This one summer trade could salvage the Boston Bruins offseason

The jury is still out as to whether the Boston Bruins and general manager Don Sweeney have done enough so far this offseason to improve the Black and Gold in a retool. The free agent signings have been what they have been, and acquiring Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers is the biggest move.

It's no secret that the Bruins entered the season with several needs, whether it was a top-six center, a goal-scoring wing for more production thump in the lineup, or a right-shot defenseman. Boston is still in need of a top-six center and a right-shot defenseman, opting to bring back Henri Jokiharju, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Buffalo Sabres. You get the feeling that the move for Arvidsson might be the short-term, cheaper way of going to added a wing into the middle of the lineup.

If it's not, then Sweeney should be looking to strike bigger, and one phone call to the St. Louis Blues could help him solve the need with a bigger productive player.

Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney must kick the tires on St. Louis Blues wing Jordan Kyrou

Elliotte Friedman mentioned in his latest 32 Thoughts Podcast that the contracts handed out by Sweeney earlier this month were to have flexibility next summer when there are bigger names potentially hitting the open market. That's asking a lot.

There is one player who is reportedly shopping their forward Jordan Kyrou, and Sweeney would be nuts not to at least give the St. Louis Blues a phone call and see what the price would be. Kyrou is coming off a season where he scored 36 goals and had 34 assists under former Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, who was hired in November, one week after being fired in Boston.

The 27-year-old was picked in the second round of the 2016 Entry Draft, but comes with a hefty $8.125 million cap hit through the 2030-31 season. That's a lot of beans, but Boston currently has about $3 million remaining in cap space and in order to get a deal done, money going out is needed for that money coming in.

Pavel Zacha is someone who has been mentioned that the Bruins could look to deal, or do they dump more money with Casey Mittlestadt? A prospect would likely have to go back the other way as well, and who would know better what the Black and Gold have for prospects than Montgomery?

That cap hit Boston would be taking on might be tought to swallow now, but with the cap going up, it's a deal that Sweeney and the Bruins without a doubt could make work in the long run. That would be swinging big by Sweeney, and imagine adding Kyrou to this lineup next season? It would certainly help move the retool along, but there are a lot of things that need to happen to make it happen. The first is a phone call from Sweeney to Blues GM Doug Armstrong to kick the tires and go from there.