Marcus Johansson’s time in Boston is all but over - and it’s going to take an in-house effort to replace him

When it comes to pipe-dream scenarios this summer for the Boston Bruins, most fans have envisioned the addition of a dynamic top-six winger to a crop of skaters that came up just short of a Stanley Cup title. 

It’s an offseason objective not just reserved for discussion on message boards or rush-hour sports radio, though. While addressing the media back on June 18, Bruins president Cam Neely admitted that the search for a dynamic wing has been “talked about at length” — and for good reason, with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk skating on 10 different line combinations that logged at least 10 minutes of 5v5 TOI together during the 2018-19 season. 

The thought of bringing aboard the likes of someone like Chris Kreider is far more flashier than, say, re-upping Marcus Johansson to a new deal, but the domino effect created by the latter’s departure could have a much more lasting impact on the 2019-20 Bruins. 

Once tabbed as a simple rental that generally underwhelmed during a regular-season stint marred by a lung contusion, Johansson was a man without a line at the outset of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having tallied just one goal and three points over 10 games with the B’s.

But during Boston’s run to the Cup Final, Johansson became a revelation when teamed up with Charlie Coyle on what was once a black hole of a third line — with the winger tallying 11 points over 22 playoff contests. 

During 213:18 of 5v5 TOI in which Coyle and Johansson were out on the ice at the same time during the playoffs, Boston lit the lamp 10 times while generating 32 high-danger scoring chances — giving the Bruins a major mismatch against opposing club’s bottom-six groups. 

Given Johansson’s extended stretch of excellence this spring and unique skill set (a playmaking, speedy winger who excels at generating zone entries and serving as a net-front option on the power play), it came as no surprise that the UFA drew plenty of interest in the days leading up to free agency, with over 10 clubs checking in with the 28-year-old forward. 

And, to the chagrin of many, Boston apparently wasn’t one of said suitors. 



When speaking with the media Monday evening at Warrior Ice Arena, Don Sweeney confirmed that the Bruins have not extended an offer to Johansson and his camp — adding that the team is largely finished with this current crop of UFAs after inking depth forwards such as Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm. 

“For right now, I think we are,” Sweeney said of closing up shop on the free-agent front. “I mean, I’ve been in touch with teams that, you know, if you’re going to start making player transactions it may change that, but I don’t know. I can’t dictate when those players that are currently available will sign. I would suspect that we’re out, but you never say never because the phone’s been ringing. We’re having conversations.”

Given Boston’s cap crunch  — now down to $10.1 million with RFAs still to sign in Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Danton Heinen — the writing seemed to be on the wall that Johansson would head elsewhere this summer, with the forward poised to sign a deal exceeding $5 million in AAV in the coming days. But it doesn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow, especially when weighing Boston’s contingency plans on the third line. 

When it comes down to it, a top-six vacancy could be addressed in house by slotting down David Pastrnak to the second line and promoting, say, Anders Bjork or Danton Heinen up on Boston’s top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. 

Both young wingers have solid track records in said roles — with Heinen and Bergeron/Marchand generating a 54.52 CF% and a plus-7 goal differential in 219 minutes of 5v5 TOI together, while Bjork and Bergeron/Marchand follow suit with a 59.46 CF% and a plus-3 goal differential in 57 minutes of 5v5 TOI. 

But addressing Johansson’s absence on that third line causes a whole new round of headaches for the Bruins — who are set to revisit the same experiment that saw David Backes, Ryan Donato, Trent Frederic, Bjork, Heinen, Colby Cave, Peter Cehlarik and many, many more form a carousel of forwards in search of some stability in a bottom-six role. 

Based on Sweeney’s comments on Monday, it looks as though Boston will be focusing on internal, younger options in order to replace Johansson — featuring many of the names mentioned above. 

“I think Danton Heinen, depends on which side we play him on,” Sweeney said of who will be account for Johansson’s lost production next year. “If you think whether Karson (Kuhlman) or (Zach) Senyshyn, whoever, Brett Ritchie, obviously guys who are right shot if we play lefty/righty and move Danton over, I think fits into that same (mold) of player, creative wise. 

“Marcus wasn’t a shoot-first guy either, and Danton’s not. We’d like him to shoot a little more volume, if he can. We’ll see when Anders Bjork comes back online. We’ll see what Peter Cehlarik does. I think we have, as I referenced, some guys internally. Paul Carey’s another guy that’s played a lot of games in the National Hockey League with his skillset. You never know where guys are going to come back at and assimilate with. You know, Paul being able to play with Charlie Coyle, let’s see. Let’s see where it goes. I’m not rubber stamping any of that, but I do believe we have enough depth that was an area that showed up in this year’s team that was very valuable. Hopefully, we recognize that we’ve addressed some of that when we couldn’t go fishing in the deepest of waters.”

Replacing a 40-50-point winger with the crop of skaters that — among the seven-man group that Sweeney mentioned above — combined for 55 points up in the NHL last season, doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence. 

Perhaps a player like Bjork finally settles into a groove up in the NHL, or a youngster like Oskar Steen or Jack Studnicka cracks the roster out of camp and runs with the opportunity given to him. 

Still, in an ideal scenario, the Bruins would much rather have the stability and production that a winger like Johansson would bring to that third line. But when dealing with the looming threat of the cap ceiling, “ideal scenarios” are often few and far between in the NHL. 

“You’re always trying to look, really, year, two, three, four, five years out, and try and map those things out,” Sweeney said of tackling this free agency while being hamstrung by RFAs and cap space. “But this trade deadline also affected some of those plans. Charlie Coyle’s, you know, you can look at it like an acquisition for us for next year and possibly going forward. I think you have to react accordingly. Was that a cap hit that we planned for at that particular time? No, so those all have cause and effect.

“Yeah, I’ve been patient in terms of where we’re looking going forward. We’ve always said we’re going to introduce newer players. We’ve committed to it, and now we’d like to keep them. We’d like to continue to develop and see them grow with us as impactful players, and I think we’ve had several of those that are starting to come along those same lines. You have to prepare for that.”