Well, it's not Taylor Hall, Mike Hoffman or any other headliners, but the Bruins bolstered their depth across the organization on Wednesday with three new signings — with the club announcing that they have inked defenseman Jakub Zboril, forward Greg McKegg and goaltender Callum Booth to contracts.
Zboril signed a two-year contract with an NHL cap hit of $725,000, McKegg agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with an NHL cap hit of $700,000 and Booth signed on for a one-year, two-way deal with an NHL cap hit of $700,000.
Zboril, Boston's first pick (13th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft, was due for a new contract as a restricted free agent. The 23-year-old defenseman skated in 58 games with the Providence Bruins in 2019-20, scoring three goals and a recording career-high 16 assists for 19 points with a plus-20 rating. He finished the season ranked second among Providence's blueliners in scoring and third on the team in plus/minus.
The 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman has played three full professional seasons with Providence, totaling 11 goals and 46 assists for 57 points with a plus-35 rating. He logged two games up in the NHL ranks with Boston during the 2018-19 season. The Brno, Czech Republic, product is currently on loan overseas and playing with his hometown Brno Kometa in the Czech League. He has already appeared in two games with the club.
McKegg, 28, has been a fourth-line contributor in his NHL career, skating for six different clubs over the last seven seasons. Last season, McKegg skated in 53 games with the New York Rangers, tallying five goals and four assists for nine points. The 6-foot, 192-pound forward appeared in 41 games for the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2018-19 season, posting six goals and five assists for 11 points in 41 appearances. The St. Thomas, Ontario native also buried a goal in Game 1 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final against Boston.
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Booth, 23, took turns in net between the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL last season. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound goaltender has appeared in 15 career AHL games with Charlotte, compiling a 7-4-0 record with a 2.54 goals against average and .902 save percentage. He has also played in 60 career ECHL games, posting a 36-19-4 record with three shutouts, a 2.66 goals against average and .908 save percentage.
BSJ Analysis:
As we noted on Tuesday, it seems as though the Bruins are going to give its young blueliners every opportunity to fight for a spot on the NHL roster for the 2021 season, and this new contract for Zboril certainly validates those thoughts.
Zboril's agent, Allan Walsh, confirmed that his client's new deal is indeed a one-way contract — which means said player is paid the same amount of money regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or AHL. Given the vacancies currently present on Boston's blue line and the fact that Zboril would have to be exposed to waivers if the B's opts to send him down to Providence following 2021 training camp, it seems like Boston is going to give their 2015 first rounder a chance to carve out a role on this club.
While it remains to be seen just what Zboril's ceiling is up in the NHL ranks, his slow development timeline shouldn't exactly cloud fans' assessments of the still promising defenseman, as he earned rave reviews from Providence head coach Jay Leach and multiple scouts for his play down the stretch for the Baby B's in 2019-20 — especially just before COVID-19 halted the AHL season. Expect to see plenty of Zboril once camp does get underway over at Warrior Ice Arena in the coming months.
Aside from boasting one of the best names in the NHL (Cal Clutterbuck might still be the leader in the clubhouse), McKegg should serve as solid insurance on Boston's fourth line, or function as a veteran presence down in Providence. While his overall metrics from this past season with the Rangers don't exactly instill much in terms of confidence, moving from a defense-optional club like the Rangers to a more structured system in Boston could do him some good, as he could be viewed as a cheaper replacement for Joakim Nordstrom, who Boston appears to have moved on from in free agency. With the likely absence of Brad Marchand and his regular PK reps due to offseason surgery, McKegg could find himself in the mix for minutes at the start of the 2021 season with those shorthanded shifts needing to be filled by another skater.