Donnelly: Bruins' hoping to get as much bang for their buck out of busy free agency

Twitter be damned, the opening day of the free agent frenzy across the NHL marched on. 

Even with the flat cap, there was still plenty of player movement and buzz, thanks to a late influx of players hitting the market after either being bought out or not qualified by their previous clubs. 

The Bruins were busy, themselves, making a smattering of small splashes in the shallow end of the pool.

Entering the day with about $13.6 million in cap space, the B’s scoured the bargain bin, putting the corporate card on the hook for around $7 million on the market. 

As expected, Boston signed old friend Milan Lucic. Don Sweeney had a couple curveballs up his sleeve as he went to negotiations in the clearance section. The B's also brought in veteran scorer James van Riemsdyk, veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, versatile forward Morgan Geekie, depth forward Patrick Brown and a number of AHLers on two-way deals. 

“I don’t think you ever feel comfortable with where you sit in July, and I don’t think you fully build your team out," Sweeney said at Warrior Ice Arena once things cooled down for Boston. "You have a lot of if, ands, or buts, but with the congestion of the marketplace as it relates to the cap and where we were, I think we did a lot of the things that we set out to do in addressing the depth overall of our club and getting back, not just… We have plenty of opportunity for younger kids to come in and take their place if they earn it, but we’ve also complemented the group with players we felt we needed to fill some holes and address some needs.”  

After their shopping spree in the clearance section, the Bruins are left just over $6.9 million in space, according to Puckpedia, to divvy up among restricted free agents like Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic. They remain confident that fitting potential Patrice Bergeron and/or David Krejci returns will not be an issue. There remains no official update on either, who are each taking the time they need, per Sweeney.

Sweeney was adamant that he does not "see why [Swayman} wouldn't be playing hockey here now and moving forward for a long time." The general manager also reiterated that the strength of the 2023-24 Bruins will have to be its still strong, deep blue line as well as arguably the best goaltending tandem in the league, throwing cold water on any Matt Grzelcyk or Linus Ullmark speculation. The calculated gambles are being taken up front with the forwards, where the nature of a capped-out league stripped key additions from Boston's fabric. 

But the bones are there.

“Well, our defense and our goaltending are pretty much what we had last year," Sweeney said. "That was a pretty good D-corps last year, so we feel pretty good about that, and the goaltending was excellent during the regular season. We all fell short in the playoffs. So, our depth at the front was where we tried to address most of the needs, and again, with an eye towards allowing some of the younger guys to see if they can come in and take their jobs. We still have to hear a final word both from David Krejci and Patrice [Bergeron], so we’ll keep an eye and an ear out for that and cross our fingers that maybe that falls our way."

He later added, “We scored [301] goals. More than likely we’re going to drop from that. Goaltending’s really good. Defense is really good. Our structure’s not going to change."

Call him what you will – the new Chaim Bloom, Billy Beane, or 2013 Ben Cherrington – but there Sweeney was on Saturday, handing out short-term, low-money deals like burgers and dogs on the Fourth of July.  

The Bruins feel they've made low-risk, high-reward gambles, but they know that things will still need to go their way, especially with their stars, when the puck officially drops in October. The pressure to keep up production will stay turned up on folks like David Pastrnak, whose megadeal kicks in.

"We know we’re a competitive group and we want to remain a competitive group and with an eye toward the future," Sweeney said. "We didn’t really encumber ourselves too badly from a standpoint of contracts. ... As we pointed out, we feel good about the competitiveness of our group. We have to stay healthy, and our top guys have to stay healthy to have the amount of success that we would like to have. It’s going to be a dogfight regardless with how you feel about your team today, injuries can play a part in that, and the growth of other teams is going to play a part in that."

There were holes that needed to be filled efficiently.

With Tyler Bertuzzi, who Sweeney "dearly would like to have gone down the path to extend him," as good as gone due to differing philosophies when it came to term and money, Boston has a vacancy in the middle six and in the dirty areas of the power play. 

Enter van Riemsdyk (one year, $1 million). The 34-year-old looked the part of a 34-year-old power forward last season in Philadelphia with 12 goals and 29 points in 61 games. It was his first year as a full-time NHLer in which he was not on an 82-game pace for at least 20 goals. Typically a prolific power play producer, he notched just two tallies on the man-up unit. 

Boston feels there's still more for the UNH product to give, perhaps due to puck luck. Maybe he would have had a better year if he were not on that completely-bottomed-out Flyers team.

"JVR has had a lot of success at the net front. He can slide on either power play unit or compliment those groups. ... He’s really tough to defend down in front of the net," Sweeney said. "Players can go through those spurts, but it will be incumbent upon him to make sure that he gets back into those areas and bares down and scores how he normally would, but again, everyone goes through a little bit of it and you have to work through it.”  

With van Riemsdyk (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) on at 5-on-5 last season, Philadelphia was particularly strong around the net and the scoring areas off the ice. The Flyers had strong majorities in high-danger chances (56.69 percent) and high-danger goals (62.07), according to Natural Stat Trick. 

Sweeney noted how much van Riemsdyk wanted to come to Boston.

"[He] is really excited to be coming to a team that is still very, very competitive," the GM said. "It was a special year last year and he acknowledged that it looked like a lot of fun playing hockey in Boston and he wanted to be a part of that.

Van Riemsdyk said via Zoom, "Obviously, a little bit, come up short in the playoffs, but the regular season that they had, that shows what kind of group is here and kind of the culture that's in place. I think pretty much since I've been in the league, they've been a contender right there every single year so obviously that's a standard and a culture that you want to be a part of." 

The Bruins also believe the versatile Morgan Geekie (two years, $2 million AAV) can pick up some of the slack at both wing and center in the middle or bottom six. The 24-year-old brought energy, size (6-foot-3, 201 pounds) and an underrated playmaking ability to Seattle, where he put up nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points in an oftentimes fourth-line capacity (averaged 10:27 of ice time). Among nearly 400 NHL forwards to play at least 500 minutes last season, he ranked 10th in assists per 60 minutes. Geekie is over 50 percent on face-offs in his young career, and if he is on the third line, he and Frederic could provide face-off options for the B's. His special teams roles shifted last year, with his power play time evaporating and his penalty kill time skyrocketing. 

The former third-rounder began 62.39 percent of his 5-on-5 shits in the attacking zone in his two years with the Kraken. Those belong to David Pastrnak and co. in Boston's top six, however, meaning Geekie will be asked to continue to up his defensive responsibility. With more ice time, Geekie could become even more of a useful, complimentary piece.

“Again, it’s a projection… Just anointing somebody with extra minutes, how that’s going to pan out doesn’t always just translate," Sweeney noted. "Players need to… You won’t be starting 62 percent of the time in the offensive zone with us. So, that will be a change and start from his own zone and being able to defend within our system. Skating has always been the knock on Morgan, but we feel that the size, the hockey sense and his puck skill abilities he’ll be able to integrate into our group well, whether that is in the middle or on the wing and complement our group. Can he play higher than that? Again, that’s something to be determined and we might get a surprise."

Garnet Hathaway is off to the Flyers on a deal he had no chance of getting with the Bruins (two years, $2.375 million AAV), and Tomas Nosek is likely on the outs, too.

Brown (two years, $800,000 AAV), who dolled out 167 hits in 61 games between Philadelphia and Ottawa last season, also brings additional size (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) and versatility to the bottom six. The former Boston College captain has a 56.8 percent success rate on face-offs. He had 12 points (4g) in a heavily-defensive role for the Senators and Flyers last season, beginning just 79.11 percent of his shifts inside his own blue line. 

“Patrick Brown is another really good, detailed player. He kills a lot of penalties," Sweeney said. "Geekie is over 50 percent. Brown is well over 50 percent on draws. Chris Kelly had pointed out that if a couple of our centers don’t come back, and Charlie Coyle is our only right-shot center, then maybe we should address that. I think Geekie and Brown can do that, and Brown can slide over to the wing as well. So, those were the areas we tried to address."

Consider Lucic (one year, $1 million with up to $500,000 in performance bonuses and a no-movement clause) front and center, reporting for duty, to fill a bottom-six vacancy. 

The Bruins are not expecting the unicorn power forward he was in his first go-around in Boston, but they are expecting a veteran who can still be a menace on the forecheck, in front of the net and along the boards. 

"He went to the World Championships with the full intention of telling everyone how much he loves hockey, how much he continues to want to play hockey, and this is where he wanted to play, and I just feel like bringing Looch back to Boston was the right thing to do for all those reasons," Sweeney said. "He feels like he has a lot of juice left and we feel he can provide a real jolt of both enthusiasm and bite to our lineup.

"He can help guys like Freddy and [Jakob Lauko]. ... He can probably create a little bit of space if somebody is breathing down Pasta’s neck, so it’s a thing we’ve missed and in a perfect world he never would have left, but those decisions were made and now we bring him back home and we’re happy about it.”  

The 35-year-old is expected to help set the tone on the ice, on the bench and in the room.

"I’m not the same player and person who I was ten years ago," Lucic said via Zoom. "I understand that I’m going to be playing in a different role, in a new role. But at the end of the day, my mindset is still the same as to what I’m trying to achieve, and that’s to win a championship. That was the main reason why I reached out and wanted to play for Team Canada in the World Championships, it’s because I wanted to win something again.

"That’s something I obviously want to experience again in the NHL. No better place to do it than in Boston if we can achieve that."

Dmitry Orlov securing the bag in Carolina (two years, $7.75 million AAV) reverts a strong left defense group to its pre-trade-deadline form, but Connor Clifton heading for Buffalo on a well-earned raise (three years, $10 million total) left the right side on the third pair open.

Shattenkirk (one year, $1.05 million), like his July 1 counterparts en route to Boston, brings heft (6 feet, 212 pounds) and low-risk upside. He's on the inside track for that vacancy. 

The Boston University product, 34, is no longer the highly sought-after offensive defenseman he was early in his career, but should make for a nice fit in the Bruins' system. He had four goals and 27 points in an elevated role for the last-place Ducks in 2022-23. Like van Riemsdyk, a change of scenery from a bad team to a competitor could serve him well. He could find himself chipping in on the second power-play unit as well as the penalty kill. 

The 2020 Stanley Cup champ takes a ton of shots (278 individual attempts last season, averaging 3.71 per game) and although he's not a bruiser, is probably more physical than given credit for. 

"You saw that Kevin Shattenkirk was along the same lines [as JVR]. He wanted to join a team… He won a Stanley Cup with Tampa in a little bit of the same type of role that maybe he’d be stepping into here," Sweeney said.

If you hadn't guessed, size was one of the names of the game in this roster readjustment. Jim Montgomery will be tasked with fitting it all together cohesively. 

"You know, if you look at the size of our lineup, it's pretty big," Sweeney said. "So, you know, can we play with the pace that Monty would like to play with and are we possession-based as opposed to rush-based… those are the things Monty will work through. I'm sure we had a lot of discussions about each of the individual players that were hypotheticals and now that, you know, the players have been signed and the pieces are somewhat coming together, how he's going to play around with them, that's up to the coaching staff. We had multiple conversations leading up and then again today, and he looks at it and says this addresses a lot of the needs and he noticed right away. [Pavel] Zacha is [6'4], Coyle is [6'3], Freddy is [6'3], Brown 6'1, [John] Beecher is 6'3. We are big. Again, there's a question about what our transition games will look like when you're talking about bringing new players in."

The Bruins were also pleased with the organizational depth they added to Providence with NHL bubble journeyman Jayson Megna, defensive defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, AHL scorer Anthony Richard and youngster Luke Toporowski in on two-way deals. Richard had 67 points (30) goals in AHL Laval last season. Toporowski, 22, signed an AHL deal as an undrafted free agent last season. He was rewarded with an entry-level deal after a 15-goal, 29-point season with the P-Bruins.

"Guys that have played both AHL and NHL... Anthony Richard had a breakout year offensively, he’s played games in the NHL. He has a great amount of speed and tenacity for a smaller player," Sweeney noted. "Jayson Megna is another player we’ve agreed to, it’s not finalized… Provided depth in Anaheim, played in Colorado. Skates really well. Parker Wotherspoon is a hard-nosed lefty, and we saw a lot of him in Bridgeport. Our guys were high on him. So, he can create some competition in all of those areas and then the three righties we picked up [Ian Mitchell, Alec Regula, Reilly Walsh] are going to be important to the depth of organization and club.”  

The money has been sprinkled across the board, while breathing room remains. Aside from the trend on size, Boston smartly left itself plenty of flexibility if it doesn't work out with their new signees. All, aside from Geekie, sit below the $1.15 million threshold and can be buried in the AHL without penalty. If things take a turn for the worst for the B's, van Riemsdyk and Shattenkirk's deals should make them tradeable at the deadline. Sweeney only has three draft picks (Rounds 4-6) to play with in 2024, after all. 

The talk of the cap surging next offseason is of no use to Boston right now. The Bruins are hoping they can parlay their cost-effective wagers into a big payday this season.