Free agency began on July 1 in the NHL and a lot of teams went shopping to add to their rosters for the 2023-24 season. In the case of the Boston Bruins, it was a different approach that general manager (GM) Don Sweeney took this season. Two months after his team set an NHL record for wins and points in a regular season and after they blew a 3-1 first-round series lead to the Florida Panthers after going all-in at the trade deadline, Boston’s GM went bargain shopping once the clock struck 12 noon in Boston.
In what should have come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the Bruins for the last 12 months, the salary cap space available was thin for Sweeney. He did trade Taylor Hall and the unrestricted free agent (UFA) right of Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks to clear $6 million off the books. After that, the only other move to clear money off the books was to buy out the contract of Mike Reilly. That left Sweeney with $13.6 million in cap space to add players. He let Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, and Tyler Bertuzzi, all three players acquired at the trade deadline, leave and Connor Clifton priced himself out of Boston after a strong 2022-23 season.
Questions still remain over the futures of centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, but Sweeney and team President Cam Neely are planning for the upcoming season with the thought that they are both not coming back. As it stands now, if neither player comes back, which is a real possibility, they don’t have a true No. 1 or 2 center on the roster with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle being the top two options. Four days after the dust has settled on the beginning of free agency and things quieting down, let’s grade how Sweeney and the Black and Gold fared.
James van Riemsdyk, Left Wing
Contract: One year, $1 million average annual value (AAV)
After two different stints with the Philadelphia Flyers sandwiched around a stop with the Toronto Maple Leafs, James van Riemsdyk signed a one-year deal and is coming off a season that saw his offensive numbers drop to 12 goals and 17 assists in 61 games.
At 34 years old, van Riemsdyk was signed to fill Hall’s spot in the middle-six and more than likely will be slotted in the middle-six. He is one of the multiple players that will be affected by the decisions on Bergeron and Krejci and whether or not they come back. If one comes back, he’s looking at a spot on the second line with Zacha holding down a center spot. If neither comes back, then Sweeney will need to address their center depth through a trade or start the season with Zacha and Coyle down the middle. A middle-six role is all but guaranteed, but where is the question.
van Riemsdyk is someone who can be Bertuzzi in terms of getting to the front of the net and causing problems for the opposing teams. He is someone who can finish around the net and he’s not going to match Bertuzzi’s numbers, but he is someone who is not out of the question of scoring around 20 goals. If that happens, coach Jim Montgomery and the Bruins will be very happy.
Milan Lucic, Left Wing
Contract: One year, $1 million AAV
When the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup over the Vancouver Canucks, Milan Lucic played a big part. One of Sweeney’s first moves as GM in 2015 right before the Entry Draft, he traded Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Martin Jones, Colin Miller, and the 13th overall pick that turned into defenseman Jakub Zboril. It has taken Zboril some time to find a full-time roster spot in Boston, but the front office brought back a fan favorite in Lucic.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Lucic is not the same player he was when Sweeney traded him. He had 139 goals during his time in Boston over 556 games, but during his time with the Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames, he combined for 94 goals over 643 games. At 35 years old, he is most likely playing on his final contract. He is being brought back to the Bruins to supply a toughness that they were missing last season in the lineup. As good as Foligno was, he never supplied what Lucic can.
Morgan Geekie, Center
Contract: Two years, $2 million AAV
Out of all the signings early in free agency by Sweeney, Morgan Geekie has the potential to turn out to be the best signing. He struggled last season with Seattle Kraken and was not given a qualifying offer, which allowed him to become a UFA (from ‘Kraken to let Morgan Geekie, Daniel Sprong test waters as NHL free agency opens,’ Seattle Times, June 30, 2023). It has been reported by Sportnet insider Elliotte Friedman said that Geekie had a lot of suitors for his services, but the Bruins offered him something he could not pass up.
“I know they are very excited about the Morgan Geekie signing, one of the ways they got him cause there was a lot of interest was apparently they promised him a bigger role than he had and he’s going to get it there, so how does he adapt to that?”
Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast
What a bigger role might be will be determined by the decisions of Bergeron and Krejci. Right now ahead of him on the depth chart are Zacha and Coyle, soon to be joined by Trent Frederic once he settles his contract. The 24-year-old, 6-foot-3, 200-pound Geekie is coming off of his best season with the Kraken with nine goals and 19 assists in 69 games in 2022-23. He has improved his percentage at the faceoff dot and what a “bigger role” with the Black and Gold is remains to be seen, but this is the best move made by Sweeney that could turn into a nice addition to the lineup.
Patrick Brown, Center
Contract: Two years, $880,000 AAV
Looking to add more toughness to the lineup, the Bruins signed Patrick Brown after he spent last season with the Flyers and Ottawa Senators. In 61 games combined, he had four goals and eight assists, but at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, he brings a physical side to the game after combining to dish out 167 hits as a bottom-six forward while averaging 11:23 a night.
Signing Geekie and Brown all but assures that Tomas Nosek’s two-year run in Boston is over and bringing in both players should be considered an upgrade. Brown has spent time with the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights before stops with the Flyers and Senators. He played his college hockey at Boston College under former coach Jerry York and will be in a training camp battle for a fourth-line spot.
Kevin Shattenkirk, Defense
Contract: One year, $1.05 million AAV
When the Bruins went their separate ways following their elimination by Florida, it was clear that Clifton had played his last game in Boston. Playing on a $1 million AAV the last three seasons, he had a career season in 2022-23 and earned the pay raise he got from the Buffalo Sabres. It did not take Sweeney long to find his replacement in Kevin Shattenkirk.
The Bruins have been overloaded with left-shot defensemen and unless Sweeney makes a trade to move Matt Grzelcyk or Derek Forbort, they will again be full on that side. Right now, Shattenkirk is expected to fill Clifton’s spot on the third pairing with Forbort. The 34-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and is coming off a season where he had four goals and 23 assists while averaging just under 20 minutes a night. If healthy, he can give the Bruins an offensive boost on the backend that they didn’t have with Clifton, and for just over a million dollars, this is a good lineup filler for one season.
Sweeney’s Moves Leave Him Flexibility in 2023-24
Other than Geekie, the moves by Sweeney give him a ton of flexibility this upcoming season. Shattenkirk, van Riemsdyk, and Brown are pieces that could be moved at the trade deadline to a contender for depth pieces should Boston be forced to go that route. There is no commitment beyond this season and opens up the cap space for the Bruins for the 2024 offseason.
Related: Bruins 2023 Offseason Plan Coming Into Focus
There are still holes to fill on the roster, but this is a good start by Boston’s GM. You can’t blame him for the way the Bertuzzi situation played out. It was clear that the trade deadline decision and his agent were confident that they were going to find the contract they were looking for with term and dollars. It never happened on the first day and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported that Bertuzzi’s agent told him that on Day 2 when it was clear that he was going to go the one-year route and by the time they pivoted back to the Boston, they had moved on and spent that money. If the one-year route was on the table before free agency started, there is very little doubt that something would have been worked out. Overall, Bruins fans can’t complain about how things played out early in free agency. Now let’s see how the rest of the roster is constructed. Clearly, Sweeney has a plan and will not detour from it.