The Boston Bruins would seem to have a logjam on the back end where they legitimately have 10 defensemen who could expect to be on the NHL roster when training camp breaks in the fall. Obviously, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and the newly acquired Will Borgen are the mainstays and automatics, but after that, the picture could change quickly based on performance and circumstances.
None of that has changed despite some reporting that one of those defenders invoked their no-trade clause to squash a potential Darnell Nurse deal when they nixed a move to Edmonton, with Lindholm and Zadorov being the most obvious candidates for that sequence of events.
David Pagnotta reports that the Oilers and Bruins had a deal in place that would’ve sent Darnell Nurse to Boston.
— NHLMuse (@NHL_Muse) July 3, 2026
The trade fell apart after a player, rumored to be Nikita Zadorov, headed to Edmonton exercised their no-trade clause and vetoed the deal. pic.twitter.com/ylNvrtZnZq
The glut comes after the B’s signed both Connor Clifton and Jordan Harris in free agency and then watched as a trade materialized for Rangers top 4 D-man Will Borgen once they were out of the running for big-ticket targets like Darnell Nurse, John Carlson and Jacob Trouba.
It’s also somewhat mitigated, at least very early in the season, by the six-game suspension for McAvoy that is going to keep him out of the equation for the first few weeks of the 84-game regular season set to get going in October. So it could be that one, or perhaps even two, B’s defensemen could be on the move for salary cap space at some point during the year once the Bruins get over the early-season hump and wade through any injury issues that could crop up during the regular season.
“Yeah, I mean, there easily could be [a trade to move a D-man], depending on where other teams sit and the conversations I've had,” said Don Sweeney back on July 1 at the close of the first day of NHL free agency. “Charlie's [McAvoy] not playing the first six games. You just never know between now and when we start [what is going to happen], and injuries…it was an area [on the back end] we told you guys that we're going to address, and that's exactly what we tried to do.”
Per the good folks at Puck Pedia, the Bruins have $5.39 million in salary cap space after filling out their NHL roster at the outset of free agency. That’s clearly plenty of cap space in terms of allowing them to do whatever they want with their current roster, but also probably not enough cap space to make any kind of significant in-season upgrade when the team decides where it needs roster improvement.
“We're in a pretty good spot from a cap standpoint right now. At the end of the day, we should try and maintain flexibility, and if we can garner more because there's a trade opportunity with an eye towards the future, of course we're going to consider it,” said Sweeney. “That's not my main principal point of attack. I'm not looking to just open up space for what might happen.
“I want to maintain flexibility, I want to pursue things that improve our hockey club when they present, and if there are players that are…we're a destination team, but not everybody has identified us, and we want to become that [NHL] place that [players] say, ‘No, no, no, that's where I want to play.’”
One would expect, then, that a move to create more salary cap relief could be on the horizon at some point, and the most likely candidate to be moved from the blue line would be Mason Lohrei or Henri Jokiharju. Lohrei was mentioned prominently in trade talks over the last six months or so and has value around the league as a young, productive player who’s still relatively affordable, with one remaining year of a $3.2 million contract and one year of RFA status remaining, with arbitration rights to follow.
The 27-year-old Jokiharju has two more years at $3 million per season but played only 41 games, falling in and out of the coach’s favor under Marco Sturm before ultimately finishing with two goals and 13 points, along with a plus-2 rating. In a perfect world, the Bruins would probably find a taker for the Jokiharju contract once injuries and performance issues potentially create a need on some team’s back end for an experienced player with a decent hockey resume.
“D zone exits are going to be an area that we have to be better at. Part of that, I should say, starts up the ice, and Marco's [Sturm] pointed out that we'll probably have to forecheck a little differently and create anxiety up the ice, some of our D having the opportunity to surf the neutral zone as opposed to maybe [just] backing up and retrieve [the pucks],” said Sweeney. “So we have to continue to evolve, everybody does. There's only one winner, and nobody's really copying that exact form, but there are bits and pieces that I think have to be malleable as a group, and that's where our group is hopefully getting to.
“[Frederic] Brunet is a good example, with mobility and puck skill that he’s applied in Providence, and how is that going to translate to the National Hockey League this year? There's a good chance we're going to find out.”
That’s good news for Brunet, of course, who has earned a chance to prove himself at the NHL level after posting 12 goals and 36 points in Providence this past season, but it feels like it might mean relocation news for an as-yet-unnamed Bruins defensemen or two that’s still currently on the roster headed into the summer dog days of the offseason.
ONE TIMERS
*Riley Duran was signed this past week to a one-year, two-way contract with an NHL cap hit of $850,000, and is coming off a solid season in Providence with seven goals and 19 points along with a plus-19 rating in 72 games for the P-Bruins. He didn’t get into any NHL action this past season after logging two games in the NHL during the prior season, but don’t underestimate his chances of pushing into some bottom-6 reps this season if/when injuries hit the Bruins roster. Or if the Bruins start flipping out veteran contracts like Sean Kuraly and/or Mikey Eyssimont, should they decide to clear the decks for younger players ready for NHL action like Matt Poitras or the 24-year-old Duran.
Also, for those hockey parents out there, don’t miss Duran’s hockey camp in Woburn for players aged 8-14 years old, set for the first week of August at O’Brien Rink. Duran is from an outstanding Woburn hockey family that teaches the game the right way and understands that the element of fun is still super important to learning the game as a young player.
More details on the week of Duran Hockey camp are here: https://www.duranhockeycamps.com/
*Will Borgen isn’t a household-name kind of hockey player, but he is one of those solid D-men that just logs shifts and eats up minutes while taking care of the details that don’t get a lot of glory or things written about them in social media posts. In that sense, he should be a really good fit on Boston’s back end as a solid player that’s not going to be noticed for any of the wrong reasons while killing penalties, killing off plays in the D-zone and strengthening the man-to-man defensive style that Boston is looking to employ under March Sturm and his coaching staff.
The good news is that Borgen has some former teammates on the B’s current roster, with former Seattle Kraken teammate Morgan Geekie at the top of that list as he looks forward to coming to Boston.
“It is always unexpected, but it is part of the job, part of business, and it happens. I just got the news, and I was very happy with where it was to. I love the city of Boston, and I know a handful of the guys on the team,” said Borgen, about being traded to the Bruins on the opening day of free agency. “Geeks texted me right away. It’s nice. I’m very happy to be back with him. Geeks is one of my good buddies from the hockey world.
“We always make it a point to see each other when we were playing against each other after our Seattle time together. We’re both very excited to be back together. He’s had nothing but good things to say about Boston, and the group especially.”
*On this week in Boston Bruins history 69 years ago, the B’s executed one of their greatest trades in franchise history sending goalie Terry Sawchuk to the Detroit Red Wings for an up-and-coming young forward named Johnny Bucyk, who would go on to become an iconic Hall of Fame player and captain for the Black and Gold franchise. I'll still never forget when a then-75-year-old Bucyk, as the team's travel secretary, was filling out customs forms for everybody on the Bruins flight to Europe for the 2010 Premier Games when the Bruins and Arizona Coyotes opened the NHL season in Prague. That's the kind of work ethic that makes somebody a Hall of Famer someday. Happy “Becoming a Bruin” Day, Chief!