Bruins
Don Sweeney and his team improved the Bruins on Monday afternoon.
In one fell swoop, Boston has allocated a big portion of its excess salary cap to the very best center in the marketplace, Elias Lindholm, and arguably the league's most imposing defender, Nikita Zadorov.
One could mock the term Boston has given each players, and there are legitimate questions on whether a pivot like Lindholm is a real top talent or more of a confident 2C on a bigger roster.
But presently of 12 months, the deal is one among high severance pay, especially in the case of reinforcing critical areas of the roster with free agents.
Both Lindholm and Zadorov will reinforce the roster that propelled the Panthers six games into the Stanley Cup playoffs – with Lindholm's two-way play pushing Boston's top-six unit up and Zadorov's size and bite giving Boston a further element on the defensive position.
It was removed from certain that the Bruins would open their wallets for no less than one center on the open market this summer.
But the choice to upgrade Boston's defense over a top-six winger is a little bit of a risk for Sweeney – considering how obvious Boston's scoring drought was last playoff season.
By signing Lindholm, Boston has one other top-six opponent who can contribute 20 goals and over 50 points (if no more, if he’s on the sector full-time with David Pastrnak).
But a major exodus of free agents on Boston's team has also weakened the roster of some much-needed second point scorers.
Starter Jake DeBrusk headed west and signed a seven-year, $38.5 million cope with the Canucks. Danton Heinen (17 goals) joined DeBrusk in Vancouver, while James van Riemsdyk (11 goals) will likely sign elsewhere this summer.
With $8.6 million stays within the salary cap on Tuesday evening (based on CapFriendly), the Bruins will likely use most of this remaining financial flexibility on Jeremy Swayman's upcoming contract extension.
However, had Sweeney and Co. opted so as to add depth to the defense as a substitute of Zadorov, the Bruins could have used among the extra salary cap space to sign a proven top-6 talent.
Jonathan Marchessault signed a five-year, $5.5 million annual salary-cap cope with Nashville on Monday, while one other powerful sharpshooter, Tyler Toffoli, will earn $6 million per season in his latest four-year cope with the Sharks.
A fast take a look at Boston's goal drought this spring is enough to grasp why Boston would have been higher off giving one among those two wingers an identical contract – and even a comparatively low-cost addition like Anthony Duclair ($3.5 million per 12 months with the Islanders).
Even with players like DeBrusk, Heinen and van Riemsdyk, Boston struggled to win for much of its recent playoff run – and Swayman in goal had little room for error.
After rating 14th within the NHL in goals per game (3.21) through the regular season, Boston averaged just 2.17 goals per game in its second-round game against the Panthers.
Aside from a five-goal win over Sergei Bobrovsky in the primary game of this series, Boston capped its recent playoff run by scoring two goals or fewer in eight of its last nine postseason games.
Jim Montgomery's emphasis on quality over quantity in shot selection has increased Boston's probabilities of creating quality possibilities against opposing goalies, but that approach rings hole when your roster doesn't have players who can reap the benefits of those possibilities.
In this series against FloridaBoston actually had a 60-41 advantage in high-threat possibilities generated at 5-on-5. It was a large lead for the Bruins, but Boston was still outscored 11-10 at 5-on-5.
While a front line of Lindholm, David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha should do a whole lot of damage within the 2024/25 season, there continues to be a large gap on the correct side for a possible second line of Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle.
Sweeney acknowledged Monday that the Bruins could use one other goal scorer on their top-six team.
But the potential to sign a bruiser like Zadorov and complete a defensive position that now averages 6-foot-3 and 220 kilos justified not participating in Monday's free agent hunt for the highest six wingers.
“I think the depth of our defense and the strength of our hockey club, I wanted to continue to make sure we have those building blocks,” Sweeney explained. “I think we can get a little more offensive power out of this group as a whole.”
“So in case you allow Charlie, [McAvoy] and Hampus [Lindholm] to hopefully get back to the extent he’s able to from one 12 months to the following. I believe you’ve gotten to have that depth to [Mason Lohrei] to proceed to grow. … You're probably sacrificing, chasing something on the wing. As I discussed, you actually care about getting a middle, and whenever you go into free agency, you're entering an uncomfortable zone, right? … So the pie will not be unlimited.”
Currently, the plan seems to be to explore internal options to find a suitable replacement for that 2RW spot. A center like Trent Frederic or Morgan Geekie could be in line for a prominent role, or Boston could give productive AHL players like Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov an extended look in hopes they stick with the big club.
Of course, Boston could also rethink its search for scoring prospects if all of these contingency plans fail – especially at the trade deadline.
While it's certain that at least a few 20-goal wingers will be on the market come February, the chance of a 6'6″ defensive player like Zadorov being traded is slim – and if a player with that profile were available, he would cost a hefty price before the playoffs.
With loads of money readily available this summer, the Bruins focused on Zadorov, a rare player who would give Boston a coveted presence and strengthen the roster.
It's a daring move that ought to repay if Zadorov continues to inflict stripes on his opponents frequently.
But a robust defense and an impressive goalie are of little use if Boston cannot consistently reap the benefits of its opportunities at the opposite end of the ice.
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