Trade Rumours: Bruins to move big pieces to keep deadline acquisitions, Rangers could add in multiple places and re-up RFA’s.

 Offseason plans, Rangers to move Goodrow as a cap dump to re-sign RFA’s and add a different positions, while the Bruins could need two new Center’s and want to keep their deadline acquisitions and they may be willing to move significant pieces to do it. 

New York R 

Significant Pending UFA:

RW P.Kane 21-36-57 73GP

RW V.Tarasenko 18-32-50 69GP 

LW,RW T.Motte 8-11-19 62GP

RW W.Lockwood 0-1-1 13GP 

RW,C R.Carpenter 1-2-3 22GP

LD N.Mikkola 1-5-6 81GP

LD W.Kalynuk 0-0-0 0GP 

G J.Halak 10-9-1 REC 2.73 GAA .903 SV%

Significant Pending RFA: 

LW,RW A.Lafreniere 16-23-39 81GP

LD K.Miller 9-34-43 79GP

LD Z.Jones 1-1-2 16GP 

LD L.Hajek 1-0-1 16GP

RD T.Emberson 0-0-0 0GP 

Current draft capital for Rangers in 2023: 5

1RD NYR

3RD COL 

5RD EDM 

6RD WIN, NYR 

What lead the Rangers to exit the first round of the playoffs this year: now the Rangers round themselves in a very difficult division this year and a division that was hard to get out of but for most of the year they were a solid top 3 team in the metro and although they had a late push to get a top 2 spot and host a playoff series, they would wind up finishing 3rd and having a date with rivals in New Jersey for the first round, and although they won the first two games, the Devils would come back and win 4 of the next 5 games to take the series in 7 which was a really disappointing end to the year, and I do think there were a couple of reasons why the Rangers were bounced in round 1 by New Jersey. 

Number one would be the fact that the Rangers seemed to lose the speed game to the Devils and were always a step behind them. Now going into this series as soon as people found out that the Rangers would play the Devils a lot of people were worried that the Rangers were not going to be able to keep up with the Devils as the Devils were the younger and faster team in the regular season and that speed would cause problems for the older Rangers team, and although the Devils looked shaky in the first few games of the series as most of those players had never played in a playoff game and were a step behind NYR, they would quickly flip the script and it was quickly evident that the Devils speed was a problem for the Rangers and I think once the Devils got their playoff legs under them it became a real problem for the Rangers and I think the fact that the more veteran Rangers team couldn’t keep up with the younger Devils team was a huge reason the Rangers got bounced in round 1. 

Next up would be the lack of scoring and especially later in the series for the Rangers as they couldn’t find the scoring touch they had earlier in the season. Now the Rangers had one of the better offenses in the league this year as they were 12th in goal scoring and they started out the series quite well to as their big boys were producing and getting on the board and they scored 10 goals in the 2 game beat down to start the series, but after that they would only score 7 goals in the final 5 games and would get shutout twice in those 5 games by Schmid, and after the goalie change by Jersey the Rangers really couldn’t find any way to put the puck into the net, as by the end of the series only 3 players (Kane, Fox and Kreider) had more then 4 points and players who one thought would contribute a lot and helped the Rangers in the 21-22 playoffs didn’t perform well, as Panarin and Kakko finished the playoffs with only 2 points, Trocheck and Miller only got 1 points while Lafreniere was a no show with 0 points in the 7 game series and it is quite hard to get to round two of the playoffs if half of a teams top 9 isn’t producing a whole lot, so the lack of scoring on the team was a big problem as even with goals scored in the playoffs, only Krieder and deadline acquisition Tarasenko were able to put up more then a goal in this series and Kreider had a 3rd of them, so the dried up offense really hurt the team and was a significant reason they dropped in round 1. 

And lastly would be the Rangers power play, now the power play for NYR wasn’t nearly as bad as Colorado or NYI in the playoffs but it wasn’t overly great and not nearly as effective as it was in the regular season and was another reason they fell in round 1. Now the Rangers were a powerhouse in the regular season on the power play putting up over 24% on the power play and being a top 10 team in that category, but in the playoffs it was almost invisible, as they would have a 17.9% on the power play which was 11th in the playoffs and although they scored 5 PPG going 5/28 on the power plays throughout the series, 4 of those 5 goals came in their first 2 games of the series, so they were only able to score 1 goal in the last 5 games on the power play and that was in the only game that they won in the last 5 games, so the fact that after the first two games the teams special teams unit dried up and they couldn’t get anything going on the power play and the fact that the Power Play couldn’t produce in the later games when it mattered was another strong reason why the Devils won the 1RD series instead of NYR. 

So in my opinion the fact that the Rangers were the slower team once the Devils got their legs under them, the fact that the Rangers goal scoring dropped significantly in the final 5 games and the fact that the power play wasn’t producing well enough to be impactful especially later in the series were all reasons the Rangers fell to the younger Devils in the first round, and although this wound up being a disappointing season for them, they still have a solid group that will be able to contend over the next few years, and I think with a couple of offseason adjustments the Rangers should once again be Stanley Cup  contenders next year. 

So in my eyes the injuries to 3 key top 6 forwards plus their best defensemen, the fact that they dug themselves in really hard to get out of holes in the final 3 games of the series and Hellebuyck not looking like regular season Hellebuyck all played significant roles in the Jets bowing out after only 5 games in the 1st round and I think that they will need to do quite a lot in the offseason to compete with a team like Vegas but I definitely think there will be a few changes to the team over the offseason to try to improve this team although I think that may be a tad difficult to do. 

5 ways of how I think the Rangers can improve in the offseason. 

Tommy Gilligan USA Today Sports

.1) Sign RFA’s Lafreniere and Miller. 

Now the Rangers big priority this offseason has to be keeping around some of their younger players and there are a couple of great players who are coming off of their ELC’s who need new deals in Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller who are key pieces of their lineup and are looking for big raises and I think the Rangers would like to keep both around and will need to sign them to new deals. 

Now the Rangers do have some solid young pieces mixed into their older type of lineup, and these two are the most biggest contract situations they need dealt with following the Rangers signing Chytil about a month and a half ago as Chytil was part of the guys that they needed to sign to a extension and they were able to get Chytil under contract for the next 4 seasons, and now they need to try and do the same with Lafreniere and Miller. Now Miller has actually shown great potential since being drafted in the first round a couple of seasons ago, and has really meshed well into the Rangers top 4 on the defensive side as he has been a great D partner for Trouba and is coming off of his best season yet, putting up 9 goals and 43 points which were both career high’s in 79 games and showed just how good he can play right now and if he can continue to grow I could eventually see him as a solid 50-60 point defensemen, so I could see the Rangers maybe wanting to extend him on more of a long term deal as I think the Rangers get him on like a 4-6 year contract that has a AAV of somewhere between $5-6 Million per year and I think that deal would work good for both sides as Miller would get a nice bump in pay and the Rangers would lock up a top 4 defensemen for the next couple of years at a reasonable cap hit, so I think that sort of a deal works for Miller, and with Miller proving himself as a top 4 defender I think the Rangers are more likely to go long term with him. 

As for Lafreniere, I think it is a bit more complicated with him as the 1st overall pick back in 2020 hasn’t really shown that he could be more then a middle six forward 3 years after being the highest player drafted in the 2020 draft, and he has gotten some looks at some points over the past couple of seasons in the top 6, but is still stuck playing behind Lefties Krieder and Panarin and unless he plays his off side he is basically stuck there, and after having 21 points in 56 games as a rookie, in 160 games over the past two seasons he has only put up 35 goals and 70 points which isn’t a great point total 3 years in for a 1st overall pick, so I could see him maybe become a trade chip if they could get a good enough return, but if they were to keep him then I think he maybe signs a 2-3 year bridge deal that would have a $2-3 Million dollar AAV as I don’t think his production has warranted a major pay raise and I would think the Rangers for with a bridge deal to see if he can get better, but I definitely think Miller is going to be sign to a nice extension at some point this offseason to remain a top 4 defender, while if the Rangers keep Lafreniere around, expect a not too expensive bridge deal to see if Lafreniere can continue to grow and get better over the next few years. 

.2) Add a right side top 6 winger.

Now the Rangers impoved their top 6 in season when they added right wingers Tarasenko and Kane and it seemed to work well because instead of having a guy like Lafreniere play on his off side they had a couple of natural right wingers and players who fit in decently in the top 6, but both are UFA’s and if they don’t feel that Kakko or Lafreniere fit in the top 6 on the right side, then I could see them try to bring in a right side winger.

Now the Rangers really went basically all in at the deadline adding Kane and Tarasenko to their top six and although the Rangers had a decent top six, adding those two rounded out the top six nicely with Krieder, Panarin, Zibanejad and Trocheck, but both guys are UFA’s and I am not sure having Kakko and Lafreniere (on his off wing) as your top 2 Right Wingers might make the most sense going into next year, so in my eyes if the Rangers can get a top 6 right winger in the offseason, it might help their team. Now I think Kakko is at the point where he should be able to be a solid 2nd line Right winger maybe playing with Krieder or Panarin and in my opinion, I would not be opposed to putting him there, but I can’t see Lafreniere play consistent on line 1 on his off wing and succeed there, so in my eyes getting a top 6 Right winger who can play top line minutes is a must for this team. Now I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they bring back one of the two guys they acquired in season whether it is Tarasenko or Kane, but when playing in the playoffs against the Devils the Rangers looked a bit slow and I am not sure the Rangers would want either back and I think the more likely would be Kane, but he will be out the first couple of month due to injury, so I could see them look to the trade or free agent market to add. Now on the free agent market, there is barely any top end Right Wingers besides Tarasenko and Kane and the only options I could see NYR go after would be Killorn or Brown, but those wouldn’t be great fits there in my opinion so a trade would be more likely in my eyes and guys who the team could target may be Boeser in Vancouver, Toffoli in Calgary or Reinhart in Florida as all three are right wingers and I could see fit in very well on the top unit with Zibanejad, but whether they bring back one of their in season acquisitions, or go the trade or free agent route, I think they will look to add in the top six and try to get a good fit so that they aren’t playing guys like Vesey or Lafreniere on line one where they haven’t had very much success. 

Kirby Lee USA Today Sports

.3) Get a new backup goalie. 

Now the Rangers have had some solid backups over the past few years and they used Halak last year who did a good job backing up Shesterkin, but he is a Pending UFA and might not be back for the Rangers which means they may have to go and try and get a new backup goalie this offseason. 

Now the Rangers have had a couple of solid backups ever since Shesterkin became the number 1 goalie in NYR, as they had Georgiev for a couple of years as the teams backup behind Shesterkin before he grew out of the backup role and into more of a starter and the Rangers dealt him last year to Colorado last offseason so he could get more playing time and went out in free agency and brought in UFA Halak on a 1 year deal and he did quite good for a backup, but he is now a pending UFA and the Rangers still need a backup, so I think they may go hunting for a backup goalie. Now they have a solid 3rd string goalie in Domingue who they could promote to backup and he could be a solid option to be the backup next year as he does have NHL experience, but I think the Rangers would want someone a little more suited for the role, so that is why I would expect them to go and look for a goalie via trade or free agency and I think the trade market is pretty weak when it comes to pure backups and besides a guy like Comrie who I think would be the best fit for them on the trade market, there isn’t really anyone else out there who would fit the Rangers needs, so I would expect the Rangers to look at the free agent market to see who they could bring in as the backup to Shesterkin and I would think guys such as Quick, Stolarz or Griess could be too fits with the Rangers because with Shesterkin being a top end goalie at the NHL level, he can play 50-60 games a season so the backup doesn’t have to play as often and those 3 goalies are guys I would expect to be more pure backups and play around 20 games a season, so those would be some of the guys I look at but whether they look to free agency or trade or look internally, a priority for the Rangers this offseason will be to find a solid backup for Igor Shesterkin. 

.4) Bring in a 3RD pair defensemen . 

Now the Rangers had a problem this year as their top 4 defensemen were locks from the beginning of the season and Schneider was a solid 5th defender but they didn’t have a solid partner for him and had to use Jones and Harpur before acquiring Mikkola at the deadline but Mikkola is now a UFA, so if they can bring him back then they should be trying to get a 3rd pair defensemen and bring him in this offseason. 

Now as we know the Rangers have a solid top 4 on the defensive side with Fox,Lindgren, Trouba and once he is signed Miller and they also have a solid 3rd pair defensemen in Braden Schneider who has really taken the spot on the right side of the third pair and ran with it over the past couple of seasons, but the Rangers haven’t really been able to find a solid partner for him on pair 3, as they started this year with guys like Jones and Harpur on that 3rd pair, but they didn’t work out the best so they went out and got Mikkola at the deadline and he did well with Schneider, but he is now a UFA and I could see the Rangers try and bring in a solid left side 3rd pair defensemen this offseason to pair with Schneider. Now on the trade market I could see guys like Merrill, Stanley or Seeler be of interest to them as none are overly expensive and they could probably fit them under the cap and they would be upgrades on their current 3rd pair defensemen while in free agency I could see guys like Kulikov, Oesterle or Holden be of interest to NYR as they probably would be cheap signings and are all veteran 3rd pair defensemen who could round out that D-Corp and maybe one other option would be to give Zac Jones one more chance as the team did extend him this offseason and maybe they have confidence he can be that player to round out the D-Corp, but whichever direction they go, they will definitely be looking for a 3rd pair D-Man who can play with Schneider next year.

.5) Move Goodrow. 

Now the Rangers don’t have a ton of cap space and especially if they want to sign their big name players and maybe upgrade the team by adding a top 6 forward to their team, then they will need cap space and the only contract that I think is moveable that is a luxury the Rangers may no longer be able to afford would be Barclay Goodrow. 

Now as I said the Rangers could be looking for a upgrade at a couple of spots and they also need to sign their RFA’s, so I could easily see them needing to clear some cap space to make some moves this offseason, although they really have no easy options to move as most of the players making significant money are let pieces on this team, so the one guy I could see moved to free up cap space would be Barclay Goodrow. Now Goodrow has been in NYR for the past couple of years since winning back to back cups in Tampa, and although he has proven to be a solid bottom six forward, he isn’t producing to the level he did in Tampa when they won the cups and the contract he signed that has 4 years left at a $3.64 Million dollar cap hit does not look to good right now and I could see the Rangers try and move it. Now Goodrow is a good winger and I could see some teams who have playoff aspirations try and acquire him, but that cap hit isn’t the best and I think a lot of teams would be weary of acquiring him with that cap hit, so he may wind up being a salary dump for NYR and they may have to move him to a bottom dwelling team to get his contract off the books but at this point I think they want to improve badly and with not too much cap space, moving Goodrow who is a decent player on a bad contract might be the play for them, so moving Goodrow who is really the only asset I could see them moving to clear up cap space may be the only way they are able to clear enough cap to go out and improve this team and I would look for a Goodrow trade at some point this offseason.

So in my eyes if the Rangers can bring back RFA’s Lafreniere and Miller on new deals (or perhaps move Lafreniere if they feel that he doesn’t fit anymore), add a top 6 Right winger to the fold, get a 3rd pair partner for Schneider, find a backup for Shesterkin and move on from Goodrow, I think they should be a better team next year as I think after making the coaching change they should be a bit better and I still feel that this team is on the verge of competing for the Stanley Cup, and if they can do a few tinkers to their lineup as I mentioned above, I think this team will not only remain a dominant regular season team and make the playoffs, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they can win a couple rounds and get to the Confrence or Stanley Cup Final next year.

If you liked this blog post, then check out my YouTube video on the Rangers offseason here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-uquFC1hgA

Boston Bruins 

Significant Pending UFA:

C P.Bergeron 27-31-58 78GP

C D.Krejci 16-40-56 70GP 

LW,RW T.Bertuzzi 8-22-30 50GP

LW,C,RW N.Foligno 10-16-26 60GP

C,LW T.Nosek 7-11-18 66GP 

RW,LW G.Hathaway 13-9-22 84GP

RW,C C.Wagner 0-0-0 1GP

C,RW V.Lettieri 0-0-0 1GP 

LD D.Orlov 7-29-36 66GP

RD C.Clifton 5-18-23 78GP 

RD A.Stralman 0-0-0 8GP

LD J.Ahcan 0-0-0 0GP 

Significant Pending RFA: 

C S.Bowers 0-0-0 1GP

LW,RW J.Lauko 4-3-7 23GP

C M.McLaughlin 0-0-0 2GP

LW,RW T.Frederic 17-14-31 79GP 

G J.Swayman 24-6-4 REC 2.27 GAA .920 SV%

G M.DiPietro 0-0-0 REC 0.00 GAA .000 SV% 

Current draft capital for Bruins in 2023: 5 

3RD BOS 

4RD BOS 

6RD BOS

7RD LA,BOS 

What lead the Bruins to exit the first round of the playoffs this year: so the Bruins had what most would argue was the best regular season ever as they were able to put up 65 wins and 135 points this season which was more wins and points in a season then any other team had ever in a single season and there were high expectations for the Bruins entering the playoffs and I know most people had them as their Stanley Cup favourites, and they started well in the first round going up 3-1 in the series, but after that they would blow the lead and get stunned, losing 3 consecutive games and falling in 7 to the eventual eastern conference champions in the Panthers, so it was a  fantastic regular season but a poor season overall losing in round 1 and there were definitely a few factors that went into them being bounced in round 1. 

So first I would say the biggest thing in my opinion that caused the Bruins to exit the first round would be the fact that the Bruins had to deal with so many injuries in the playoffs this year. So the Bruins were able to get basically the entire team into the roster for game 1 of the playoffs but there were some significant injuries throughout the playoffs for the Bruins, starting with number 1 Center Bergeron, who missed the first 4 games of the series and had a pretty bad injury that he played through in games 5-7, and limited the usually productive forward to only 1 goal and then 2nd line Center Krejci missed game 3-5 due to injuries and they really did miss him during that stretch and he wasn’t 100% when he can back into the lineup so having their top 2 Center’s injured in the playoffs was a big blow to the Bruins, then on the goaltending side the Bruins Starter Linus Ullmark was playing injured and it showed as he got worse and worse as the series went on and eventually wasn’t able to go for game 7 when Swayman got the start, so losing their Vezina level goalie for game 7 and having him play injured was not good for the Bruins and then on top of those injuries, guys like Forbort, Clifton, Pastrnak and Foligno were all also banged up during the playoffs for the Bruins so this team really had to deal with some significant injury troubles throughout the playoffs and in my opinion was the biggest reason the team exited round 1.

Next would be the lack of killer instincts the team showed in the first round trying to close out the Panthers. Now the Bruins were able to spilt the first 2 games with Florida in Boston and then went into Florida and took two games from them and found themselves up 3-1 in the series which was a pretty good position to be in if you are the Bruins and all they had to do was win one of the next 3 games to make round two which seems like it should be relatively simple to do, but they would first lose game 5 in OT and that game they never lead and Florida played fantastic to cut the series lead to 1, then in a high scoring back and forth game 6 where the Bruins could’ve closed out the game they once again allowed the Panthers back in and the Panthers took the game and tied the series and then in game 7 the Bruins had a chance to once again close out the series in the dying moments of the game and allowed a late game equalizer that sent the game to OT where the Panthers would eventually win it, so the lack of ability on the Bruins side of things to close out the series was another big reason the team wound up losing in round 1.

And lastly would be the inability to keep the Panthers pretty deep offense at bay for most of the series. Now as we know the Bruins netminder in Ullmark was banged up and played through a injury in the playoffs that forced him to miss the pivotal game 7 of the series, but in the first few games you could see that Ullmark wasn’t playing to the best of his abilities as after playing solid in game 1 and holding the Panthers to only one goal in that game, he would wind up giving up at least 2 goals if not more in the rest of the 5 games he played in and that included giving up 6 goals in game 2 and giving up 7 in game 6 and even in the wins he didn’t look like the Vezina level goalie from the regular season, and then Swayman didn’t fair much better for the Bruins in the net in game 7 as he would give up 4 goals including a late game tying one and the OT winner that allowed the Panthers to take the series and his stats also weren’t great for the bruins in the playoffs, so the lack of ability on the defensive end to shutdown the Panthers offense for most of this series was another factor that played into the Bruins falling in 7 games in round 1 to the Panthers.

So in my eyes the fact that the Bruins had to deal with a ton of injuries, especially to significant players, their not to hot defensive play especially from the goalies and the inability to end the Panthers when they were down in the series all played a pretty big role in the Bruins first round exit and this sort of had a feeling as like a last run with this core group this year so they may not be bringing everyone back from this historic team, but the Bruins are still set up in a pretty good position to compete for a playoff spot and with a few changes in the offseason don’t be too surprised if the Bruins position themselves to not only make it back to the playoffs but also maybe get past round 1 next year. 

5 Ways of how I think the Bruins can improve in the offseason.

Jamie Sabau USA Today Sports

.1) Figure out the teams two top 6 Center’s for next year.

Now the team went into this season bringing back both Krejci and Bergeron as their top 2 Center’s on cheap one year deals, but after losing in round one there has been a ton of speculation that both guys may retire this offseason, and if this is the end for both guys then the Bruins need to find a solution for their top Center’s on this team next year.

Now the Bruins have a lot of problems they will need to solve this offseason and in my opinion it starts at the Center position. Now the Bruins brought back Bergeron who’s contract had expired and Krejci who had spent a year overseas last offseason on one year cheap deals to be the teams 1-2 punch down the middle, and a lot of people thought this was like a last chance vibes from the Bruins to get this aging core a Stanley Cup, and it wound up falling way short, as they feel in round 1, but now the question becomes will those two be back next year. Now both players are in their late thirties and while I think there has to be a possibility that one or both might come back to try again one last time and I don’t think we can rule out that possibility, but there is the strong likelihood that one or both have played their last NHL game and neither could be back for the Bruins next year, so if that is the case the Bruins will have to find replacements in the top 6 for their team. Now internally I think in the long run players like Beecher, Poitras or Kuntar could be a part of the teams top six Center’s but I am not sure any of those prospects are ready for full time top 6 minutes, as I could see maybe one of them challenge for like the 3rd line Center role right now, but I can’t see Boston run a 1-2 punch with rookies next year so I think they will have to turn to external options to find one

Now the Center group in the free agent market is really bare this year and the only guys I could see the Bruins target would be veterans Toews or O’Reilly who are more 2nd line players, so I think a trade is much more likely then a free agent signing and some guys like Dubois, Scheifele or Lindholm would all be good fits as they all have top line Center experience and would make a solid first line with Pastrnak and Marchand, so in my eyes the Bruins have to figure out if Krejci and/or Bergeron will be back next year, and if not then the have to get at least one if not two Center’s to replace them and although I think a trade is more likely, they will definitely explore all options to upgrade the Center position this year. 

.2) Move at least two of Hall, DeBrusk, Reilly or Grzelyck. 

Now the Bruins are already up against the cap and because they didn’t have cap space last year, the bonuses on the Bergeron and Krejci deals transfer to this year which give them even less cap space, so the Bruins could be forced to move a handful of players of their roster this year and some of the bigger names include Hall and DeBrusk on the forward group and Grzelyck and Reilly defensively.

Now the Bruins will need to add some cap space to resign some of their players and add pieces to the lineup (especially if Krejci and Bergeron don’t comeback and the team needs 2 new Center’s) and I think they could move on from some significant pieces, starting in the forward group. Now the only forwards who I see making sense trading would be Hall and DeBrusk. Now for DeBrusk he is entering the final year of his deal at a decent $4 Million dollar cap hit and he has shown over the past couple of seasons that he is a solid point producing forward, as in the past two seasons he hit 40 for the first time since his sophomore season and then this past year had a career high 50 points as even though he was injured he put his best point total ever and I am not sure the Bruins would be able to keep him beyond this year, so he could be dealt and I think there would be many teams interested in adding a solid and young middle six forward and the Bruins could get quite a haul for the young player, so in my opinion he is a likely trade chip for Boston, as for Hall he hasn’t been producing like he did when he can over in the trade from Buffalo or his first full in Boston and although he hasn’t been overly bad, he hasn’t been great either and with the Bruins liking how Bertuzzi fit in after the deadline which and maybe wanting to bring him back which I will get to in a minute, the easiest way to free up cap space to bring Bertuzzi back would be to move a top 6 forward like Hall as the team could then have enough cap space to bring him back and it would free up a roster spot, so Hall’s $6 Million dollar cap hit would be a bit tricky to trade for as it is quite high but he is still a solid 2nd line winger and I could see some teams have interest.

As for the defensive side, I think Grzelyck is a very likely trade candidate as he went into the season as a solid 3rd pair defensemen and wound up finishing a good portion of the 2nd half of the year and the playoffs as a scratch and didn’t do overly well this year and with Grzelyck only having 1 year remaining on his contract and still being a solid 3rd pair defensemen, I would think there would be interest in him as he could immediately improve a teams bottom pair and maybe if he could get more playing time he could do better so I think he moves, as does Mike Reilly, now Reilly spent a majority of last year in the AHL as he was really boxed out of the teams lineup, and wasn’t able to get into the lineup, but he could still be a good 6th or 7th defender for a team and although he comes at a steep $3 Million dollar cap hit, I think some bottom dwelling teams might be alright with taking his cap hit on and is another Bruin I could see moved, and while both the goalies for Boston and Carlo have also been mentioned in trade rumours, I don’t see those three being moved and I think are more likely to stay, but with the Bruins wanting to add and having very little cap space, some major moves are coming and I could see any one of Hall, DeBrusk, Grzelyck or Reilly be dealt at some point this offseason for the Bruins.

Bob DeChiara USA Today Sports 

.3) Sign RFA Swayman to a new deal. 

Now one of the things I have heard about the Bruins this offseason was the fact that the Bruins need cap space and with Swayman being a RFA who could command a high price, I have heard some say that Swayman may be dealt at some point, and while I think that is unlikely, the Bruins will need to get him under contract and I think that the Bruins do view Swayman as their future number 1. 

Now as I mentioned earlier, the Bruins need cap space to try and do some work this offseason as they are tight up against the cap and don’t have much money to work with, so that has lead to a lot of speculation that the Bruins could move a few different players this offseason and on top of the guys I mentioned above, both goalies have also been mentioned. Now I think it would be silly for the Bruins to trade either one of their goalies as both are part of a solid tandem, but I think if they had to move one, Ullmark would be more likely because I think the Bruins view Swayman as their future starter. 

Now Swayman for the past two seasons has been a tandem goalie with Ullmark and they have basically been splitting time in the regular season, although Ullmark got more starts this year due to his incredible play, but if I was the Bruins I think moving a goalie is a last ditch effort to create cap room and they should try to look elsewhere first, but as for Swayman, he is coming off his best year as a full time goalie, as in 37 games he had a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SV% and I think Boston should not even consider moving Swayman as I think he could eventually be a full time starter, but that contract is going to be important, as I think if they can keep it low enough they probably could keep Ullmark as well, and in my eyes a deal would probably look something like a Oettinger or Knight extension that happened not too long ago, as both signed 3 year bridge deals with a $4 and $4.5 Million dollar cap hit respectively and I think a 2-3 year deal with a $3.5-4.5 Million dollar cap hit would be the most likely contract for Swayman and at that cap hit I could see them maybe move Ullmark, but I think it is more likely those two remain a tandem, so in my eyes I don’t see the Bruins dealing Swayman at all and I think a bridge deal at around Oettinger or Knights AAV makes the most sense for both sides and if they can get him cheap enough I think they could run it back with the same tandem as the last couple of years. 

.4) Try and bring back Bertuzzi and Orlov. 

Now a couple of players the Bruins got at the deadline was Caps defensemen Orlov and Wings forward Bertuzzi, and both actually played really well as Bertuzzi fit in brilliantly in the Bruins top 6, while in the top 4, Orlov had a offensive outburst and both guys wound up producing solid numbers in Boston and in my opinion it would be the Bruins best option to try and keep both around beyond this year. 

Now the Bruins will most likely try to keep around some of the veterans the team got at the deadline and who fit in extremely well as both Bertuzzi who they got from Detroit and Orlov who they picked up from Washington did fantastic in the Bruins organization as soon as they were acquired, as Orlov turned into a point producing beast after being acquired by Boston as he had 17 points in 23 games to finish the season as a defensemen which is astounding and Bertuzzi cam over after being banged up earlier in the season and his style of play is very similar to Bostons and he fit in well getting getting 16 points in 21 games but excelled in the playoffs where he had 5 goals and 10 points in 7 games and worked well in the top six. So in my opinion, I think Bertuzzi is more likely to stay, because if the Bruins move Hall then there would be $6 Million dollars and a open top 6 spot on the team, as I think Bertuzzi could sign for 4-6 years at a $5.5-7 Million dollar cap hit on his next deal and that could be the money they get by moving Hall and playing in that top six I think he could thrive and especially given his game style works so well with them, I think their is a strong chance Bertuzzi is back, while with all the moves that have happened up to this point, Orlov would right now be one of the top free agent defensemen this offseason, and could get more on the open market then Boston as I think he could get a 3-5 year deal in free agency at a $5.5-6.5 Million dollar cap hit while I don’t think Boston could go over $5 Million, so if he is willing to take a pay cut to remain in Boston I think he might stay, but I think there could be better opportunities elsewhere, so in my eyes if the team gets rid of Hall then they should definitely bring back Bertuzzi and give him Hall’s spot in the top 6, while if the Bruins want Orlov to resign and be back in their top 4, they may have to ask if he can take a pay cut, but given how well both players fit in, I think they should try to bring both back so that they were not just rentals for Boston.

.5) Add a couple bottom six forwards.

Now the Bruins could be losing a handful of depth players to free agency such as Foligno, Nosek and deadline acquisition Hathaway, and while the team could turn to some of their younger players to help round the team, I think the Bruins also look externally to see if they can find some options to round out their bottom six for next year.

Now the bottom six in Boston looks a bit bare right now as guys like Nosek, Foligno or Hathaway who were huge pieces of the teams bottom six could all leave via free agency, and if the team can’t bring anyone back then they will definitely have to look to other places to replace those guys. Now I think they would at least try to bring back some of the players as I think after being acquired at the deadline, Hathaway fit in well with Boston and really helped improve that bottom six toward the end of the regular season, while Nosek was a solid 4th line Center the entire season and on a cheap 1 year deal I could possibly see him returning, and the team still has Frederic, Coyle and Greer who fit in well in the bottom six last year, but I think they could look to add a couple of bottom six forwards via free agency in the offseason as I could see guys like Sundqvist, Erne, Bonino, Reaves and Hinostroza draw interest from Boston as all 5 are solid either 3rd or 4th line players and would fit in pretty well with the Bruins in my eyes and there may be a few trade options as well the Bruins could look at to improve the bottom six, but depth wins teams championships and with some key guys possibly leaving via free agency, I think the Bruins could look to add and maybe improve that bottom six this offseason to make it a tad bit more formidable to play against next season. 

So in my eyes, if the Bruins can work out the Center position and figure out who will be the teams top 2 Center’s next year, move a couple of significant players off of the roster, sign Swayman to a not too expensive bridge deal, try to sign Bertuzzi and Orlov to keep them in the fold and sign some bottoms six forwards to round out the team, and if Boston can do this I think they can still be a good team overall next year and it would be pretty hard to replicate what they did last year by breaking so many records and being the best team in NHL history, but I do think if they can do some of these tweaks I suggest here then I would expect them to be a playoff team again next year and although they won’t have as good of a regular season, maybe they would be able to get farther in the playoffs and win a couple of rounds next year. 

And if you like this blog post, then check out my YouTube video about Boston’s offseason right here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v-uquFC1hgA