The Boston Bruins are the first beneficiaries of the New York Rangers’ fire sale

The New York Rangers are in rebuilding mode ahead of the NHL trade deadline, and the Boston Bruins took advantage of that to acquire defenseman Nick Holden from New York on Tuesday.

The NHL trade deadline is six days away, and rather than dive into the water feet-first, the Boston Bruins are, for now, dipping in their toes.

On Tuesday, the Bruins announced they have acquired defenseman Nick Holden from the New York Rangers, giving up defenseman Rob O’Gara and their 2018 third-round pick in the trade:

And while there are some in Boston who seemingly won’t be happy until the Bruins bring in Rangers players with the last names Nash or McDonough, the move Tuesday was an overall smart, if conservative, trade by Bruins general manager Don Sweeney.

The Bruins selected O’Gara, a Long Island native, with their fifth-round pick in 2011, but he took four years off to attend college at Yale. In 2016, O’Gara signed a two-year entry-level contract with Boston. In 43 games with the AHL Providence Bruins, he’s notched two goals and six assists.

In Holden, the Bruins will get a 30-year-old veteran who has amassed 35 goals and 72 assists in his NHL career, including three and nine, respectively, this season with the Rangers.

The Bruins are battling with the Tampa Bay Lightning for control of the Atlantic Division. Acquiring Holden gives them some needed blue-line depth.

Though it’s a bit of a head-scratcher that Sweeney gave up a third-round pick for Holden when the Rangers paid the Colorado Avalanche a fourth-rounder for him in 2016, at least Sweeney didn’t have to give up a top prospect to add depth.

Holden’s career stats to date doesn’t jump off the page, but it’s worth noting that he averaged almost 19 minutes per game with the Rangers.

Behind Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, the Bruins won’t need Holden on the ice as much, and as a result, his game might improve.

One of Boston’s glaring problems this season has been its lack of size on the left side of the defense, and the 6’4″, 214-pound Holden certainly gives them more of that.

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We’ll wait to see what else Sweeney does as the Bruins make a push for the Cup, but for now, this move is totally reasonable, if not outright smart.