Bruins Free Agents: Should They Stay or Should They Go?

In a stunning 3-1 loss to the Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bruins’ 2013-14 season came to an abrupt end much sooner than most thought it would. With the Bruins falling well short of their goals heading into the season, it can be expected that significant changes will occur before the team hits the ice for the 2014-15 campaign.

Some decisions GM Peter Chiarelli will have to make are what to do with the players whose contracts expired as soon as the B’s season did, with 11 players in all facing either restricted or unrestricted free agency. Here is a rundown of the names.

Jarome Iginla

FA Type: Unrestricted

After memorably spurning the Bruins in 2013 to join the Pittsburgh Penguins, the right winger ended up changing his mind last summer and signed a one-year deal to play in Boston. Penciled in to fill Nathan Horton’s vacated spot on the top line, Iginla emerged as one of the best offensive weapons in the Bruins arsenal, scoring 30 goals to tie Patrice Bergeron for the team lead and added 31 assists to finished third on the team with 61 points.

In the first round of the playoffs against the Red Wings, he scored two goals and two assists with a +2 rating in the Bruins five=game takedown of Detroit. The second round was a different story, however, as his three goals were a misnomer, with two of the goals given to him on questionable redirections off shots by Andrej Meszaros and Torey Krug, respectively. He finished the playoffs with five goals and two assists with an even plus/minus rating in 12 games.

Shawn Thornton

FA Type: Unrestricted

Long the Bruins enforcer and mainstay on the “Merlot Line,’’ Thornton totaled just 64 games in 2013-14 due to a 15-game suspension after he took down Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik from behind after the whistle. Thornton scored five goals and three assists during the regular season, but spent far less time in the penalty box than in his past four full seasons due to a lack of fighting majors compared to recent years.

Thornton played all 12 of the Bruins playoff games, as the Merlot Line saw daily changes and couldn’t find consistency once Daniel Paille returned in the second round. Thornton scored just one point in the playoffs, an assist in Game 3 against Detroit, and was used sparingly down the stretch in the Montreal series, including just 8:26 TOTAL ice time in Games 6 and 7. With a slew of young, talented forwards in the system, including Matt Fraser and Justin Florek, the writing may be on the wall for Thornton in the same way it was for Andrew Ference last summer.

Torey Krug

FA Type: Restricted

Torey Krug burst onto the scene with his four goal, one assist performance in the ruins’ five-game takedown of the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year. Earning a third defensive pairing spot with Adam McQuaid in 2013-14, Krug was sensational through the first half of the season, leading some to speculate the 22-year-old could have been a candidate for Team USA at the Sochi Olympics. In 79 games for the Bruins, Krug scored 14 goals and 26 assists, more than any Boston defenseman not named Zdeno Chara.

In the playoffs, Krug proved to be the catalyst for most of the Bruins’ offensive success, with his 10 points being the most of any player on the team. He did have his share of youthful miscues, including a couple giveaways in the Montreal series that led to goals, but Krug’s quick skating ability and skill on the power play more than solidified that he will be in Boston for the long term.

Reilly Smith

FA Type: Restricted

It would be one of the shockers of the summer if the Bruins don’t bring back Reilly Smith, who went from just making the roster out of training camp to finding himself as one of the leading point getters on the team and the eventual Seventh Player Award winner. Smith’s 51 points in 82 games this season put him sixth on the team, and if it wasn’t for a late-season slump, his totals could have been much higher.

During the playoffs, Smith scored four goals and added an assist with a rating of +5, the highest rating of any player on the team. Smith’s three goals in the Montreal series helped the Bruins get all the way to Game 7 before succumbing to the Canadiens, and was far from the reason that the Bruins didn’t advance to their third conference final in four seasons. The chemistry Smith developed with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand during the year is a major reason why it would be suprising if the Bruins didn’t bring back the 23-year-old winger.

Matt Bartkowski

FA Type: Restricted

The 25-year-old got called up for seven Bruins playoff games last season and earned himself a permanent spot in Boston for 2013-14. He played 64 games after blue line injuries saw he and Kevan Miller play much more than they originally would have. Bartkowski didn’t score any goals in the regular season, but had 18 assists in 64 games for a plus/minus rating of +22.

Bartkowski missed the first two games of the playoffs due to the flu, but returned for Game 3 and played the rest of the series, including 26:40 minutes in the Bruins Game 4 overtime win. The second round was a different story, as Bartkowski struggled against the Canadiens. Two costly penalties he took in Game 1 both resulted in P.K. Subban power play goals, including the game-winner in double overtime. He was benched for Games 2 and 3, but came back for Game 4. Two more penalties in Game 5 gave way to another Montreal power play goal, as the Habs scored on three of the five times Bartkowski sat in the Sin Bin during the seven game series. He finished the playoffs with one point, an assist in Game 5 against Montreal, and a +2 rating with 10 PIM.

Andrej Meszaros

FA Type: Unrestricted

Meszaros was acquired at the trade deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers to help bolster the Bruins’ weakened defensive corps. He played 38 games in Philadelphia to start the season, scoring five goals and 12 assists before he was dealt to Boston. After the trade, he saw time in 14 games down the stretch for the Bruins, scoring two goals and three assists.

In the playoffs, he played Games 1 and 2 of the Detroit series while Matt Bartkowski had the flu, scoring no points with a plus/minus of +1. He sat the final three games of the opening round series, then Game 1 against Montreal. He was put back into the lineup for Games 2 and 3 after Bartkowski’s penalty troubles and tallied an assist in each contest. Meszaros sat the last four games of the Montreal series and may have seen his last games in a Bruins uniform.

Chad Johnson

FA Type: Unrestricted

Brought in to be a backup to Tuukka Rask, Chad Johnson had a very strong season serving as the No. 2 goaltender in Boston. Suiting up for 27 games, Johnson won 17 of them, lost only four, while three were lost in overtime or a shootout. His goals against average was a mere 2.10, while his .925 save percentage was just .05 behind Rask’s, although it must be noted Johnson did play less than half as many games.

A solid backup for 2013-14, the Bruins are stacked with talent at the netminder position, having just signed Rask to an eight-year deal before the season, while capable backups Niklas Svedberg and Malcolm Subban (yes, P.K.’s brother) are waiting in the wings in Providence. The most likely scenario for next season is Svedberg is called to back up Rask full-time, while Subban gets the starting job in Providence, meaning the Bruins will wish Johnson well as he looks for a new NHL job.

Jordan Caron

FA Type: Restricted

The Bruins hoped that the fourth time was the charm for their 2009 first round draft pick, as Caron was unable to do much when called upon during several cups of coffee in Boston from 2011-2013. When speaking in prorated terms, it’s quite possible that Caron had his least productive season in Boston this year, scoring only one goal and notching two assists in 35 games. Caron’s career NHL plus/minus rating took a nosedive in 2013-14, going from +4 to start the season to -4 at the end.

Due to injuries to Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille, Caron found himself in the Bruins’ playoff lineup for the series against the Red Wings, where he scored a goal in the Bruins’ Game 3 win in Detroit. After playing two games against Montreal, he was benched in favor of Matt Fraser. With his entry-level contract now up, Caron’s days in Boston may be over, as the forward with a ton of potential just never lived up to it, and it is probably time for the Bruins to cut their losses.

Matt Fraser

FA Type: Restricted

Matt Fraser was one of the secondary pieces in the trade that sent Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley to Dallas last summer, and spent most of 2013-14 in Providence honing his skill. He got 14 chances to play in Boston during the regular season, scoring two goals on 13 shots.

Fraser played for Providence in the opening round of the AHL playoffs, and just before the P-Bruins were set to play the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the second round, he was called up to Boston for Game 4 of the Bruins’ series against the Canadiens. Slotted on the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson, Fraser became a hero in his first game, scoring the game-winner in overtime that tied the series 2-2. He also tallied an assist in the Bruins’ Game 5 win that put the B’s one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference Final. Fraser became the first player in history to score a goal in both the AHL and NHL playoffs in the same season.

Justin Florek

FA Type: Restricted

Justin Florek got his first taste of the NHL in 2013-14, as the 23-year-old was called up to Boston for four games, scoring a goal and an assist during the regular season. He more than doubled his game total when he was called up again for the Bruins’ playoff roster after injuries to Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille, seeing himself inserted into the lineup for Game 1 against Detroit.

Florek scored his first NHL playoff goal in Game 2, when he corralled a puck misplayed by Jimmy Howard and beat the Detroit netminder for the first Bruins goal of the playoffs. He played the rest of the series and Game 1 against Montreal before being a healthy scratch in Game 2, and then was sent back to Providence in exchange for Matt Fraser.

Corey Potter

FA Type: Unrestricted

Potter was picked up by the Bruins off of waivers on March 5 and played sparingly for the B’s down the stretch of the 2013-14 season. He totaled just three games for the Bruins during the regular season, scoring no points and finishing with a plus/minus of -1. He got a start in Game 1 of the playoffs against Detroit due to a flu bug that was going around the Bruins, playing 16:57 with one shot in the 1-0 loss to the Red Wings. Potter is not expected to be resigned.