So … what’s next for the Bruins ahead of a potentially painful offseason?
After squandering a record-setting season, the Bruins will have some tough decisions to make this summer.
The 2022-23 Bruins’ season is over.
There was no “Last Dance.” No final kick at the can for a veteran core trying to hold off Father Time.
No reward for a front office that put all of its chips on the table in search of postseason results.
Instead, the Bruins must now dwell on the failures of a dream season gone awry, and look ahead to an uncertain future.
So, what’s next for the Bruins ahead of a summer full of change?
Let’s set the table with a couple of the daunting challenges that await Don Sweeney and his staff:
1. Determine what’s next for Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
Last offseason, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s decision to return to Boston set the Bruins’ offseason plans in motion — and sparked a record-setting regular season.
Two similar dominos will need to fall once again before Sweeney and his staff can chart out the next course for this team in 2023-24.
In the wake of such a monumental collapse, it’s easy to see why some Bruins fans would advocate for a full-scale teardown after this latest dagger to the heart.
But such a dramatic roster rebuild won’t be in the cards for the Bruins, not with an already solid foundation in place.
Yes, multiple key cogs in Boston’s roster posted less-than-stellar returns against Florida over the last two weeks.
Still, Boston will have plenty to work with once camp opens. A 60-goal scorer in David Pastrnak is locked up through 2031. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are signed through 2030.
Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, and Pavel Zacha are all under contract for 2023-24. Jeremy Swayman is due for a pay raise as a restricted free agent, but is in line to rejoin a stout goalie rotation (used exclusively in regular-season action) with Linus Ullmark.
Yes, the Bruins will likely need to deal one or two of these pieces in order to shed cap space (more on that in a minute). But this is still a Bruins roster that will likely be competitive next season, even if that might be a step down from 65 wins and 135 points.
Last July, Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs acknowledged that a full-blown rebuild likely isn’t a digestible scenario for this ownership group — or this market.
“We saw some teams, what I would call it – sellers – and I think that would be awfully difficult to sell in this market to our fanbase,” Jacobs said then. “I do foresee, I don’t have a crystal ball, but there are going to be days, let’s be candid, there are going to be days when we don’t have the opportunity to talk about Patrice Bergeron coming back to be our Captain and our number one center.
“And those are things that we need to address every summer … Cam and Donny have mentioned this already but we’re a cap team – meaning that we’re going to spend to the max to deliver the best product we possibly can to our fans and that is not going to change. In that regard I would hope that people could put that in their back pocket and understand that we are committed to winning a Stanley Cup and we will do whatever it takes to get us to that threshold again.”
It remains to be seen whether or not a lengthy rebuild or an effective retool is the best course for this team in the coming years.
For now, it seems like the Bruins are focused on the latter. And for that to happen, the Bruins likely need at least one (if not both) of Bergeron or Krejci back in the fold.
Of course, the feasibility of that scenario playing out once again seems slim.
But if Bergeron is looking to return for a 20th NHL season, it makes things much easier for the Bruins in terms of keeping the structure of this forward corps in place — especially with Pavel Zacha the likely heir apparent to drive a second line next to Pastrnak.
If both Bergeron and Krejci hang up their skates, the Bruins will likely need to slot both Zacha AND Coyle into top-six roles, considering they likely don’t have the cap flexibility to add a top-six pivot via free agency.
“Incredible experience, you know, just because his awareness, his maturity, his ability to communicate, his ability to listen as part of that communication and then just how great a hockey player he is — learned a lot from him this year, hope to learn more next year.,” Montgomery said of Bergeron.
2. Identify which free agents are going to come back.
The Bruins will enter this offseason with eight unrestricted free agents to account for: Bergeron, Krejci, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, Connor Clifton, Nick Foligno, Tomas Nosek, and Garnet Hathaway.
Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic, and Jakub Lauko are restricted free agents.
All those contracts coming off the books doesn’t mean that Boston is necessarily flush with cap room, especially with Pastrnak’s eight-year, $90 million contract kicking in.
Add in $4.5 million in bonus overages on Bergeron and Krejci’s bargain-bin deals that will carry over into next season, and the Bruins have just under $5 million in cap space to work with entering the summer.
Bergeron and Krejci stand at the top of Boston’s to-do list, but the Bruins also need to check in on its trio of deadline rentals in Orlov, Bertuzzi, and Hathaway.
Orlov had an up-and-down first round, but likely will command at least $6 million per year on his next deal. That might be too pricy for Boston.
Hathaway will likely head elsewhere, especially with younger and cheaper options available in-house for Boston.
Bertuzzi should be another top priority for the Bruins, especially if Boston wants to keep him on a line next to Pastrnak for the foreseeable future.
Even with some shaky D-zone play, Bertuzzi delivered in the playoffs with five goals and 10 total points over seven games.
But to keep Bertuzzi, along with potentially retaining Bergeron/Krejci AND signing RFAs like Swayman, some difficult decisions will need to be made.
3. Shed some contracts.
The 2023-24 Bruins roster is going to look very different from the squad that won 65 games this season.
Beyond the uncertainty with Bergeron and Krejci, the Bruins are going to have to move more contracts off their books in order to sign players like Bertuzzi to new deals.
Letting free agents like Foligno, Nosek, Clifton, and others walk simply won’t be enough.
Whether it be moving a potential top-six winger like Hall or DeBrusk, uprooting a blueliner like Derek Forbort or Matt Grzelcyk — or perhaps even moving on from one of Ullmark or Swayman for a significant return — Boston might need to move a very talented asset (or two) off this roster.
4. Embrace a youth movement further down the depth chart.
The Bruins might fall far down the list when it comes to elite prospect pipelines in the NHL.
Still, the Bruins have a few youngsters who could alleviate Boston’s cap crunch by stepping into regular roles in the lineup next season.
Fourth-line grinders like Jakub Lauko, John Beecher, Marc McLaughlin, and Oskar Steen will be candidates for the various vacancies on Boston’s checking unit. Fabian Lysell could be a potential middle-six option with a strong training camp.
Mason Lohrei might need additional seasoning, but the puck-moving defenseman could fight for minutes next winter.
Even the emergence of Brandon Bussi in net for Providence could prompt Boston to move on from one of Ullmark or Swayman for the right price.
As was the case in 2017-18 when youngsters like DeBrusk, Anders Bjork, Ryan Donato, and McAvoy earned significant reps, the Bruins will need to welcome another influx of young talent once camp opens in September.
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