Don Sweeney’s bargain-bin offseason is paying dividends for the Bruins this year
Boston's four goal scorers on Tuesday boast a combined cap hit of just $5.125 million.
COMMENTARY
Don Sweeney and the Bruins found themselves in an unenviable spot this offseason.
A franchise reeling from a crushing first-round collapse was staring at a painful summer — one eventually marked by the retirement of two franchise pillars in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
And to make matters worse, Sweeney and his staff had little fiscal flexibility to alleviate Boston’s talent drain.
Boston’s win-now mindset in what ultimately stood as Bergeron and Krejci’s swan song resulted in $4.5 million in bonus overages landing on the Bruins’ books in 2023-24.
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As a result, Sweeney and Co. only had $13.6 million in projected cap space last offseason to sign seven forwards, re-up a goalie on a new deal, account for the potential loss of two top-six centermen and deal with several other roster tweaks.
Even after trading Taylor Hall’s contract and letting other key cogs like Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov walk, Boston needed to get creative just in order to fill up their depth chart without moving even more money out via lopsided, sell-off deals.
With few fruitful options available to the Bruins, Sweeney and his staff took a page out of Billy Beane’s 2002 Oakland A’s — perusing the free-agent market for short-term, value signings that offer both immediate upside and plenty of options for future spending sprees.
No, Boston didn’t have the capital in place to outright re-sign a potential 60-point player like Bertuzzi. But by signing two or three players on cheaper contracts, the Bruins could roll the dice and try to recreate the winger’s production in the aggregate.
It might have been a stark departure from the loaded lineup that Jim Montgomery had at his disposal during Boston’s record-setting run in 2022-23. But such was the hand dealt to Sweeney and the Oakland B’s after placing their bets on a Stanley Cup last spring.
Fast-forward to 2024, and it seems like Sweeney and his staff played the right cards last July.
The Bruins’ 23-7-6 start has largely been a byproduct of elite goaltending and some expected production from superstar talents like David Pastrnak.
But a revamped Bruins roster has also received some key contributions further down the lineup — most for a bargain price, on top of it.
Look no further than Boston’s 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night — a game where the team‘s four goal scorers boasted a combined cap hit of just $5.125 million.
Of that quartet that lit the lamp at Nationwide Arena, Trent Frederic’s annual cap hit ($2.3 million) nearly equaled the total payout that Kevin Shattenkirk ($1.05 million), James van Riemsdyk ($1 million), and Danton Heinen ($775,000) currently count against Boston’s cap space.
Frederic’s continued growth (10 goals, 19 points in 36 games) as a middle-six fixture has been a welcome sight for Montgomery. But players like van Riemsdyk, Heinen, and Shattenkirk have all exceeded expectations in their roles — especially when factoring in their price tag.
A reworked third-line of van Riemsdyk, Frederic, and Heinen picked apart Columbus en route to Boston’s fourth-straight victory, with van Riemsdyk leading the way with three points (one goal, two assists).
“Really pleased,” Montgomery said of his third-line grouping. “They played a big, heavy game and that third goal that extended the lead was huge for us.”
Van Riemsdyk’s second-period deflection tally on the power play marked just his second goal in the last 18 games. But the 34-year-old veteran’s 6-foot-3 frame and crisp passing in high-danger ice has allowed him to rack up 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in his first 34 games with Boston.
Initially viewed as a potential power-play specialist at the netfront, van Riemsdyk has been a bright spot during 5v5 play, especially as a playmaker. Van Riemsdyk is one of just 18 NHLers to record at least 10 primary assists at 5v5 play this season (per NaturalStatTrick) — just two apples behind Connor McDavid (12).
As noted by NHL Public Relations, van Riemsdyk has become the fastest player to record his first 25 points with the Bruins since Marc Savard hit that scoring threshold in 19 games during the 2006-07 season. Not bad for a player making just $1 million this winter.
“Really good for him to get a goal,” Montgomery said of van Riemsdyk. “And it’s been a while since he had a goal, but he’s contributing to us and to our team game every night. Somehow he always ends up getting a play because he’s smart. He gets in the right areas.”
Shattenkirk, 34, has served as a regular contributor on Boston’s D corps, with his strong shot and O-zone instincts welcomed as a proven avenue of offense for a Bruins squad regularly lacking in 5v5 punch.
Beyond his value contract, Shattenkirk has served as a steadying presence on a defense that has routinely been stung by the injury bug.
“Yeah, he’s really poised,” Montgomery said of Shattenkirk. “His poise and his intelligence, his calmness, you can see it kind of permeating throughout the team. And his defensive play has gotten significantly better. … “I just think he’s gotten comfortable with the way we play. We’re asking him to get up and get going more and he’s probably been used to playing in a rocking chair here for the last three years.”
Heinen’s resurgence has been well-documented already, especially his path from a professional tryout (PTO) candidate in training camp to a fixture in Montgomery’s lineup.
Despite trudging through the whole free-agent feeding frenzy without landing a single contract, Heinen has scored five goals and posted 12 points in 28 games during his second go-around with Boston.
For those keeping track, Bertuzzi has only recorded one more point at even strength (13 in 35 games) than Heinen (12 in 28) this season — despite costing $4.725 million more against the cap in Toronto.
The Bruins may not have to resort to another summer of value deals in 2024. According to CapFriendly, Boston will enter the offseason with close to $26 million to spend, with a surging cap ceiling offering hope of more flexibility in the years ahead.
But in a season where Boston had few viable options to load up a roster decimated by retirements and free-agent departures, Sweeney and the Bruins have largely been able to strike gold.
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