amount to an overpay if it landed Edvinsson, the 23-year-old 6-foot-6 left-shot defenseman who would fit as a partner for Charlie McAvoy.
The Bruins can always keep the pick and hope Toronto doesn’t improve much from last season. But that looks like a thinner bet by the day.
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