Three top free-agent targets for a Bruins team in need of scoring punch
The Bruins have nearly $29 million to spend this offseason in order to bolster their forward corps.
The 2025-26 Bruins will be banking on a bounce-back season from Jeremy Swayman in net — coupled with a porous defense regaining its rigidity following the return of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.
But Boston can’t just look internally in hopes of the team righting the wrongs of a miserable 2024-25 season.
If the Bruins want to get back on track and reassert themselves as a potential playoff club, Don Sweeney and Boston’s top brass are going to have to equip Boston with additional firepower this summer.
“We have to find … some extra scoring potential, and we have to probably address the wing positions that will deepen the scoring ability that showed up ineffectively this year in the way the roster was built,” Sweeney said last week. “We didn’t score enough. Obviously, David [Pastrnak] and Morgan [Geekie] had terrific offensive years, and so we need to be able to complement that in a much better fashion.
“But I think the scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer.”
Boston ranked 26th in the NHL with just 2.71 goals scored per game this season, while its 29th-ranked power play scored on just 15.2 percent of opportunities.
As brilliant as Pastrnak was (106 points), he’s going to need some help — especially coming off a year where he paced Boston’s second-leading scorer in Geekie by 49 points.
With Boston set to enter the offseason with $28.8 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), Sweeney and Co. should have ample resources to add to their forward corps — even after potentially doling out a long-term deal for Geekie.
While the start of NHL free agency is still months away (July 1), here’s a quick look at some of the top names Bruins fans should become acquainted with this summer.
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs RW
The crown jewel of this free-agent class, the 28-year-old Marner could command an annual payout worth at least $13 million if he indeed leaves Toronto and hits the open market.
And for a Bruins team woefully short on high-end skill and talent, the Leafs superstar would be worth every penny.
The 6-foot, 180-pound winger is far from the most imposing presence on the ice. But Marner is a playmaking maestro; capable of making an immediate impact on special teams while also driving play on his own line.
Marner — who has four 90-plus point seasons on his resume — posted a career-high 102 points this season with Toronto, and has seven points in five playoff games so far this spring.
If the Bruins were able to get Marner to cross the t’s and dot the i’s on a deal, he’d provide an immediate lift to a top-six group and power play that labored all year without elite talent beyond Pastrnak.
Marner’s value is also evident on the other end of the ice, as the former Selke Trophy finalist paced all Toronto forwards in average shorthanded ice time (2:14) while leading all NHL forwards in takeaways (56).
Yes, he may not fit the mold of a prototypical Bruin — a sentiment that should ring hollow after a bigger, slower roster was routinely outclassed this winter.
But Marner is a game-changing talent in his prime who, like Pastrnak, should be able to drive his own line for the next seven to eight years.
If he’s available, no need to overthink this one.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets LW
If a sluggish Bruins forward corps is looking for a wake-up call in 2025-26, Ehlers would be an on-ice shot (or two, or three) of cold brew.
Speed and scoring touch are the hallmarks of Ehlers’ career, with the 29-year-old winger scoring 20-plus goals in eight of his 10 seasons with Winnipeg. The Danish product appeared in 69 games with the Jets during the 2024-25 regular season — scoring 24 goals and 63 points over that stretch.
If the Bruins opt to keep a top line of Pastrnak, Geekie, and Elias Lindholm intact, a player like Ehlers would represent an immediate upgrade on a reworked second line.
Still, Boston would take on some risk by handing Ehlers a hefty new contract just as the salary cap is spiking. Ehlers’ has some durability concerns (65 average games played over the last four seasons), while his playoff numbers (four goals, 14 points in 37 career postseason games) should raise a few eyebrows.
Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks RW
Armed with a dangerous release, Boeser is set to get paid this summer as a top-six winger with the capabilities to light the lamp 30 times a season.
In some respects, Boeser is cut from a similar cloth as a player like Jake DeBrusk — another top-six skater who had the skill set to routinely pot 30 goals, but has been hindered at times by inconsistent play.
The Minnesota native scored 40 goals over 81 games during the 2023-24 season, but his production dipped this past year to 25 goals and 50 points over 75 games.
Boeser’s shot should guarantee that he’ll find the net at least 20-25 times a season, but a team handing him $7-8.5 million a season might be left wanting more if he can’t became a regular 30-goal threat.
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