Lindholm has been a 22-point flop. He is signed for six more seasons with no-move protection through 2029. Lindholm, 30, is practically untradeable, even if the Bruins eat part of his remaining salary.

The Boston Bruins are in unfamiliar territory and a response is imminent. With 46 games played, the Bruins hang onto the second Wild Card spot by one point. They've won their last two games but dropped six straight before that to land themselves in a position of great uncertainty with the trade deadline less than two months away.

The Bruins do not have a championship roster. To their management's credit, it's not due to lack of effort. They went through a rough negotiating process with starting goaltender

“We’ll see where we’re at,” Bruins president Cam Neely said Wednesday of the team’s approach to the trade deadline. “I think right now, we’ve got to look at two paths: one that we’re buying and one that we may be retooling a little bit.

The NHL trade isn’t until March 7, but the Boston Bruins must decide whether they’ll be buyers or sellers. Boston is 22-19-5 through its first 46 games of the season. They’re tied in points with the Tampa Bay Lightning and seven points behind the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference.

This has been a difficult season for the Boston Bruins. They were expected to contend for the Atlantic Division title once again, but instead of battling the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs for the division lead,

During the intermissions between the periods of Friday night’s NHL games, the Hockey Central panel weighed in on what might happen as the NHL trade deadline approaches.