The Boston Bruins completed the first segment of their offseason fortification project in Las Vegas. They addressed tomorrow by drafting 6-foot-7 monster Dean Letourneau in the first round. Three rounds later, they thought enough of Elliott Groenewold to trade up for the Clarkson-bound defenseman, moving Jakub Lauko to the Minnesota Wild as part of the deal.
The heavy construction in Segment No. 2 for today is about to begin.
The market will open at noon on Monday. The Bruins have approximately $23 million in spending money, albeit with a portion budgeted to Jeremy Swayman. It is enough free cash to give the Bruins multiple options to improve at center and defense.
“They’re all over the place,” one agent, granted anonymity to share discussions he’s had with team personnel, said of the Bruins’ free agency plans.
The Bruins are in good shape in net. They will re-sign Swayman through negotiation or arbitration. Joonas Korpisalo has the inside line on the backup job. Brandon Bussi will have the chance to beat out Korpisalo in training camp.
They are equally set on the right side of the defense. Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Andrew Peeke bring a blend of skill, checking and physicality.
Forward and the left side of the defense are other matters.
At five-on-five, the Bruins averaged 2.55 expected goals per 60 minutes last season, according to Natural Stat Trick. This was 18th in the NHL. This number could dip if Jake DeBrusk walks on Monday as the Bruins expect him to do.
Jake DeBrusk seems to have played his last game for the Bruins. (Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)
On the flip side, the Bruins averaged an identical 2.55 expected goals against per 60, placing them 16th in the NHL. Not only do they require improvement from Hampus Lindholm, they would be best served sheltering Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon. Both would be better served on the No. 3 pair for different reasons: to give Lohrei more time to improve his defending, and to place the stay-at-home Wotherspoon in his appropriate slot.
You can understand why outside help is necessary.
“We’d like to deepen the middle of the ice with us,” general manager Don Sweeney told reporters in Las Vegas prior to Round 1. “That’s where we’ve been focused in trying to have those talks with our group to say, ‘OK, who would be the guy?’ And hopefully make the pitch at the right time that we can add a player of that nature. We’re going to continue to look to strengthen our back end and complement the group we have there. And then from there, it’s sort of like, ‘How much of the pie is left?’”
By dealing Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning cleared enough cash to re-sign Steven Stamkos. That does not appear to be their intention. Lightning GM Julien BriseBois told Tampa reporters that Stamkos will go to market on Monday.
The Bruins are expected to have their hands raised high. They have the cap space and the need to bring on the 34-year-old finisher.
Stamkos broke the 40-goal barrier in 2023-24 for the seventh time in his 16-season, 1,082-game career. Opponents would have to account for Stamkos on one line and David Pastrnak on another.
One hiccup would be the power play. Both Stamkos and Pastrnak prefer the left elbow.
Pastrnak would have to shift to his strong side, negating his one-timer. Brad Marchand would become a right-side goal-line presence. But the option of having Stamkos and Pastrnak as same-unit threats would improve a power play that ran at 22.2 percent, No. 14 overall.
If the Stamkos market overheats and the Bruins prefer a different profile, Elias Lindholm would make them better in a different way. Lindholm is not as dangerous offensively. But the 29-year-old could be a Patrice Bergeron proxy — dependable in every situation. The Bruins have liked Lindholm since he was a Carolina Hurricanes prospect.
While Stamkos and Lindholm are right-shot centers, Chandler Stephenson is a lefty. The 30-year-old speedster has scored 16 goals in back-to-back seasons. He averaged 18:29 of ice time per game for the Vegas Golden Knights, third-most among team forwards after Jack Eichel and Mark Stone.
The Bruins have Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie, Johnny Beecher and Matt Poitras returning at center. Jesper Boqvist is under contract but will be a restricted free agent on Monday. All but Coyle and Poitras have seen time at wing. The Bruins would have flexibility if they add another center in free agency.
On defense, Brady Skjei would be a good fit to play with McAvoy or Carlo in the top four. Skjei will have plenty of interest. Nikita Zadorov, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alec Martinez are second-tier left-shot defensemen.
“I can’t tell you we’re going to satisfy every need that our group had identified,” Sweeney said. “But we are going to be aggressive to try and improve our hockey club.”
(Photo of Steven Stamkos: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
