Haggerty: Players to watch as Bruins' offseason gets started taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins plan to be "aggressive" this offseason and that means they could -- and should -- be in conversations on a lot of different players expected to be available in the next few weeks.

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Haggerty: Players to watch as Bruins' offseason gets started

By Joe Haggerty

Jun 18, 2026 • 12:31 pm

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With NHL free agency less than two weeks away and the Stanley Cup Final now in the rear-view mirror, things are percolating in the hockey offseason for the Bruins, and frankly for everybody else around the league.

That was obvious this week as teams began pulling off trades, including a really shrewd one involving the San Jose Sharks managing to pull in 26-year-old defenseman Michael Kesselring in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres by simply moving down seven spots in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft. Kesselring had a down year in Buffalo while battling through knee and ankle woes, but was just one year removed from posting a very solid seven goals and 29 points (and 89 penalty minutes) while playing all 82 games for the then-Utah Hockey Club.

Kesselring could have been an intriguing possibility for a Bruins team that is on the lookout for a right-side D-man that can play in a top 4 capacity, but perhaps the B’s picking 23rd in the first round wasn’t a big enough move up in the round to entice the Sabres. Either way, the Bruins know that they will have to be movers and shakers over the next few weeks if they want to improve their time with an eye toward potentially still re-signing pending free agent Viktor Arvidsson as well.

“Obviously throughout the year we felt like we were a little light in the top six, and that’s obviously an area that we still want to address,” said Cam Neely. “On the back end, if the elusive right D that’s got some offense at the offensive blue line [becomes available], that would be helpful.

“Those are things that we’re still trying to target. If you look at the teams that advance [in the Stanley Cup playoffs], they are pretty stacked throughout their lineup.”

With that in mind, here are some of the names to look for as the hockey rumor mill gets churning over the next few weeks:

• John Carlson – The 36-year-old defenseman has already informed the Anaheim Ducks that he intends to go to free agency, and the word on the street is that he wants to return to the East Coast after playing nearly his entire career with the Washington Capitals. Carlson is incredibly productive and a legit PP quarterback that would add experience, offensive know-how, and still has game after posting 14 goals and 60 points last season. The Bruins will likely need to overpay a bit for a player that will have other East team contenders vying for him, but he would be the kind of upgrade for Boston’s top 4 that could make a major impact over the next few seasons.

• Dylan Larkin – While the Bruins weren’t one of the original three teams listed on Larkin’s approved trade list, the expectation is that the Detroit Red Wings captain is going to have to expand that list to allow the Wings to accommodate his wishes. Don’t count the Bruins out, as they have the assets and the cap space to pull something like this off, along with a clear and obvious need for a top-line center like Larkin, who has scored 30-plus goals in each of the last five seasons. He’s not the classic playmaking pivot that might have allowed David Pastrnak to move back into his goal-scoring role from a few years ago, but he might work with No. 88 in his current remodel as a playmaking, line-driving winger who is setting those around him up for offense.

• Vincent Trocheck – The Rangers center posted 16 goals and 67 points last season and would be an interesting option in the middle on the top line while also being a player that could help in the faceoff and PK departments. The 32-year-old is only signed for a few more seasons and has a reasonable cap number ($5.625 million), so this might be a good choice if the plan is to eventually usher in Fraser Minten and James Hagens as a top 6 center options while they continue to develop over the next few seasons. One would suspect the price tag would be a bit lower for Trocheck as compared to Larkin, as he’s older and a little less productive at this stage of his career but still considered a top guy at the pivot spot.

• Mason McTavish – The 23-year-old center could be a classic change-of-scenery case after a protracted negotiation led to a six-year, $42 million extension and a down season where he was scratched and finished with 17 goals and 41 points. But the season prior, he had 22 goals and 52 points, and a couple of years ago, reached close to 100 penalty minutes as well. McTavish is not a burner in terms of his skating, but he is a big, strong pivot that would/could be effective in the playoffs. The Bruins and Ducks have been fairly frequent trade partners in the past, and the Anaheim organization has other players (Sam Colangelo, Owen Zellweger) that could make for an intriguing bigger trade package between the two franchises. The one caveat with this kind of deal is that it would likely prohibit the Bruins from extending Pavel Zacha as he enters the last year of his contract with the Black and Gold.

• Simon Nemec – It’s unclear with the smoke and fire around the 22-year-old defenseman whether he’s actually available as a trade piece with the New Jersey Devils, but the Bruins should be very much in on this player if Jersey has to part with him as a 22-year-old restricted free agent. Nemec posted 11 goals and 37 points for the Devils last season and is just scratching the surface as a right-shot defenseman who was a high, high pick in the first round several years ago. The Bruins would need to give up a lot for a young player with an extremely high upside (and then they would have to pay him as well), but this is exactly the kind of future-looking deal that Boston management should be entertaining right now given the retooling stage that their team is in currently.

• Shane Wright – The 22-year-old center hasn’t lived up to his potential or his draft pick origin during his time in Seattle, but there is still a lot of time for him to develop as a two-way center while potentially playing with elite linemates that could help bring him along. Wright is still on an entry-level contract, so his cap hit would be incredibly cheap, and he’s a bit of a depreciated asset at this point that the Bruins could buy in on while not paying the same kind of trade costs that players like Larkin and Trocheck will command at the very top of the center market this offseason.

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