While it feels at this point like the Boston Bruins have all the elements they need for their NHL roster headed into training camp next month, there remain possibilities with some very good UFA players still not signed at this point.
There are some familiar names on the list of unsigned, available free agents at this point with Craig Smith still out there, and Pat Maroon’s name listed on PuckPedia even though the Big Rig has said he was retiring at the end of last season with the Chicago Blackhawks. One ultra-familiar name for Bruins fans that’s still out there in free agency is 31-year-old Charlestown native Matt Grzelcyk, who hasn’t signed a new contract after posting a career-high 39 assists and 40 points with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
Matt Grzelcyk's Usage Chart versus every defenseman who played last year. Tougher, but more offensive zone starts. Possession-wise wasn't great, wasn't bad. Plus he got 40 points.
— Dobber (@DobberHockey) July 25, 2025
Is he waiting out the market? pic.twitter.com/Kbc0T1JcPi
Grzelcyk played all 82 games, led the Penguins in PP assists, and topped 20 minutes of ice time per night while playing for fellow BU alum Mike Sullivan, but also finished a minus-6 for a Pittsburgh team that didn’t make the playoffs.
The natural question is whether Grzelcyk would be a possibility to return to Boston after spending the first eight seasons of his NHL career there before signing with Pittsburgh in free agency a year ago.
It could be a possibility if Grzelcyk were willing to come to B’s camp on a veteran tryout, but there wouldn’t appear to be a clear spot for him with a rock-solid top-6 group of defensemen with Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov, Henri Jokiharju, Andrew Peeke and Mason Lohrei if everybody is healthy.
“Maybe it is from the bottom [coming on] up, but the juice is coming,” said Don Sweeney back on July 1. “We expect to be a much more competitive team and the improvements now come from within.
“Fortunately, Charlie [McAvoy] will be healthy and knock on wood he stays that way, and that begins to slot guys in, in terms of what they are able to do and what the matchups are every night. [Jokiharju] has already proven he can play with a couple of different partners, so [Jay] Leach and Marco [Sturm] will figure out who is best suited to complement each other [on the back end].”
But more likely, Grzelcyk is going to earn a guaranteed NHL contract somewhere else, given the solid season he produced in Pittsburgh and put up another strong season if deployed properly.
Here's a look at a few other possible camp invites for the Bruins given their lack of cap space (roughly $2 million at this point) and a pretty crowded roster of hopefuls for NHL training for a Boston roster that should be pretty wide open based on last season’s disappointing results:
• Jack Roslovic is coming off 22 goals and 39 points in 81 games for the Carolina Hurricanes and the 28-year-old Ohio native now has a couple of 20-goal NHL seasons on his 526-game resume that’s taken him through Winnipeg, Columbus, New York and Carolina. Roslovic would make it pretty crowded as another centerman looking for work, but he also would be pretty nice insurance if Casey Mittelstadt doesn’t step up his game, and youngsters like Matt Poitras and Fraser Minten aren’t ready for NHL duty at the end of training camp.
• Victor Olofsson is a 30-year-old winger who’s got three 20-goal seasons on his NHL resume and posted 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games for the Vegas Golden Knights to go along with a plus-17 mark. Olofsson had some pretty big minus numbers for the Sabres during his time in Buffalo, but then again who hasn’t posted those kinds of rough plus/minus numbers while doing time with the Sabres. Olofsson would be a better option than some of the other potential names being bandied about on the B’s third line given his NHL resume, so Boston could be an attractive option on a camp tryout for a player like that.
• Luke Kunin could be another attractive player for the Bruins much in the same way as Roslovic, as a third-line center option coming off 11 goals and 18 points between the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Kunin has never scored more than 15 goals or 31 points in his NHL career, but he also plays with an edge and is a former first-round pick who had a solid career at the University of Wisconsin with Trent Frederic. Kunin feels like more of a fourth-line center type in a role that Sean Kuraly already has filled on Boston at this point, but it’s really a “no lose” situation for the B’s if he was coming in on a camp invite.
ONE TIMERS
• It’s been a rough road for Bruins prospect Cole Spicer, as it was learned this week that the 21-year-old won’t be playing for Arizona State this coming season after he reportedly skipped B’s development camp due to his summer class commitments with the Sun Devils.
Boston Bruins draft pick Cole Spicer won't play at Arizona State anymore. Sun Devils moved on. Spicer played two years at Minnesota Duluth before losing eligibility. He has two years of NCAA eligibility left. He led USHL Dubuque in ppg last season with 35 points in 37 games.
— Brad Elliott Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) July 29, 2025
This news comes after Spicer left the University of Minnesota-Duluth following academic difficulties combined with concussion issues after two collegiate seasons at UMD. The former fourth-round pick had a strong season with Dubuque in the USHL while posting nine goals and 35 points in 37 games, but is now too old to play in any of the junior leagues if college hockey isn’t going to be an option for him.
It leaves the prospect and the Bruins at a difficult crossroads where he probably isn’t going to merit an entry-level contract based on his play over the last few years, but there are limited options for him if he isn’t at the AHL or ECHL level this coming season. Perhaps the B’s sign him to a tryout agreement and give him a shot in Providence at some point, or maybe it’s a fresh start elsewhere for Spicer a lot of adversity over the course of the last few years while going the college hockey route.
• Good luck to Jakub Lauko as he heads back to his native Czech Republic after signing a contract with HC Pardubice. The 25-year-old winger had a solid five goals and 11 points in 56 games last season split between the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins, but could never really provide enough secondary offense to lock down a fourth-line energy spot on an NHL club to stick around next season and beyond.
OFICIÁLNÍ: Jakub Lauko hráčem Pardubic.pic.twitter.com/OKf4vsqPS1
— Patrik Czepiec (@CzepiecPatrik) August 1, 2025
The 6-foot-1, 193-pounder was a pain in the butt kind of player willing to scrap and push things to the line as any good fourth line-type should, but perhaps a return to the Czech will allow him to develop a little more of his offensive game after it arrived in only flashes during his 139 NHL games over the last three seasons.
• It was more than a little funny to see some of the pictures and videos splashed all over social media from Brad Marchand’s day with the Stanley Cup this past week up in Nova Scotia. Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby were there, of course, and there was priceless footage of former Bruins teammates Adam McQuaid and Chris Kelly sitting Marchand up in Lord Stanley’s bowl like a newborn baby posing for a picture.
Brad Marchand and his NHL buddies. Trivia Question: How many Stanley Cup rings are in this photo? (Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia) #StanleyCup @FlaPanthers @NHL @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/rASkk8I8En
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 31, 2025
Winning the Cup again, 14 years after doing it the first tim,e had to be a pretty sweet feeling for the Panthers forward, especially with the knowledge that they could be back there again a couple more times over the next few years.