Boston Bruins Extend Jakub Zboril
Slated to become a group six unrestricted free agent this summer, a former first-round pick has decided to stay with the organization that drafted him. Defenseman Jakub Zboril signed a two-year contract extension with the Boston Bruins this morning, carrying a cap hit of $1.138MM per season.
Zboril, now 25, played just 10 games this season before tearing his ACL in a game against the Nashville Predators on December 2, 2021. The Czech defender played well this season in a bottom-pairing role, notching three assists in 10 games as well.
While Zboril won’t hit the ceiling the team envisioned for him when they drafted him 13th overall in 2015, he has turned into an everyday NHL player. That’s important for the cap-strapped Bruins, who now retain a reliable depth defenseman for a reasonable cap hit with some term. Per CapFriendly, though, the Bruins now have just $2.4MM in cap space entering this offseason with multiple UFAs, including captain Patrice Bergeron. With Zboril locked in now, an indication they view him as a regular next season, expect the Bruins to move on from either Matt Grzelcyk or Mike Reilly via trade. Both are left-shot defensemen who fell out of favor with the Bruins coaching staff near the end of the season.
Zboril will become an unrestricted free agent again in 2024.
Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Zboril, Point, Matthews
The Sabres have shown interest in Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in the past, notes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Buffalo is in need of goaltending for next season regardless of whether or not they plan to have Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen jump up full-time to the NHL or not. Georgiev is a strong candidate this summer given New York’s salary cap situation and while the 26-year-old has had a tough year (a GAA of 2.91 and a SV% of just .898 in 31 games), there could still be a bit of upside left to make him a worthwhile short-term option. They have shown interest in bringing back Craig Anderson and the veteran could be a good mentor if Luukkonen is on the roster in a platoon situation.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Bruins have had extension talks with defenseman Jakub Zboril, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 25-year-old was limited to just ten games with Boston this season before his year came to an end with a torn ACL. Zboril is eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency this summer since this is his fifth professional season but has just 54 career NHL games under his belt so a low-cost one-year deal to give him another chance next season would make some sense for both sides.
- Lightning center Brayden Point will return tonight after missing Thursday’s contest, relays Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link). Head coach Jon Cooper acknowledged that the 26-year-old has been dealing with a nagging issue, terming his absence last game as more than just maintenance. Point has 55 points in 62 games this season and they’ll need him healthy for the playoffs so the fact he only missed the one game has to be encouraging.
- Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will return to the lineup tonight against Florida after missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury, mentions TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has four games left to get two goals which would make him the NHL’s first 60-goal scorer since Steven Stamkos reached that mark back in the 2011-12 season.
Carlo Added To COVID Protocol; Zboril Undergoes Surgery
The Boston Bruins are already shut down for the holiday break, but today brought some bad news for two of their defensemen. Brandon Carlo has been added to the COVID protocol, the tenth player so far for Boston. He joins Brad Marchand, Craig Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic, Anton Blidh, Oskar Steen, Taylor Hall, and Curtis Lazar on the shelf, unavailable for the time being. The first few names should be eligible to return before the Bruins take the ice again on December 27, but if Carlo has tested positive and is experiencing any symptoms, he will not.
Beyond the COVID issues though is Jakub Zboril, who is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn ACL. The young defenseman underwent the procedure on December 16 at Mass General Brigham after suffering the injury on December 2.
Zboril, 24, seemed finally ready to contribute at the NHL level, six years after going 13th overall in the 2015 draft. It’s been a slow development path so far, but during last season and the early going this year, he had taken a big step to force his way into the lineup on a regular basis. In the nine games before exiting early against Nashville, he had averaged nearly 17 minutes a night while recording three points.
Importantly, this injury means that Zboril will not reach the 80-game threshold required to make him a restricted free agent. Instead, he will now qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agent status, given he has played just 54 NHL contests and turns 25 in February. There would have been an argument to be made over whether the Bruins should qualify him anyway, given he would have been arbitration-eligible, but with this, the decision is no longer in their hands. The defenseman will hit the open market, should the Bruins not reach an extension with him before free agency opens.