Donnelly: With Swayman, Frederic officially back in the fold, what could the Bruins' lineup look like on Opening Night?

The Bruins' work this offseason is complete.

After Boston avoided arbitration with Trent Frederic on Tuesday, the B's settled their arbitration case with Jeremy Swayman. Now, barring a last-minute return from David Krejci, the Bruins' brass can begin sketching out what the lineup could look like on Opening Night when Connor Bedard, Taylor Hall and the Chicago Blackhawks come to town. 

With Patrice Bergeron's departure and the expectation that Krejci will follow suit, plus plenty of turnover in free agency as a result of Boston's salary cap headaches, the B's will undoubtedly have a different look in 2023-24, compared to the high-flying, record-breaking 2022-23 campaign.

To recap the bulk of the comings and goings on the organizational depth chart:

IN

Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Milan Lucic, Jesper Boqvist, Patrick Brown, Ian Mitchell, Reilly Walsh, Alec Regula, Jayson Megna, Anthony Richard, Parker Wotherspoon

OUT

Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci (?), Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, Connor Clifton, Garnet Hathaway, Tomas Nosek, Mike Reilly, Joona Koppanen, Jack Ahcan, Vinni Lettieri, Chris Wagner, Connor Carrick, Anton Stralman

Frederic and Swayman's deals put the Bruins approximately $345,000 over the cap (teams can go up to 10 percent over the cap but must become compliant before Opening Night). Boston can roll out a 22-man roster by waiving veterans like Boqvist, Megna, Brown, etc. CapFriendly's current roster projection has Megna in Providence, which gives the Bruins $429,166 in cap space. 

Shattenkirk, Lucic and van Riemsdyk could also hypothetically be buried in Providence without penalty, too, with their contracts standing below the $1.15 million threshold. Needless to say, Don Sweeney will have to continue to carefully navigate a cap situation bogged down by bonus overages for Bergeron and Krejci and a buyout penalty for Reilly. 

Nevertheless, the veteran additions, coupled with younger players who could push for roster spots – Marc McLaughlin, John Beecher, Georgii Merkulov, Fabian Lysell, Mason Lohrei, etc. – will undoubtedly breed plenty of healthy competition in training camp, which could also lead to cheaper, younger options filling out depth roles.

Still, we're over a month away from the start of camp and over two months from the regular season. Plenty can change between now and then, be it a trade, an injury or other. 

With that being said, here's a very early projection for what a Bruins' 22-man roster and lineup could look like when the season opens on Oct. 11 at TD Garden: 

Top-six forwards

Brad Marchand -- Charlie Coyle -- Jake DeBrusk
James van Reimsdyk -- Pavel Zacha -- David Pastrnak

The Bruins could always load up (as much as they can) with Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak on the top line, but I'd tend to lean toward the balanced approach akin to what we saw Boston take last season.

Games 3 and 4 against Florida already gave us a preview of what a top-six like this could look like with the only difference being JVR in for Bertuzzi. 

Marchand-Coyle-DeBrusk was a strong trio in terms of puck possession and driving play in all three zones during its playoff and regular season samples. In 42:16 together at 5-on-5 in the regular season, shot attempts were 49-34 (59.04 percent) for Boston, shots were 22-17 (56.41), scoring chances were 26-14 (65) and high-danger chances were 9-6 (60) for the Bruins. Stylistically, it would fit the responsible, three-zone identity the B's have gotten from Marchand-Bergeron-DeBrusk in recent years. 

Bertuzzi-Zacha-Pastrnak clicked down the stretch, and although it's not quite a hand-to-glove change, JVR brings a similar net-front and power play acumen that should compliment his linemates. Like last season's second line, it would likely be a trio capable of putting up strong offensive numbers, but limiting opposing chances remains a concern. Jim Montgomery and his staff sheltered the second line, which saw 40 face-offs in the offensive zone and just 20 in their own end. 

Bottom-six forwards

Jesper Boqvist -- Morgan Geekie -- Trent Frederic
Milan Lucic -- Patrick Brown -- Jakub Lauko

There's no shortage of competition or options with this potential bottom-six group. 

That third line would provide three different face-off options for the Bruins, although Geekie or Frederic would likely handle most of the workload. Frederic and Geekie could complement each other well, similar to the Coyle-Frederic combo from last season. Between their size and abilities along the boards, it would make for an effective checking line and open up space for Boqvist, whose playmaking and shiftiness could fit nicely. Lauko also provides a speedy, tenacious option on the left side. 

Boston has plenty of different directions to go on the fourth line, especially down the middle. McLaughlin, Beecher, Brown and Megna could all grab hold of the 4C spot, and all aside from Beecher could just as easily flip to the right side, too. Of all the possible combinations, the B's fourth unit projects as a daunting physical matchup that should make life difficult on the opposition on a regular basis. 

Defense

Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm -- Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort -- Kevin Shattenkirk

Out with Clifton and in with Shattenkirk. Otherwise, this is the same group that exploded for a 44-8-5 record before Orlov entered the fold. The Bruins know what they have in Grzelcyk-McAvoy by now, a strong pair that can suppress shots, drive possession and move the puck up ice at an elite level, even if the returns have been mixed in the postseason. 

Lindholm and Carlo were Boston's most consistent and arguably best pair on the balance of the regular season. In 649:16 of Lindholm-Carlo together at 5-on-5 during the regular season, the Bruins outscored opponents, 34-18 (65.38 percent), again vastly outperforming their expected goals-for (28.45) and against (24.05). Although slightly below Lindholm's individual numbers, Boston still out-attempted (51.87 percent), outshot (54.02) and out-chanced opposing teams (55.65) with Lindholm-Carlo out there. High-danger goals went their way as well, 123-113 (52.12). 

Meanwhile, Shattenkirk is hardly the cowboy that Clifton was, but he is a better puck-mover, which should help out Forbort quite a bit. He also knows what it takes to lock down a third-pair role on a contending team from his season in Tampa Bay. 

Goaltenders

Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman

It's not broken, so the Bruins haven't fixed it. 

Ullmark, the reigning Vezina winner, and Swayman, statistically also one of the league's best last season, make up the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. The Bruins will have a chance to win every night with one of the two between the pipes. 

Even if Ullmark was the ever-popular subject of trade speculation this offseason, it's unlikely the Bruins didn't want to subtract from one of their greatest strengths for a marginal return. 

Scratches

A.J. Greer, Jakub Zboril

Plenty of options here, but I'll keep it simple with returners from last season. Zboril and one of Mitchell, Walsh or Regula could make up the extra spot on defense. Greer offers an energetic spark plug that can wreak havoc lower in the lineup. Again, there's always the chance a player like McLaughlin or Megna takes the extra forward spot. It will likely come down to training camp.