Bruins 2024 Free Agents, Draft Targets, Offseason Guide After NHL Playoff Loss
After an eighth straight trip to the playoffs failed to pay off with a Stanley Cup, the Boston Bruins have a few major questions to answer this offseason.
The Bruins need to replace a few free-agency losses, sign a key extension, and make the kind of addition that will help their stars compete for a Cup next spring— as well as replenish a prospect pool diminished by years of postseason contention.
Here’s a look at a few of the questions Boston will need to answer this offseason.
Unrestricted free agents: Jake DeBrusk, James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Maroon, Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Derek Forbort, Milan Lucic
Restricted free agents: Jesper Boqvist, Jeremy Swayman
The Bruins are looking at a long list of unrestricted free agent exits this offseason, most notably Jake DeBrusk (fifth on the team in regular-season scoring with 19 goals) and James van Riemsdyk (sixth on the team with 27 regular-season assists.)
Boston also could be losing playoff veteran Pat Maroon and 14-season NHL defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
The most important restricted free agency decision of the 2024 offseason will center around netminder Jeremy Swayman.
Swayman and Linus Ullmark have been one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL for the past three seasons, a ranking cemented by the duo’s win of the 2023 William M. Jennings Trophy.
The Bruins have Ullmark signed on through next season, but will need to reach an agreement with Swayman in order to bring the tandem back next season.
That extension negotiation will undoubtedly be a top priority for the Bruins, a team that has stayed a perennial playoff contender in large part to stellar netminding over the past few seasons.
Boston will also need to negotiate with RFA Jesper Boqvist, who took over as the team’s fourth-line center. Boqvist recorded six goals and eight assists in 47 regular-season appearances for the Bruins.
2024 Draft Targets
June 28 will mark yet another draft spent hunting late-round gems for Don Sweeney and the Bruins.
The Bruins haven’t had a first-round pick for the last two drafts, and this summer will be no exception. A series of trades has left Boston with just three picks in the 2024 draft.
2024 Draft Picks
Round 4: One pick
Round 5: One pick
Round 6: One pick
Limited draft selections like this 2024 haul have left the Bruins with one of the thinnest prospect pools in the NHL. Boston’s prospect depth was recently ranked No. 30 in the league by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.
That’s not just because of the Bruins’ activity on the trade market and playoff success thinning their draft options, but also, as Wheeler writes, because Boston tends to prioritize “a certain type of hardworking, pro-bodied, good-skating who maybe lacks a dynamic quality.”
That note could describe Christopher Pelosi, a former USHL center and Quinnipiac University commit known for his hard play around the net. The Bruins selected him last season in the 2023 third round, using their first pick of the draft.
Expect the Bruins to target a skater who fits a similar mold when Boston comes up on the board in the fourth round this summer.
Free Agent Targets
The Bruins acquired Pat Maroon before their run to the 2024 playoffs.
Could Boston be in search of another hard-hitting bottom-six forward to take Maroon’s place now that the veteran is hitting free agency?
The Bruins could potentially find a similar player in long-time New York Islander Cal Clutterbuck if they’re looking to add a hits leader to their forward depth.
Boston’s priority in free agency will likely be at the top of the lineup, however. If DeBrusk walks in unrestricted free agency, the Bruins will need to find a winger who can slot in on the top line alongside Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand.
One of the most in-demand free agent wingers of the 2024 offseason could end up being the Detroit Red Wings’ Lucas Raymond. A key piece of the Red Wings’ almost-successful late-season push to make the playoffs, the 22-year-old winger scored a career-high 31 goals and 72 points in 2023-24.
Other 30-goal wingers potentially hitting free agency include the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jake Guentzel and Seth Jarvis. If the Bruins decide to go for a veteran winger instead of a young star, they could make a bid for the Winnipeg Jets’ Tyler Toffoli.
Any of those names could become a difference-maker on the Bruins’ top line and become just what Boston needs to return to the playoffs next season.
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