Bruins' trade cost to get Robert Thomas from Blues revealed by NHL insider

If the Boston Bruins want Robert Thomas, it won't be cheap.

The star center from the St. Louis Blues is heavily involved in trade rumors ahead of the NHL deadline on Friday, and Boston apparently has interest.

The Blues have already made it clear they're holding firm to their valuations. They didn't get a deal done with the Buffalo Sabres that was rumored to be in the works, seemingly because Buffalo didn't come with the whole value that St. Louis wanted.

A new report from insider Jimmy Murphy indicates just how much it would cost the Bruins to get Thomas:

• James Hagens
• Fraser Minten
• Boston's 2026 first-round pick

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Hagens was just picked in the first round last year by the Bruins and is a high-scoring phenom.

Minten has broken out in a big way this season after coming over a year ago from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brandon Carlo deal.

And a first-rounder on top of that?

It's fair for the Blues to ask for the moon, but it's also fair for Boston to say no. This seems like much too big a cost.

Yes, Thomas is unquestionably a top-six forward, able to center a strong line and distribute particularly well. Last season, he had 21 goals and 60 assists.

But this isn't a case of the Blues asking for lots of future assets. Two of these assets are guys the Bruins are very confident will be good players for a long time, and both are younger and cheaper than Thomas right now.

If St. Louis pulled this off, it'd be a huge haul. And it'd be a risky one for Boston to give up.

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