In the wild, chaotic final hour of the March 7 trade deadline that saw the Bruins make a flurry of moves, including moving on from a franchise icon in Brad Marchand, they made one deal that went under the radar.
But it’s a move that has helped the gutted roster remain competitive in the here and now.
As the clock was winding down, the B’s dealt the 2026 fourth rounder that they’d received earlier in the week from Edmonton in the Max Jones trade to the Buffalo Sabres for their 2017 first round pick (29th overall), defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
The Finn’s right-shot stick was desperately needed in the lineup after Brandon Carlo was traded to Toronto and Charlie McAvoy remains out. And that’s an asset that could motivate the B’s to signing the pending UFA to an extension, depending on how he performs down the stretch.
So far, the returns on the 25-year-old Jokiharju, who has been paired with Nikita Zadorov, have been positive. Going into Saturday’s game against the Lightning,, the B’s have outshot their opponents 21-11 and outscored them 2-1 while the pairing has been on the ice.
Interim coach Joe Sacco likes the way Jokiharju thinks the game and moves the puck, though the defense-zone coverage is a work in progress.
“What’s stood out has been his ability to help us come out of our zone cleaner. He has the ability to make some good first passes on our breakouts and coming out of our D-zone coverage. That’s something that can help our group and alleviate some of the pressure in the defensive zone. And then I think his play at the offensive blue line has been good, when we go low-to-high,” said Sacco. “We’ll continue to work with his coverage in our end zone. We have new players right now who are trying to adhere to how we play and the coverage is different for a lot of the guys. That may take a little bit more time. It’s an adjustment for him.”
Jokiharju had been a plus player for a bad Sabres team last year (plus-14) and was plus-6 in 42 games in Buffalo this season before the trade. But his icetime was on the wane and there was no evidence that he was going to get an extension from the Sabres so he asked for a trade and they obliged.
It has only been a little more than a week in a Bruin uniform for Jokiharju, but he feels energized by the change of scenery.
“A hundred percent. Lots of energy and a new life, hockey-wise,” said the Oulu, Finland native.
He said he holds no ill-will toward his former organization, against whom he’ll play on Monday.
“I was there for a long time and I was really trying to get to the playoffs as a group and this year for me kind of went sideways,” said Jokiharju. “I didn’t have much icetime there so they weren’t going to offer me an extension. Business is business and there’s no hard feelings. But it’s great to be here.”
While a lot of new faces came into the B’s locker room at the same time between call-ups and acquisitions (Casey Mittelstadt, Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko and himself), Jokiharju said he’s felt comfortable in his new environment.
“They treat me really good in the locker room,” said Jokiharju. “Some great guys here so it kind of eased coming in. It’s kind of weird to start for myself, especially coming form Finland. But guys took me in really great and made it as easy as possible…especially with Casey. We played four or five years together in Buffalo. That was a big helper for sure.”
Jokiharju said that there has been no talk about an extension with the B’s just yet, though he’d be willing to discuss one before the July 1 opening bell for free agency.
Whether an offer is forthcoming will most likely depend on how he performs for the team between now and the end of the season, whenever it comes. If it goes beyond the April 15 regular season finale, chances are Jokiharju will have done something right….
After his and the team’s disastrous first period in Ottawa, Jeremy Swayman got the call to start Saturday’s tilt against Tampa.
“We feel like he needs to get back in there,” said Sacco….
While there’s no new timeline on Charlie McAvoy – he remains “week-to-week” as he recovers from a shoulder injury he suffered during the Four Nations Faceoff – he has picked up his on-ice activity a bit. Last week he was only skating but on Saturday morning he added some puck handling and shooting to his workout.
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