The Boston Bruins have been careful this NHL offseason while the money keeps flying everywhere else.
With the salary cap climbing and teams spending aggressively, Boston has mostly stayed out of the frenzy. Instead, the Bruins have gone after players already locked into longer-term deals, landing JJ Peterka and Will Borgen in moves that reflect a simple truth: useful players at yesterday’s prices are getting harder to find.
That approach still leaves room for the Bruins to stretch when the right situation comes along. They did exactly that with Jeremy Swayman, re-signing him to a long-term extension that already looks favorable in the new cap environment.
For now, Boston enters the quiet stretch of the offseason with more than $5 million in cap space and enough depth across the roster to make training camp battles intense.
“We're in a pretty good spot from a cap standpoint right now. We should try and maintain flexibility, and if we can garner more [cap space] because there's a trade opportunity with an eye towards the future, of course we're going to consider it,” said Don Sweeney.
“That's not my main principal point of attack. I'm not looking to just open up space for what might happen, I want to maintain flexibility, I want to pursue things that improve our hockey club when they present.
“If there are players that [view us as a] destination team, but not everybody has identified us. We want to become that place [where players] say, ‘No, no, no, that's where I want to play.’”
That flexibility matters because the Bruins could still pounce if a bigger name breaks loose. Dylan Larkin remains without a landing spot as he tries to leave Detroit, and Alexander Nikishin is also still in limbo without a contract for his current team.
Even so, the market still has a handful of proven veterans sitting out there without deals, the kind of players who can turn into smart value pickups for teams willing to wait.
Vladimir Tarasenko is one of them. The 34-year-old is coming off a solid season with the Minnesota Wild, where he put up 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games.
He also showed he can still score, even as he moves deeper into his NHL years. After recent stops with the Panthers and the Wild, with a forgettable season in Detroit in between, Tarasenko appears to be holding out for the right fit on a contender.
Patrik Laine is another name still hanging around the market. The 28-year-old Finnish winger is a long way from the player who scored 44 goals for the Winnipeg Jets 10 years ago, but he did manage 20 goals for the Canadiens a couple of years ago.
Last season was a mess of injuries, limiting him to five games with Montreal, and he has been a minus player for six straight seasons. He has drawn more attention for his Bond villain fashion sense than for his production lately.
Still, there’s no denying the upside if a team is willing to take the shot. Laine could make sense for a club desperate for offense, especially on a low-risk contract that gives him a chance to prove he still belongs in the league.
In Other News...
Bruins Enter A Crucial Stretch For Don Sweeneys Long Term Plan
The Bruins are in the middle of an offseason that still has some runway left, but not much room for drift. Rookie camp and training camp dates are already on the calendar, and for Don Sweeneys front office the coming stretch is about more than just getting players back on the ice. It is also a key period for sorting through contract decisions that will shape how Boston looks when the new season starts.
For a team trying to keep its long-term plan pointed in the right direction, these are the kinds of choices that can quietly define a year. The Bruins are not alone in facing big organizational questions around the league, but their situation carries a familiar urgency because every move now has to fit both the immediate roster and what comes next. The calendar is moving, the camps are approaching, and the pressure to get the timing right is starting to build. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Regret This Goalie Decision More Than Ever
When Don Sweeney chose to re-sign Michael DiPietro and let Brandon Bussi walk into free agency, the Bruins were making a bet on depth and familiarity in goal. Boston then moved Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers, leaving DiPietro as the most likely backup option behind Jeremy Swayman heading into the new season, a setup that looked tidy enough at the time.
What makes the decision harder to ignore now is where Bussi ended up after leaving Boston, and what happened once he got there. His path took an unexpected turn from Florida to Carolina, and he wound up playing a meaningful role in the Hurricanes' run to the Stanley Cup, giving the Bruins another reminder that a goaltending move can look very different once the games matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins May Feel Pittsburghs Surprise RFA Bet Soon
The Penguins made an eye-catching move by locking up restricted free agent Ville Koivunen on an eight-year, $32 million contract with a $4 million average annual value, signaling far more faith in his future than his modest NHL sample suggests. Koivunen has only 47 games at the top level, but his strong AHL performance has clearly convinced Pittsburgh to bet on upside now rather than wait for a bigger breakout.
For Boston, the deal is worth watching because contracts like this can ripple beyond one roster. Long-term commitments to young, developing players help shape the market for similar restricted free agents, and the Bruins have plenty of reason to track how aggressively teams are willing to invest in talent that has shown more in the minors than in the NHL. If Pittsburghs gamble works, it may look forward-thinking. If it does not, it could become another cautionary marker in a market that never stays quiet for long. [Read more 🡒]