Summer Synopsis: Boston Bruins

Last season, things couldn’t have gone any better for Boston from October through the beginning of April.  They were the top team in the NHL and not by a small margin.  GM Don Sweeney made multiple moves to add at the trade deadline, cementing themselves as a heavy favorite for the Stanley Cup.  However, they were ousted in the opening round, blowing a 3-1 series lead to Florida.  Their additions last season came at a cost and as a result, their roster looks considerably different now than it did just a few months ago.

Draft

3-92: F Christopher Pelosi, Sioux Falls (USHL)
4-124: F Beckett Hendrickson, USA U-18 (NTDP)
6-188: F Ryan Walsh, Cedar Rapids (USHL)
7-214: F Casper Nassen, Vasteras (Sweden U20)
7-220: D Kristian Kostadinski, Frolunda (Sweden U20)

Not surprisingly, with the Bruins being a buyer for several years in a row, they didn’t have a lot to work with here.  Their first-round pick was traded for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway while their second-round selection belonged to Anaheim as part of the Hampus Lindholm acquisition, their big move the year before.  (And if you’re looking ahead a year, the cupboard is even thinner as Boston has already moved their top three picks plus their seventh-rounder.)

Pelosi and Hendrickson (son of former NHLer Darby Hendrickson) are set to be teammates with Sioux Falls of the USHL this season before beginning their college careers in 2024-25.  Walsh, meanwhile, is joining Cornell in 2023-24 after finishing second in USHL scoring last season.  All of these picks have at least four years before they need to sign so this is a draft class that won’t be making an impact anytime soon.

Trade Acquisitions

D Ian Mitchell (from Chicago)
D Alec Regula (from Chicago)
D Reilly Walsh (from New Jersey)

Mitchell showed some promise offensively at the college level, making him one of Chicago’s better prospects just a few years ago.  However, while he has been productive in the minors (with 42 points in 67 games over three seasons), that hasn’t translated to the NHL where he has just four goals and a dozen assists in 82 games.  The 24-year-old did get into 35 games with the Blackhawks last season but had been passed over by a few players on their depth chart, making him expendable.  Now waiver-eligible for the first time, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it through waivers if Boston tries to send him down to AHL Providence.  Accordingly, he could stick in a depth role in training camp.

Regula and Walsh, meanwhile, will also be battling to try to land a spot toward the back of Boston’s blueline but don’t have as much pedigree or NHL experience as Mitchell.  Pending waivers, both will likely be with Providence this season.  All three players agreed to one-year deals worth the NHL minimum in July.

Key UFA Signings

F Jesper Boqvist (one year, $775K)
F Patrick Brown (two years, $1.6MM)
F Alex Chiasson (PTO)
F John Farinacci (two years, $1.82MM)*
F Morgan Geekie (two years, $4MM)
F Milan Lucic (one year, $1MM plus $500K in bonuses)
D Kevin Shattenkirk (one year, $1.05MM)
F James van Riemsdyk (one year, $1MM)

*-denotes two-way contract

Spreading the wealth was the name of the game for the Bruins who had several spots to fill and not a lot of money to spend.  Their biggest splash up front was Geekie, a player who was somewhat surprisingly non-tendered by Seattle, likely to avoid the risk of an arbitration award higher than they wanted to pay.  The 25-year-old has been a producer in junior and in the minors and while that hasn’t translated to the NHL level just yet, he should have a good opportunity to play a bigger role in Boston which should give him a chance to be more of an impactful player.

The other addition they’re likely counting on for consistent production is van Riemsdyk.  The 34-year-old is coming off a down year in Philadelphia but has either reached the 20-goal mark or had a goal-per-game pace at that level in every other season since his rookie campaign back in 2009-10.  While he has slowed down, this was quite a reasonable pickup as he looks for a bounce-back showing.

Most of their other additions are of the depth variety.  Lucic isn’t close to the player he was in his prime with Boston but should play a regular role on the fourth line.  Brown, Boqvist, and Chiasson (if he earns a deal) are likely to battle for spots on that trio as well or to be the reserve forward.  Farinacci, meanwhile, could also get into the mix after signing earlier this month as part of the August 15 free agent group but may be better off starting his pro career in the minors.

As for Shattenkirk, the 34-year-old has been a contributor offensively for most of his career and should be able to do so here.  He’s a top-four defender who’s being paid like a depth one, making the veteran one of the better bargain additions of the summer.  He played with Lindholm in Anaheim and the two could see time together this season as well.

Key RFA Re-Signings

F Trent Frederic (two years, $4.6MM)
G Jeremy Swayman (one year, $3.475MM)

Frederic has developed slowly but steadily since being a first-round pick (29th overall) back in 2016 and had a breakout performance last season, notching 17 goals and 14 assists in 79 games despite averaging less than 12 minutes a night.  With a long list of departures, Frederic is likely to land a higher spot on the depth chart and could even see time down the middle, his natural position.

Swayman, meanwhile, followed up an All-Rookie performance in 2021-22 with an even better showing last year, albeit in fewer games with Linus Ullmark also having a career year between the pipes.  With just 88 NHL appearances under his belt during the regular season, a long-term deal wasn’t feasible and this one ultimately wound up in the hands of an arbitrator.

Key Departures

F Patrice Bergeron (retirement)
F Tyler Bertuzzi (Toronto, one year, $5.5MM)
D Connor Clifton (Buffalo, three years, $10MM)
F Nick Foligno (trade with Chicago)
F Taylor Hall (trade with Chicago)
F Garnet Hathaway (Philadelphia, two years, $4.75MM)
F David Krejci (retirement)
F Tomas Nosek (New Jersey, one year, $1MM)
D Dmitry Orlov (Carolina, two years, $15.5MM)
D Mike Reilly (buyout, signed with Florida, one year, $1MM)

The departures of Bergeron and Krejci shouldn’t come as much surprise.  Bergeron pondered hanging up his skates the year before while Krejci (whose retirement only covers the NHL, not international play) had already left once before coming back last season.  That said, the expectation of their departures doesn’t make it any easier to stomach for the Bruins.  Bergeron was a premier two-way center and even though his production had dipped a bit, he was still a catalyst for their top line.  Krejci, meanwhile, was the perfect fit as a second option while being someone that could move up when Bergeron was injured.  Boston will try to fill their departures internally for now with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle but with all due respect to those capable veterans, that’s a considerable step back.

Hall (and the rights to Foligno) were moved to Chicago in a move that amounted to a straight salary dump that was necessarily to open up enough cap space to fill out their roster.  His $6MM went to several of the players they inked on the first day of free agency.  Hall wasn’t a top-line player for most of his tenure with Boston but was a capable secondary scorer.  The same can be said for Bertuzzi, whose time with the Bruins was much shorter.  A deadline acquisition, the 28-year-old only managed four goals after being acquired but was one of their top playoff performers, collecting five goals and five helpers in their loss to Florida.  Bertuzzi wanted a long-term deal this summer but wasn’t able to land it, resulting in him opting for a one-year deal in Toronto.

Nosek’s departure isn’t as significant as Bergeron and Krejci’s but the 30-year-old was a capable depth center.  He won over 56% of his faceoffs over his two seasons with the Bruins while playing a prominent role on their penalty kill.  Hathaway, meanwhile, didn’t light up the scoresheet after being acquired but gave Boston extra physicality.  His role is likely to be filled by Lucic next season.

On the back end, the departure of Orlov comes as no surprise either as there was no way that Boston could realistically find a way to afford to keep him.  He picked up 17 points in 21 games while logging 22 minutes a night and while they’ll be hoping that Shattenkirk can cover some of the lost production, Orlov’s all-around impact will be harder to replace.  As for Reilly, he was buried in the minors for the bulk of last season.  They could have gone that way again this year but the buyout only costs them $333K this coming season which means they saved enough to fill close to two roster spots by making that move.  In 2024-25, however, the buyout cost increases by $1MM.

Salary Cap Outlook

It wasn’t easy and the exodus of talent certainly was tough to watch from a Boston perspective but the team is now cap-compliant with CapFriendly projecting them having around $429K in cap room as things stand.  That number is bogged down by $4.5MM in bonus overage penalties incurred from the contracts for Bergeron and Krejci last year, meaning that they’re carrying a bigger cap charge when they’re not playing compared to when they were in the lineup last year.  That was a well-known outcome when the Bruins structured those deals they way they did a year ago; it’s not as if that penalty came as a surprise to them.

Key Questions

Can They Upgrade Down The Middle? Sweeney has made it known that they’d like to find a way to upgrade at center.  With who they’ve lost, that goal makes plenty of sense.  However, they’re in a spot where they basically have to match money while they lack the draft pick and prospect capital needed to help put their offers over the top.  That makes a top-six upgrade difficult but if they’re open to making a smaller-scale one to improve their depth, that option might be a bit more palatable (and affordable).

What’s Next For DeBrusk? Winger Jake DeBrusk is now extension-eligible and you can be sure that his camp will be pointing to the eight-year, $52MM extension that Tampa Bay just gave Brandon Hagel as a starting point for discussions.  Is that a price point that Boston is willing to go to in order to keep the 26-year-old?  It’s not as if his tenure with the team has been smooth throughout with a long-lasting trade request only being rescinded a couple of years ago.  And if it’s not a price tag they’re willing to pay, could they justify trying to move him to help match money to get an impact center?  If they want to make a move for a center sooner than later, it would behoove them to have an idea of what DeBrusk is looking for extension-wise soon if they haven’t already started discussions.

What Will The Goalies Do For An Encore? The combination of Ullmark and Swayman was nothing short of dominant last season.  Ullmark led the league in wins, save percentage, and goals-against average, becoming only the third goalie in the last three decades to lead all three categories; the win mark is particularly impressive considering he only played in 49 games.  Swayman, meanwhile, was fourth in the NHL in SV% and GAA.  With a weaker roster now in front of them, how much will their performance be affected?  If the two can play at even a close rate to 2022-23, the Bruins could still be quite dangerous.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.