With the Stanley Cup Final set between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, the rest of the teams around the league are turning their attention to the offseason. Several organizations have made recent coaching moves, while the Boston Bruins have been making some offseason signings for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Providence Bruins.
Related: Revisiting the Bruins’ 2022 Draft Class One Year Later
With a few weeks before the offseason really heats up, there are several things that the team should be aiming to accomplish this offseason. I’ve narrowed it down to three things that, if accomplished, would certainly mean a successful summer for the Bruins.
Trading Into the Second Round of the Draft
The Bruins were (rightfully) aggressive at the trade deadline this year and last year, and as a result, they do not have their first pick of the 2023 Entry Level Draft until the third round. This means they probably won’t pick until somewhere in the 80s. General manager Don Sweeney has not been a strong drafter throughout his tenure in Boston, and as a result, the prospect pool is pretty bleak. Last year’s draft class seems to be developing nicely, but it is still too early to tell if they will be successful.
Sweeney has been able to make up for the lack of in-house, developed talent in the last few years by making good moves at the trade deadline and free agency while capitalizing on the talent that’s come out of the organization, even if they were there long before he came in. Still, with the Bruins right up against the salary cap, they are going to need to start getting some cheap, young options into legitimate roster spots in the next few years.
While any pick from this year’s draft will most likely need a few years to develop, it still wouldn’t be a bad idea for Sweeney to make a move in the next few weeks to move up into the second round and continue to try and get some higher-ranked prospects. With their cap situation, the Bruins may need to move some players anyways to get under the cap, and getting a second-round draft pick out of a cap-clearing move wouldn’t be a bad return.
Re-Signing Patrice Bergeron
I’m pretty sure I said this last year, but the Bruins should once again be wishing for Patrice Bergeron to re-sign for another season. He will be 38 this July and already expressed last year that he isn’t planning to sign with any other team, so the decision comes down to whether or not he is ready to retire.
The captain continues to lead by example on the ice and shows little to no sign of slowing down. He finished the 2022-23 season with 27 goals and 58 points in 78 games and is once again a finalist for the Selke Trophy. He is still the team’s top center, and the Bruins would only benefit from another season of Bergeron on the ice and in the locker room.
But it will all come down to what Bergeron decides. After his many incredible years in Boston, he has completely earned the right to do whatever he wants and make the decision whenever he is ready. I think almost everyone around Boston would love to see him re-sign and run it back one last time, especially after the bitter ending the season came to last month.
Jake DeBrusk Contract Extension
This is probably the biggest reach of this list, but it would truly be a great win for the team if accomplished. Jake DeBrusk has bloomed as an NHL player in the last 18 months. He finished the 2022-23 season with 27 goals and 50 points in 64 games, getting closer and closer to reaching the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. He cemented his role as a first-line winger and has shown that the team is better when he is on the ice. The Bruins hit their roughest patch of the regular season when he was out with an injury back in January.
DeBrusk is entering the final year of a two-year contract that carries an average annual value (AAV) of $4 million. As I’ve said, the Bruins are right up against the salary cap and will need to clear some space to re-sign him. But it should be a top priority this offseason and going into 2023-24 if it doesn’t get done over the summer.
The Bruins have already begun to put together their core of the future, with David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, and Brandon Carlo all signed through at least the next four years. Their next goal should be adding to that with deals for DeBrusk and Jeremy Swayman. DeBrusk thrived under head coach Jim Montgomery’s system this past season, and the team should be interested in keeping him on this roster. It may be a bit unrealistic to wish for the extension to get done before the 2023-24 season starts, especially since he could easily play himself into a bigger payday if he signs later, as Pastrnak did. But it would certainly be nice to not have it hanging over the season.
Important Dates Ahead
The NHL Entry Level Draft will be taking place at the end of June in Nashville, and a few days later, on July 1, free agency will begin. While the Bruins may not have the most exciting draft ahead with their lack of a pick in the first two rounds, free agency will certainly be more exciting since they have a number of UFAs and RFAs this year.
Related: Revisiting the Bruins’ Trade for Tuukka Rask
Stay tuned with The Hockey Writers throughout the offseason for all the news that is sure to come out of the draft and free agency.
