Mailbag: Lack of speed, and skill evident in BOS lineup and when is it too early in a season to talk trades?

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Thank you for the question, and you're absolutely spot on.

Boston's lack of speed and skill creates a negative waterfall effect.

They lose more races to loose pucks than they win and chase their opponents around because of it.

Chasing their opponents causes them to defend too much which leads to fatigue.

Fatigue often times results in costly mistakes, and lazy penalties - both of which Boston has been guilty of at a higher rate than much of the league so far.

The Bruins lack of speed and skill also makes it harder for them to make plays with the puck on their stick in the defensive zone, through the neutral zone, and extensively in the offensive zone.

These deficiencies make it difficult to consistently sustain pressure, and strong play over the course of a 60 minute game.

The Bruins are capable of playing well for smaller stretches of time and having good shifts here and there, but they struggle to maintain a level of winning hockey long enough to be successful.

Now maybe it's a combination of a bad week coupled with playing some stronger opponents.

Is it possible for a team to play faster as a unit than their individual foot speed would indicate.

But in order to do that, details need to be strong, decision making has to be correct and decisive, and execution needs to be excellent - none of which have consistently been the case so far for Boston.

Thanks for the question, Marchy!

It's not time yet.

Let's start with Pavel Zacha.

He's currently on a great contract with a cap hit of $4.75M this year and next.

Depending on what a future deal looks like - where he'll be 30 years old at that time - he's still a player that could be part of the long term solution in Boston as a top nine, Swiss Army knife, forward.

At the same time, and for the same reasons mentioned above, Zacha would also be a contract and a player that a playoff contending team would love to add to their roster for the postseason and beyond - and because he still has term on a great value contract, he would probably garner a great return for the Bruins.

Still, to your question - the time isn't now.

If they move him, his trade value will be at its highest closer to the trade deadline.

As for Casey Mittelstadt, I'm afraid his trade value is at an all time low right now - especially with a cap hit of $5.75M.

No other team will want to take his contract on right now - so best case scenario for the Bruins is that Mittelstadt has a strong enough season where a playoff team will want to take a flyer on him for a postseason run, while only having him for one more season after before he becomes a UFA.

I think this philosophy of waiting until nearing the trade deadline applies to all prospective trade candidates for the Bruins.

It allows Boston, and other teams for that matter, to see what their season turns into while simultaneously waiting for a time in the calendar where potential trade candidate values are highest.

No NHL team wants to concede their season in October or November by pre-maturely trading away valuable pieces both in terms of team results, and trade value.

As for the Calgary Flames, Rasmus Andersson is a pending UFA and may very well be traded in season. If so, Boston doesn't appear to be a team that would or even could be in on him.

Beyond Andersson, unless Calgary is a playoff team, and deadline buyer - not sure they'll be interested in acquiring any of Boston's pieces if the Bruins are again a deadline seller.

If Calgary is out of the playoff picture - they could be sellers themselves.