Despite losing to the Florida Panthers in the postseason for the second consecutive year, this time in the second round, the Boston Bruins far exceeded expectations this season. That may seem hyperbolic, especially for a team that finished with the most wins and the most points in NHL history just one season ago, but it’s easy to forget just how bleak the offseason looked as a whole. Given the limited resources, general manager Don Sweeney provided head coach Jim Montgomery with a roster filled with bargain contracts capable of competing at the NHL level. It was clear from the start that this season would be challenging.
Though the Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement, Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno via a trade to the Chicago Blackhawks and Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Connor Clifton to free agency, the Bruins would manage to compete for the President’s Trophy all season long and finished just one point shy of the first position in the Atlantic Division. This success was due to stellar performances from goalies Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, signings like Morgan Geekie, James van Riemsdyk, Danton Heinen, Kevin Shattenkirk, Parker Wotherspoon, and Justin Brazeau playing mostly above their pay grade, young contributors such as Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei and John Beecher stepping up in crucial moments, and trade additions of Andrew Peeke and Pat Maroon exceeding expectations.
It was the perfect storm for a team coming off of hockey’s most historic regular season and perhaps the biggest offseason and team history. Everything fell into place and the team was performing at a level that exceeded what many expected of them before the preseason ever took place. It wasn’t always pretty, and the Bruins certainly stumbled along the way, but the transition year that many felt would look bleak, actually turned into a season that instilled pride in the fanbase and locker room.
“I can’t say how proud I am of this team enough,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said following the Game 6 loss. “Everybody wrote us off, said we weren’t a playoff team. From where we started to where we finished, I couldn’t be more proud.”
The Bruins’ sights will now shift to the offseason as the team has some major holes to fill, including legitimate top-tier goal-scoring, at least one top-six center option and potentially more help on defense. With the salary cap expected to rise and the Bruins getting back $4.5 million now that the bonuses to Bergeron and Krejci were paid, there are no shortages of options for Sweeney this offseason.
Bruins Offseason Offers Limitless Options
One area that could prove to hurt Sweeney is a distinct lack of draft capital in the near future, namely the lack of a first-, second-, third- and seventh-round pick in 2024 and a second- and fourth-round pick in 2025. The Bruins also have to figure out contracts for restricted free agents in Jeremy Swayman (who likely played himself into a significant pay raise after this superb postseason performance), and Jesper Boqvist, as well as unrestricted free agents in Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort and Kevin Shattenkirk. It wouldn’t be surprising to see all of the defenders named move on in free agency, but that would leave the Bruins fairly thin at the position before the free agency window opening.
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The Bruins could explore the option of trading roster players or prospects, or even factoring in certain prospects as promotion candidates for the 2024-25 season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Fabian Lysell and Georgi Merkulov considered as candidates for either option; promotion to the NHL or as potential trade chips to put together a bigger deal with limited draft capital. The options are seemingly limitless, but also unclear. What is clear, however, is that the Bruins grossly exceeded expectations with this many major holes to fill on their roster, even if the season ended disappointingly in the second round.
The reality of the situation is this; the Bruins weren’t as good a team as the Panthers, but still came within one goal of forcing a Game 7 and potentially making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. It’s hard to imagine anybody predicted this Bruins team would make it that far this season, especially given all of the circumstances mentioned.
It’s fair to be disappointed with how the season concluded, but it isn’t unrealistic to say that there are things to look forward to in the coming months. Only time will tell, but for now, the Bruins should be happy with what they accomplished.