The Boston Bruins cleaned house on Friday, as general manager Don Sweeney held a fire sale at the NHL’s trade deadline. The biggest — and most shocking — move came just after 3 p.m. when Boston traded team captain Brad Marchand to the rival the Florida Panthers.

There had been a lot of rumblings throughout the day that Marchand would be heading West, but he ended up on the team that ended Boston’s last two postseason runs. It marks the end of an era in Boston, as Marchand was the final link to the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship squad.

While the writing was on the wall for Marchand to be traded by the struggling Bruins, it won’t be easy for any Boston fan to see him in a Panthers sweater. Marchand was a lifelong Bruin until Friday and wanted to end his career in Boston. Now, he’ll be playing for the team’s biggest nemesis of the last few years.

He won’t be the only one playing for a Cup with someone else this summer. Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle were also dealt on deadline day, meaning there will be a lot of new names and numbers for Bruins fans to learn the rest of the way.

But the moves were necessary for the Bruins, who can now begin a much-needed rebuild with the assets Sweeney acquired from his lavish yard sale. This was the first time the Bruins GM has been a seller at the deadline, and he landed a slew of draft picks and some promising young talent to help jumpstart the franchise.

Sweeney’s haul from his five trades this week include a first-round pick and two second-round selections in this year’s draft, a sixth-round picks in 2026, and a conditional second-round pick in 2027 that could turn into a first-round pick in 2028. He also acquired Toronto’s top forward prospect in 20-year-old center Fraser Minten.

Sweeney took full advantage of a seller’s market and was able to get some pretty big returns for a handful of players who probably wouldn’t have been around when the Bruins are good again. Now we’ll see if Sweeney is the one overseeing the rebuild this summer.

Here’s a recap of the trades the team pulled off to usher in a new era of Boston Bruins hockey.

Brad Marchand traded to Panthers

Brad Marchand is now a Florida Panther. Take a second to recoup after reading that statement again.

The trade hasn’t been officially announced yet, but the Bruins are reportedly getting a conditional draft pick for Marchand, who is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

The Bruins are reportedly receiving a 2027 second-round pick for their captain, which would become a 2028 first-round pick if certain, currently unknown conditions are met by Marchand in Florida.

Whatever Boston ends up getting in return, it won’t make it any easier for Bruins fans to watch Marchand try to win a Cup in Florida this summer.

Brandon Carlo traded to Leafs for Fraser Minten, first-round pick

While Bruins fans were still dealing with the shock of the Marchand trade, it was reported that the team was also dealing defenseman Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It appears to be a three-team trade that also includes the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to Frank Seravalli. 

For Carlo, Boston is receiving Toronto’s first-round pick and 20-year-old center Fraser Minten, who was considered the top forward prospect in the Leafs system. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Minten was a second-round pick by Toronto in 2022, and had two goals and two assists in 15 games for the Leafs this season. He also tallied 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 26 games for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

The Marlies are in Providence to play the AHL Bruins, so Minten will have an easy time making it to his new team this weekend. 

Charlie Coyle traded to Avalanche for Casey Mittelstadt, second-round pick

Coyle was sent to Colorado, where he’ll try to help the Avalanche make another Stanley Cup run. In return for Coyle and a 2026 firth-round pick, the Bruins acquired center Casey Mittelstadt, forward Williams Zellers, and a 2025 second-round pick. 

Mittelstadt is a 26-year-old left-shot centerman who had 11 goals and 23 assists over 63 games for the Avs this season. He was the eighth overall pick by the Sabres in 2017, and spent seven-plus seasons with Buffalo before he was traded to Colorado last year.

Mittelstadt had a career-high 18 goals and 39 assists for the Avalanche and Sabres last season. His best season came in 2022-23 when he had 59 points (15 goals, 44 assists) for Buffalo. He is signed through the 2026-27 season at $5.75 annually, and will be looking to bounce back in Boston.

Zellers, 18, was a third-round pick by Colorado last year, and is committed to play at North Dakota. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound blue liner has 37 goals and 21 assists for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL this season. 

Justin Brazeau traded to Wild

Boston dealt Brazeau late Thursday night, trading the forward to the Minnesota Wild for forwards Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov, as well as a 2026 sixth-round pick.

Lauko was a third-round pick by the Bruins in 2018 and spent his first two NHL seasons with Boston before being dealt to the Wild last June. The 24-year-old left-shot centerman had three goals and three assists in 38 games for Minnesota this season.

The 22-year-old Khusnutdinov was a second-round pick by Minnesota in 2020, and had three goals and eight assists in 73 games over the last two seasons. Both Khusnutdinov and Lauko are restricted free agents this offseason.

The sixth-round pick the Bruins acquired in the deal is actually their own pick.

Trent Frederic traded to Oilers

Sweeney got his wheeling and dealing started Tuesday when he traded forward Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers.

In return, the Bruins received two draft picks –St. Louis’ 2025 second-round pick and Edmonton’s fourth-round pick in 2026 — and minor-league defenseman Max Wanner.

Wanner is some organizational depth on the blue line, but that second-round pick should be a decent one. Jim Montgomery’s Blues are currently a lottery team at 30-27-6 on the season. 

The fourth-round pick was traded to the Sabres on Friday for defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who had three goals and three assists in 42 games for Buffalo this season.

Matt GeaganMatthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.