The Boston Bruins are in need of inexpensive players to fill roles on their NHL roster next season due to their current salary cap situation. This offseason has seen them find bargain contracts to fill out certain spots on the team, including James van Riemsdyk, Milan Lucic, Patrick Brown, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jesper Boqvist. All of these players combine for a cap hit of $4.625 million and provide effective NHL experience to a team that still has ambitions of competing despite entering a transition period. The name of the game this offseason has been finding short-term value contracts that can take the Bruins through this tumultuous period while aiming to potentially load up the roster with a salary cap bump next offseason. This means signing players to one-year contracts and giving some internal options a chance at making the jump to the NHL to complement some of the bigger contracts on the 2024-25 books. Enter Georgii Merkulov.
Merkulov, the 22-year-old Russian forward, led the Providence Bruins in goals (24) and points (55) last season and has risen up the ranks as one of the Bruins’ top prospects heading into the season. He’s risen so far up the board, in fact, that it’s not outrageous to say that he could even be a dark horse heading into the season to potentially make the Bruins’ roster at some point during the 2023-24 season.
While the team is likely hoping that Merkulov can continue honing his game in the AHL before eventually making the jump to the NHL, there are certain circumstances facing the Bruins that mean younger players will get a much longer rope in training camp if they earn it. Whether it’s the opening-day roster or a mid-season call-up, Merkulov is right near the top of the list of players who could find himself in NHL action this season due to his continued hard work and production in Providence.
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It goes without saying that getting NHL game experience, traveling with the team and getting acclimated to the NHL lifestyle is all part of the development phase; if the Bruins were ever going to have a chance to extend an opportunity like this, it would be this season. Merkulov proved capable of developing more of a two-way game last season while still excelling in the areas he’s proven most proficient. This is part of the development strategy the Bruins have used in recent years and it could prove to be a difference-maker during this transition phase.
Merkulov Has a Scoring Touch
Merkulov’s biggest strength has to be his NHL-ready shot and ability to convert scoring chances with seeming ease. Doing this at the NHL level will undoubtedly be harder than it was in the AHL, but it’s also important to give Merkulov a chance to spread his wings and find his footing before making any long-standing decisions with him. The 22-year-old winger would score four goals in three games to start the 2022-23 season for Providence before scoring just one goal in his next 23 games, including a 17-game goalless drought from Oct. 22 through Dec. 11. He’d continue to find his footing over the next few weeks before finally putting it all together and scoring 16 goals in 22 games, including a stretch of 11 goals in 13 games between Jan. 28 and March 2.
Giving Merkulov a chance to acclimate to his role, linemates and opportunity could go a long way for the Bruins as they look to bring up the next generation of youth into their lineup. The team may not have the most stacked cupboard of prospects, but they’ve done a fairly good job at finding value in recent years despite not being in a position to draft high-end talent. Finding an undrafted free agent like Merkulov is exactly the kind of move the Bruins need to hit on to remain competitive and make up for some draft misses in recent years; the next step is developing him into a full-time NHL player.
There’s a lot up in the air for the Bruins heading into the 2023-24 season and there are actually more questions than answers still despite being just a few weeks away from August. Still, the Bruins management team and coaching staff have earned the benefit of the doubt after their historic 2022-23 season. Until they prove otherwise, it’s only fair to give them a chance to retool on the fly and see where things take them.