Bruins acquire Liles and Stempniak, keep Eriksson

New Bruins: John-Michael Liles and Lee Stempniak

Today was the NHL trade deadline and the Bruins made two late trades to try and improve their team. First, the Bruins acquired veteran defenseman John-Michael Liles from the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Anthony Camara, the Bruins natural third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and the Bruins natural fifth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Bruins also acquired veteran Lee Stempniak from the New Jersey Devils for the Bruins natural fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and the Bruins natural second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

This season, defenseman John-Michael Liles (35 years old, 5'10", 185lbs, shoots left) has played in 64 games for Carolina, has scored 6 goals and has 9 assists for 15 points, and is -3. This season, right winger Lee Stempniak (33 years old, 5'11", 195lbs, shoots right) has played in 63 games for New Jersey, has scored 16 goals and has 25 assists for 41 points, and is +3.

Bruins GM Don Sweeney also announced that the Bruins have assigned forwards Max Talbot, Zac Rinaldo and Joonas Kemppainen to Providence (AHL).

So the Bruins kept forward Loui Eriksson and did not trade him despite all of the speculation leading up to the trade deadline. I'm disappointed to see the Bruins trade away prospect Anthony Camara, who is said to be a "Milan Lucic" type of player, before he could get more development time in the AHL and before he got a good shot at the NHL level. I know he's having a bad season this year in Providence (AHL) but I wish they were able to keep him. It feels like the Bruins gave up a lot for Liles, a 4th/5th/6th d-man. In the Stempniak trade, the Bruins gave up a 2017 2nd round pick, which again feels like too much for an older rent-a-player.