Bruins trade for Nick Holden, but is it worth it?

Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out, but that’s mostly because they’re focused on building rockets and probably don’t follow the NHL.

But the New York Rangers were struggling--having a down year--and the Boston Bruins are having an up year (is that a thing? Let’s make it one). Following their win over the Edmonton Oilers this week, the Bruins had 82 points in the standings in 58 games compared to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 83 in 60 games.

So a deal between the Rangers and Bruins made perfect sense. It happened.
The Bruins got Nick Holden a 30-year-old defenseman who has put up 12 points in 55 games this season (3 goals, 9 assists). They got him in exchange for Rob O’Gara and a third-round pick. So what do we think of this trade? Probably all have different opinions.

Granted, the price seems a tad steep for the production O’Gara gave the Rangers this season (considering he’s not as good as Ryan McDonagh), it makes the Bruins a better team.

Holden has played about 19 minutes per game this year and the cap hit is minimal ($1.8 million), so the Bruins made themselves a better hockey player without much cost.

O’Gara, who went to Yale AND Milton Academy, is 24 and has played in eight NHL games. So the Bruins went ahead and decided they’d rather have a defenseman who can play at the NHL level now than a depth guy. Still, a third-round pick is still a good pick, so we shall see if the Bruins made the right decision here.

The B’s have a good team, so there’s no shame in going for it all. Everyone wants to see them go far this season. This move helps them slightly in that conquest, so that makes it a win, right?