Kane rockets up latest TSN Trade Bait board

Finally, the NHL’s forward-thinking GMs have looked in the rear-view mirror.

It took a 16-year NHL defenceman to trade for the first premier rearguard during the deadline period.

Boston GM Don Sweeney, who played more than 1,000 games on the blueline, traded for newly available defenceman Dmitry Orlov from Washington on Thursday night, ending a mini run on forwards.

Centre Bo Horvat (Islanders), right winger Vladimir Tarasenko (Rangers) and centre Ryan O’Reilly (Toronto) were the first three big names traded. All to Eastern Conference teams, by the way. Just like Orlov.

It remains a mystery how the NHL’s best team – in the midst of one of the NHL’s all-time best seasons with an .816 point percentage – can get better.

But the Bruins’ No. 1-ranked defence featuring Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm has added a Stanley Cup-winning defenceman with 74 games of playoff experience.

Orlov never even made it to the weekly TSN Trade Bait list because no sooner was he available than he was traded.

That he was the first significant defenceman dealt was not expected because Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun (No. 3) and Columbus’ Vladislav Gavrikov (No. 4) – previously linked to the Bruins – have been staples among the top five on TSN’s list.

But they remain off the ice and in limbo for “trade-related reasons.”

San Jose’s Timo Meier is still No. 1 – where he has taken up permanent residence – while Chicago’s Patrick Kane has moved from No. 8 to No. 2.

Kane has seven goals and 10 points in his past four games.

The future Hall of Famer was publicly disappointed the Rangers acquired Tarasenko, but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports the Rangers are hunting for a third party to broker another deal.

Kane is in the final season of an eight-year, $10.5-million AAV contract.

All four major deals so far – Horvat, Tarasenko, O’Reilly and Orlov – have included salary retention, two of them (O’Reilly and Orlov) involving Minnesota as an intermediary retaining 50 per cent of an already halved AAV.

New to the TSN list this week are two of St. Louis three first-round picks. The Blues collected 2023 firsts from the Rangers and Toronto in the Tarasenko and O’Reilly deals, respectively.

TSN Trade Bait Board: February 24