Is Owen Tippett the right trade target for the Boston Bruins?
Tippett, at the beginning of his career with the Florida Panthers, wasn’t pinned as a breakout candidate in 2021-22. He’d play 42 games in the NHL before being sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) to play for the Charlotte Checkers. Finishing the season with only 18 points to his name, the prospects of him breaking into the top six weren’t expected.
It wasn’t until after he was traded to the Flyers for captain Claude Giroux that his goal-scoring prowess would show.
In 2022-23, he scored 27 goals and 49 points; he’s hit the 20-goal mark three times in his career. But the question is, can he break out into a 50-plus point scorer whose worth spending a top prospect on?
With the Bruins’ season at an inflection point, general manager Don Sweeney has eyed Tippett as a potential trade target for the Original Six team.
Related: Flyers’ Owen Tippett Has an Efficiency Problem
The cost to acquire Tippett might be more than they’re bargaining for, especially if Sweeney plans to fuel the retool with fresh talent. Namely, a Flyers’ forward who could help create offense in the middle-six.
Tippett found his consistency under John Tortorella and Rick Tocchet. Still, there are questions about giving up someone like Dean Letourneau, who has found his game this season in the NCAA, or Matthew Poitras, who has shown flashes of brilliance, as worth the spend.
He’s scored 20-plus goals in his last three seasons, playing 16 to 17 minutes, and points per game have ranged between 0.56 and 0.68 since 2022-23.
His contract is loaded with a no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1, and has six years left at $6.2 million average annual value after signing an extension with the Flyers in 2024. Tippett would be under the Bruins’ control until 2031-32. But by that time, the Bruins could’ve already developed both Letourneau and Poitras into reliable contributors at a lesser cost.
In 32 games this season, Letourneau has 34 points with the Boston College Eagles, showing the kind of growth teams want to see in their top prospects.
Poitras is stuck in Providence, recording 30 points in 48 games, which might be less than the point-per-game pace we saw in 2024-25. Trading him too soon might end up looking bad on Sweeney’s part, especially if he breaks out elsewhere in the NHL.
What Would an Owen Tipett Trade Look Like?
The Bruins have called the Flyers several times regarding Tippett this season.
“One name the Bruins have checked in on several times this season is winger Owen Tippett, who is under contract for six seasons beyond this one at an AAV of $6.2 million,” Di Marco wrote.
The cost for the forward could be a pretty penny, as discussed, Sweeney would have to dip into the team’s already thin prospect pool to acquire Tippett in a trade. Names such as Letourneau, Poitras, and Mason Lohrei are impactful prospects who might make a deal happen.
We know that contenders in recent years have built both through the draft (Tampa Bay Lightning) and through trades (Florida Panthers).
The Panthers’ route is costly and would require moving prospects and draft picks for top talent. For the Bruins, who are eager to find themselves in playoff contention again, this could be one strategy, and fans may not like how it plays out.
With the Bruins eager to retool and find themselves back in contention soon, it’s a troubling idea to trade away top talent, which could leave the team lacking prospects to build a lineup with.
However, this strategy has seen the team make the Stanley Cup Playoffs often, but no Cup in hand. 2019 was their last legitimate run, and their hopes were dashed by the St. Louis Blues, a bottom-dwelling team that evolved into a plucky contender late in the season.
Tippett would be a “win-now” piece, while the Bruins ship out the future in what could be a Faustian bargain for another potential Stanley Cup run. We’ve seen what it took for Ken Holland to get the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup Final.
The prospect pool in Edmonton is depleted, and they’ve recently waived Olivier Rodrigue, who was signed by the Blackhawks.
Should Sweeney risk it all for a 2017 10th overall pick, who has 405 games of NHL experience, and recorded 221 points? The intent is to win a Cup, but is it really the best idea to mortgage the future for a 40-plus point scorer?
These are two questions to ponder as the trade deadline arrives.
