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Six Impact Bruins Trades That Shaped Boston's Success

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Six Impact Bruins Trades That Shaped Boston's Success


The Boston Bruins have featured numerous impact players that have found their path to wearing the Black and Gold in franchise history.

Several of those players ended up in Boston through a series of important trades that helped shape eras for the Bruins.

From steady forwards to iconic netminders, here are six of the most impactful trades in Bruins history:

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Rick Middleton
Teams from Boston and New York rarely make deals. In 1976, the Bruins and Rangers made one of the few transactions, with Rick Middleton coming north in exchange for fellow right wing Ken Hodge.

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With his new team, Middleton tallied over 400 goals and nearly 900 assists in his 12 seasons playing for the Bruins.

Phil Esposito
Prior to the 1967-1968 season, the Bruins made a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks to bring an impact center to Boston.

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Phil Esposito instantly boosted Boston to a 37-win season and eventually won a pair of championships (1970, 1972). Esposito dominated as a gifted scorer, leading the league in goals in six straight seasons, including a 76-goal campaign in 1970-1971.

Tuukka Rask
Before Tuukka Rask rose as the starting goaltender in Boston in the early 2010s, Andrew Raycroft got off to a hot start to his career. Raycroft won the Calder Award for a standout rookie performance in the 2003-2004 season.

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Just two seasons later, Boston shipped Raycroft to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Rask. The move proved beneficial for the Bruins as the Finland native won three Eastern Conference crowns with Boston and backed up Tim Thomas on the 2011 championship team.

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In his career, Rask made two All-Star teams and won the Vezina Trophy after an outstanding 2013-2014 campaign.

Brad Park
Sometimes in sports, trading for a star means trading away a star. In a deal with the New York Rangers, the Bruins acquired defenseman Brad Park in exchange for Esposito in a five-player trade.

Park rewarded Boston for the investment, recording 417 points in 501 career games with the Bruins as a consistent All-Star selection.

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Cam Neely
In 1986, the Vancouver Canucks traded for Boston’s Barry Pederson, sending the Bruins back a first-round pick the following year along with Cam Neely. The deal’s impact spread for several years to come, though Neely’s impact in Boston truly stands out in franchise history.

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The Boston right wing rose into all-star caliber with the Bruins, scoring just under 400 goals in 10 seasons while boosting his team to a pair of appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Pair Of Picks Lead To Bruins’ Mainstays
Trades with draft picks absolutely count for this exercise. Specifically, Boston has brought in two players who became staples during their time with the Bruins: center David Krejci and Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque.

Most recently, the Bruins traded up with the Washington Capitals to select Krejci with the No. 63 overall pick. The Boston center went on to play over 1,000 games with the Bruins, performing at a high level in the postseason and helping the Bruins win a Stanley Cup title in 2011.

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Finally, the Bruins cashed in on a first-round pick that they acquired in a 1977 deal with the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for goaltender Ron Grahame. Bourque became a franchise icon for two decades with Boston, making 19 All-Star teams and winning the Norris Trophy five times.



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With Columbia Threadneedle out, Boston Triathlon director is looking for a new sponsor – The Boston Globe

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With Columbia Threadneedle out, Boston Triathlon director is looking for a new sponsor – The Boston Globe


Michael O’Neil is on the hunt for the next John Hancock.

As many Boston sports fans know, the insurance company first sponsored the Boston Marathon 40 years ago, helping usher in the modern professional era of the race as well as tens of millions of dollars in community fund-raising each year.

O’Neil wants to make a similar leap for the race he runs, the Boston Triathlon. This will be the first year without a naming-rights sponsor after nine years with Ameriprise Financial-owned Columbia Threadneedle Investments. O’Neil is seeking a successor that can help make an impact on the race the way Hancock once did with the marathon, a sponsorship role now played by Bank of America.

“We’re looking for that next transformational partner that wants to do something like that,” O’Neil said.

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The 18-year-old triathlon draws nearly 2,500 athletes to Carson Beach in South Boston each August, for sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons, and also features free kids’ races the day before at the same location; Amazon has been a big sponsor for the “Kids Day” events.

O’Neil says he would like to extend the race beyond loops in South Boston to showcase more of the city and boost tourism; the Meet Boston tourism bureau is also among the race’s sponsors. Another hope of O’Neil’s: to continue community efforts that he and his race management firm, Ethos, undertook with support from Columbia Threadneedle, including donations to Boston Medical Center and the city’s “Swim Safe” program to provide swim lessons for kids. (O’Neil started an affiliated nonprofit to help expand this community work in 2024.)

He expects the race’s naming-rights sponsorship to cost “in the mid-six figures” annually.

“We’re over this hump now, after 18 years, we’re an institution,” O’Neil said. “We’re seeking a Boston-based company, that’s headquartered here or has a large presence here, that wants to make an impact on the community. … We know how to do that.”

This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.

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Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.





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Red Sox Star ‘Open’ to Trade Talks With Boston’s Season Spiraling

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Red Sox Star ‘Open’ to Trade Talks With Boston’s Season Spiraling


Although it is just June 22, it’s certainly starting to seem like the Boston Red Sox could end up being sellers later on this summer when the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline gets here.

Boston took two out of three games from the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, but still finds itself 13 games under .500 at 31-44. Right now, Boston is six games out of an American League Wild Card spot as well. Boston needs a long winning streak to turn the tide. If not, the club will certainly trade pieces away. The conversation has gotten loud enough around the team that Red Sox starter Sonny Gray said he “would be open” to having a conversation about waiving his no-trade clause if someone from the club approached him about it to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe.

“If someone came to me from the Red Sox and made a decision that that’s the direction that this team was going to go, I would be open for a conversation,” Gray said to Healey. “Whatever happens from then, only time will tell. But I would be open for a conversation.

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Could Sonny Gray Be The Next Star Out Of Boston?

Jun 18, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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“Holding veto power is ‘an earned thing’ and means a lot, Gray said. He negotiated it into the three-year, $75 million deal he signed with the Cardinals heading into 2024.”

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When it comes to Gray, he has been a major addition for Boston so far this season. He has a 3.12 ERA in 13 starts to go along with a 55-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 69 1/3 innings pitched. Gray is also 8-1 on the season. Even in a campaign full of losses for Boston, Gray has been able to consistently be a stopper for the club.

If he were to become available, he would be an intriguing, although imperfect trade candidate. From a talent perspective, he’s awesome and would help a contender. But from a contract point of view, he has a $30 million mutual option for the 2027 season with a $10 million buyout. Mutual options rarely get picked up. The buyout is very high and could be a barrier. That will be a bridge to cross later on, though. What’s important to note right now is the fact that Gray is “open” to a conversation about a trade. It doesn’t mean that it will happen, but it’s possible.

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Jets were 300 feet apart in Boston close call that forced Delta flight to abort landing, expert says

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Jets were 300 feet apart in Boston close call that forced Delta flight to abort landing, expert says


BOSTON (AP) — A Delta Air Lines jet was roughly 300 feet (90 meters) from an American Airlines plane during a close call at Boston’s airport that forced the Delta aircraft to abort a weekend landing attempt, an aviation expert said Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident between two commercial flights that happened Saturday at Boston Logan International Airport.

Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer at Boeing, estimated the distance between the two jetliners using Flightradar24, a website that tracks flights. Curtis now coproduces a podcast about flight safety issues.

“This is a significant incident,” Curtis said, adding that it was particularly concerning because it involved two professional airline crews.

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He said federal aviation officials have been concerned about such runway incursions for a while now and will scrutinize Saturday’s close call.

Near-misses and runway incursions at U.S. airports will be the subject of a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation will seek ways to strengthen safety across the national airspace system.

The Delta flight from Dallas had to execute a go-around, or aborted landing, to avoid the American plane departing from an intersecting runway, according to the FAA and flight logs.

The crew of Delta flight 2351 coordinated with air traffic control to perform the go-around, an airline spokesperson said. The plane, which had 129 passengers and six crew members on board, landed safely and deplaned normally, according to the spokesperson.

Go-arounds are safe, routine procedures performed at the discretion of the pilot or air traffic controllers, according to the FAA.

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