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Latest On Boston Bruins Free Agents

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The Boston Bruins had a historic regular season in 2022-23, and now in the aftermath of their disappointingly early playoff exit GM Don Sweeney has some difficult problems to solve this summer. Perhaps the team’s most pressing problem is one team president Cam Neely spoke on today, stating that the Bruins are operating under the assumption that their top two centers from last season, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, will not be returning for next year.

Both Bergeron and Krejci took below-market-rate contacts to remain Bruins, and now as each of them are 37 years old it appears Boston is going to head into this offseason preparing for life without either of them occupying their top-two center spots. Another soon-to-be Bruins free agent is Dmitry Orlov, and Sweeney said that he was unlikely to be re-signed by Boston, via The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. Orlov was acquired in a mid-season deal with the Washington Capitals and with Hampus Lindholm already occupying a spot on the left side of Boston’s defense at a high price there simply may not be the cap space to afford an Orlov extension.

Blackhawks Sign Nick Foligno To One-Year Contract

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks have wasted little time in moving to sign forward Nick Foligno as he has accepted a one-year contract for $4MM. Foligno was traded yesterday by the Boston Bruins in what amounts to a salary dump as the Bruins scramble to gain cap space before free agency opens on July 1st. He was traded along with Taylor Hall for the rights to RFAs Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Foligno will be joining the fifth organization in his 16-year career having also spent time with the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 35-year-old spent two years with the Bruins after signing with the club as an unrestricted free agent in July 2021. His first year in Boston was largely forgettable as he put up career lows with two goals and 11 assists in 64 games. However, last season he was able to double his output with 10 goals and 16 assists in 60 games while finding more of a role in Boston’s dominant forward group.

At this point in his career, Foligno is more of a third-liner but he will likely be asked to take some top-6 minutes in Chicago’s weak forward group unless they make significant upgrades over the summer. It should be interesting to see how he acclimates himself as he moves from the President’s Trophy winner to a team that could very well find itself near the bottom of the league standings.

From Chicago’s perspective, there is little downside to this move. While it is certainly a dramatic overpay for an aging forward, they must reach the cap floor and Foligno should provide some good veteran leadership throughout the season. Chicago will likely have to overpay any other free agent acquisitions as well since the season ahead will be a bumpy one in the windy city.

Florida Panthers Have Interest In Tyler Bertuzzi

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Matthew Tkachuk and Tyler Bertuzzi on the same line could provide the Florida Panthers with a lethal combination of skill and physicality not seen in decades. It could actually become a reality, as Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports the Panthers are among the teams who will pursue Bertuzzi if he hits the open market on July 1.

Let’s be clear – Bertuzzi becoming an unrestricted free agent is not a given. After clearing $6MM in cap space yesterday by trading away Taylor Hall, the Boston Bruins have some room, albeit temporarily, to work out an extension with Bertuzzi. It’s something they’re expected to at least take a run at accomplishing over the next few days.

The cap situation in Boston is still extremely tight, though, and they’ll need to make more salary-clearing moves after a hypothetical Bertuzzi extension to re-sign Jeremy Swayman and fill out the rest of their forward core. It seems unlikely they’d be able to figure out a multi-step plan to make all that happen in a matter of days before UFA signing season opens.

Even then, Bertuzzi will likely be able to find more money elsewhere, and Florida now has some to spend. The expiring contract of Patric Hornqvist, a reduced Keith Yandle buyout cap hit, and roughly $10MM worth of LTIR candidates to start the season have given them a major amount of flexibility entering the free agency period. While their first priority will be adding on defense to buoy them while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour miss the start of the season, there is still an opportunity for them to add another offensive piece if they play their financial cards right.

Florida saw what Bertuzzi can accomplish first-hand this season. He led the Bruins in scoring during their seven-game First Round loss against the Panthers, notching five goals and 10 points while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game. He certainly won’t come cheap as a bonafide top-six winger, though his concerning injury history likely brings down his cap hit slightly on the open market.

Linus Ullmark Wins The Vezina Trophy

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Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark is the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy for the league’s top goaltender after he posted a .938 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average to go along with a 40-6-1 record. It is the first Vezina Trophy win for the 29-year-old and is his second bit of hardware as he also collected the Jennings award for being the goalie with the fewest goals scored against.

Ullmark’s 40 wins tied him for the most wins in the NHL this season and his .938 save percentage was the fifth-highest mark all-time amongst goalies that played at least 25 games. He led the Bruins to the President’s Trophy this season and was a big reason the club was as dominant as it was. Ullmark even tickled the twine this year scoring the first goalie goal in three seasons.

Despite the incredible season, there is no guarantee that Ullmark will be back next season for the Bruins. Boston is facing a very difficult cap crunch and have goaltender Jeremy Swayman lying in wait ready to take over the starting role. The Bruins may be forced to decide between the two of them depending on how their cap situation unfolds.

Patrice Bergeron Wins His Sixth Selke Trophy

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Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has won his NHL record sixth Selke Trophy including his second straight. The Selke Trophy is awarded to the forward that best excels in the defensive aspect of the game as voted by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association. Bergeron edged out Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner and New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier.

Bergeron had another terrific season as he led the Bruins to the President’s Trophy as the best regular season team. He was terrific in all three zones of the ice putting up 27 goals and 31 assists in 78 games while dominating the face-off circle with a winning percentage of 61.1%. Away from the puck, Bergeron remained elite posting 38 takeaways on the season as well as blocking 54 shots. He continued to kill penalties, man the powerplay and post dominant possession numbers at 5v5. Bergeron also hit a big milestone this year as he recorded the 1000th point of his career.

A surefire first-ballot hall of famer, Bergeron has stated that he plans to take some time away this summer to decide whether he wants to return for a 20th NHL season in Boston. Bergeron considered retirement last summer but elected to sign a one-year deal with the Bruins to continue playing. Should he opt to return next year he will likely sign a similar one-year deal and go year-to-year going forward.

Connor McDavid Wins 2023 Ted Lindsay Award

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Connor McDavid has been named the recipient of the Ted Lindsay Award for the most outstanding player as voted on by the NHLPA. The award is unsurprising, given that McDavid ran away as the leader in almost every offensive category this season. McDavid posted 64 goals and 89 assists in 82 games this season as he led the league in goals, assists, and points. McDavid edged out Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak and San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson to win the award, the fourth of his young career.

More to come…

Bruins Expected To Begin Contract Talks With Tyler Bertuzzi

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In what is a very unsurprising piece of news David Pagnotta of the NHL Network is reporting that the Boston Bruins are expected to begin extension talks with pending unrestricted free agent forward Tyler Bertuzzi. The Bruins have made two trades this afternoon with the big one being the move to shed Taylor Hall and his $6MM cap hit to the Chicago Blackhawks. Pagnotta adds that there have been no recent talks between the two sides which indicates that these would be preliminary extension talks.

Bertuzzi is just a few days from hitting the open market and would be one of the most coveted free agents should he reach it. The 28-year-old came over in a trade deadline move from the Detroit Red Wings and fit in with the Bruins nicely posting four goals and 12 assists in 21 games after the trade. His playoff numbers were even better as he had five goals and five assists in just seven games, guaranteeing himself a nice payday for the foreseeable future.

The one knock on Bertuzzi has been his inability to stay healthy, he has missed time in each of his seven NHL seasons including the pandemic-shorted 2020-21 season where he dressed in just nine games. Despite this, teams will no doubt line up to try and secure Bertuzzi’s services and it appears the Bruins would like to lock him up before he goes to market.

It’s an interesting strategy for the Bruins if this is in fact the path they choose to go down with trading Hall to sign Bertuzzi. Hall struggled last season, but has just two years left on his deal and was a candidate to bounce back next season, Bertuzzi on the other hand will likely get a contract that carries him well into his mid-30’s and could become an albatross in just a few seasons. It should be interesting to see if Boston indeed signs Bertuzzi or if they elect to use Hall’s cap savings to fill out the depth in their lineup.

Boston, New Jersey Complete Minor Trade

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The Boston Bruins announced that they have made their second trade of the day as they have sent forward Shane Bowers to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenseman Reilly Walsh. The news comes on the heels of the Taylor Hall trade that the Bruins completed earlier this afternoon. Boston has a great deal of salary cap maneuvering to complete as they hope to retain much of the core that won the President’s Trophy this season.

The trade sees the swap of a couple of 2017 draft picks who have both played just one game in the NHL in their respective careers. Bowers was a late first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators and was dealt a few months later as part of the ill-fated Matt Duchene three-team trade that also saw Kyle Turris go to Nashville, and Bowers end up with the Colorado Avalanche. Bowers spent five seasons in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles before he was traded to Boston this past February for Keith Kincaid. He’s never been regarded as much of an offensive player as his career high in the AHL came in 2018-19 when he put up 27 points in 48 games. He was always a stretch to be selected in the first round and at 23 years old it appears he will likely be a career minor leaguer barring a turnaround in his play. This past year in 57 games split between the Eagles and Providence Bowers put up just 21 points.

Walsh on the other hand was a third-round selection by the Devils and has spent his entire professional career in their organization. He’s been a very solid offensive defenseman in the AHL putting up 23 goals and 76 assists in 174 career games. Walsh could potentially compete for a spot as the Bruins seventh defender depending on how their salary cap maneuvering plays out, but at this point it looks like an AHL shuffling of the furniture for both teams.

One must wonder what Bruins general manager has in store for his group. With his second trade of the day, it appears that he is setting up for something. Boston has several key free agents to sign and limited cap space to do it. Bowers was going to be eligible for arbitration but it’s unlikely he would have received much of an award given how little he has contributed at the NHL level. Reilly is also an RFA on July 1st so Boston will need to sign him to a new contract.

Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Taylor Hall

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The Boston Bruins needed to clear some cap space and found a willing participant in the Chicago Blackhawks. The two have agreed on a four-player trade that includes Taylor Hall. The full deal is as follows:

The Bruins will not retain any salary in the deal.

Hall, 31, signed a four-year $24MM contract with the Bruins in 2021 but will last just two seasons before joining the sixth NHL team of his career. The deal does include a 16-team no-trade clause (that drops to 10 teams in a few days) but Chris Johnston of North Star Bets reports that Chicago was not one of the blocked destinations, meaning Boston did not need his approval.

Hall’s $6MM cap hit is not a huge overpayment, as he is still a fine middle-six winger, but the Bruins found themselves in a precarious situation with just a few days before free agency opens. They are interested in bringing back trade deadline acquisition Tyler Bertuzzi, but needed to clear cap before working out any deal. It will be interesting to see if they can close the gap and keep Bertuzzi in the fold once Hall is officially off the books.

After being a part of the best regular season team in history, moving to Chicago is a significant downgrade for Hall. He isn’t joining an organization completely bereft of talent, though—he may even get to play with Connor Bedard, depending on how things shake out.

There is, of course, the possibility that the Blackhawks flip the 2018 Hart Trophy winner as they continue their rebuild. Two years of Hall isn’t going to do a ton for their Stanley Cup chances, and perhaps retaining some salary could mean even more assets for the Bedard-led club a few years from now.

Foligno’s inclusion is interesting, given he is a pending unrestricted free agent. Perhaps he will join the Blackhawks on a new deal to help lend some veteran leadership to the young group. The veteran forward is set to turn 36 in October but had a bounce-back season this year with 26 points in 60 games.

In terms of return for the Bruins, it’s really about the cap space. Mitchell and Regula are both fringe NHLers, who may have missed their window of real potential. Perhaps the Bruins see enough in one or both of them to make them a roster regular next season, but the young defensemen may again be destined for the minor leagues.

Mitchell, 24, played 35 games for the Blackhawks this season, registering one goal and eight points. The 2017 second-round pick has just 82 NHL games under his belt to this point, and is arbitration eligible as an RFA this summer. Interestingly, he does have a connection to Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, who recruited and coached Mitchell at the University of Denver for one season.

Meanwhile, Regula is still just 22 but barely has any NHL experience. He saw just four games with the Blackhawks this season and has suited up 22 times in his career, registering a single point. Selected in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Detroit Red Wings, he is not yet eligible for arbitration.

At the very worst, the defenders could stretch out the depth chart for the Bruins, giving them valuable options to turn to in case of injury or poor performance next season.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first broke the news that Hall was headed to the Blackhawks. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported the full deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Boston Bruins Extend Brandon Bussi

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The Boston Bruins have announced that they have re-signed netminder Brandon Bussi to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Per the announcement, the deal has a cap hit of $775,000.

According to CapFriendly, the contract has an AHL salary of $100,000 and contains total guarantees of $140,000.

Bussi is a fast-rising young goalie who was recently named to the AHL’s All-Rookie team after an exceptional first season as the leader of a three-person goalie group with the Providence Bruins.

Now 24, Bussi was originally a signing by the Bruins last March. He inked a one-year entry-level deal at an $825k cap hit, plucked from the college ranks after a strong final season at Western Michigan University.

He started all of Western Michigan’s games in 2021-22 and went 26-12-1 with a .912 save percentage. After leaving college he got an early taste of pro action with AHL Providence near the end of 2021-22 on an ATO, and went 3-2 with a .920 save percentage in five games. He actually began this year at the ECHL level as the Bruins already had Kyle Keyser and veteran Keith Kinkaid entrenched as Providence’s goalie tandem.

But Bussi quickly proved himself to be overqualified for the ECHL, immediately stopping 75 out of 80 shots in his first two starts. He earned a call-up in November and didn’t look back. He went 22-5-4 in the AHL with a .924 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against-average.

While NHL opportunities might be difficult to come by in Boston as the Bruins already have Vezina Trophy frontrunner Linus Ullmark and the talented Jeremy Swayman in their crease. But another brilliant AHL campaign could see Bussi be a player of interest for other clubs and a potential trade asset for the Bruins, or could even force the team to choose between Ullmark and Swayman in order to provide Bussi with the chance to become a part of an NHL tandem.

In any case, he now has his contract for next season and will likely pair with Keyser as Providence’s goalie tandem for next season.

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