In February of 2011, then-Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli took a calculated risk. It helped the Bruins at the time. It's helped another team since.
The risk was that the young player he was trading, fledgling third-year pro and top-five draft pick Blake Wheeler, would end up becoming a star. Wheeler did, but it was a risk Chiarelli was willing to take because he wanted Rich Peverley and the cap space to fit (whooooooops) Tomas Kaberle.
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That trade, more so than the Joe Colborne-and-a-first-for-Kaberle deal, has proven to be the type of deal Bruins fans might fear right now: trading a good young player with plenty of development left in him for an older vet who might help more in the present.
And it worked for both sides: The Bruins got a forward who helped them win the Cup and while Atlantapeg got its future captain.
These trades don't always work, but that doesn't mean they're never worth making. If the B's saw it through with Wheeler, they might not have gotten out of that first round vs. Montreal, let alone win it all.
This season, for as scary as it sounds, is one in which the Bruins should consider such a risk. The Bruins are on pace to win the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the NHL. They'd have a difficult second-round matchup with Tampa, but if they can win that, they've got a realistic shot at a title in a season expected to be just another step in a soft rebuild.
It's easy to sit back and think that the Bruins are playing with house money and that any playoff run on top of the kids' development is gravy, but there's another way of looking at it: This could very well be the Bruins' last shot at a championship with a Chara-Bergeron-Rask core.
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I'd assumed those days were already gone, squandered by the trades of Johnny Boychuk and Dougie Hamilton. Yet the combination of Chara's longevity and Don Sweeney's ability to supplement the roster with youth has the Bruins in a rare situation: They'll likely never have their vets - mainly Chara, but even Bergeron -- this good again.
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Next year, maybe (probably) Chara's not as effective. Even if the young players take another step forward, that could mean a worse team. Too many people in Boston underestimate the impact of Chara. Plus, maybe one of these other teams in the Eastern Conference amounts to something. Maybe Chicago comes back to life out West.
So, now is the time to consider pouncing, to consider trading Brandon Carlo and a first-round pick for Ryan McDonagh. To turn any of the Bruins' ELCs not named DeBrusk or McAvoy into someone who would either beef up the defense or give one of the best offenses in the league one more stud scorer.
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It would be uncharted territory for Don Sweeney, who has yet to make such a deal while he's hoarded prospects in a style Sports Vulture Adam Jones compared to Ben Cherington. Jones probably made the comparison to insult Sweeney, but it should be a compliment: Sweeney's made it so the Bruins are not only one of the best teams in the league, but the team with all the guys the sellers should want.
It would be a risk to miss out on one of these young players' careers, but it's also a risk to assume the Bruins will have this chance again. They should go for it.