On Thursday, the Boston Bruins announced their first retainment this offseason, and honestly, it wasn't one that many saw coming. Boston re-signed Lukas Reichel, whom they acquired at the trade deadline from the Vancouver Canucks, to a one-year deal. It's not a bad move as it supplies likely depth in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Providence Bruins.
Two more notable pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) remain for general manager Don Sweeney: defenseman Andrew Peeke and forward Viktor Arvidsson. Peeke has likely played his last game for the Black and Gold. As for Arvidsson, that one is the one that is anyone's guess.
On Saturday, The Athletic listed one player each team should sign this summer. Fluto Shinzawa suggested the Bruins sign defenseman Rasmus Andersson, someone Sweeney tried to acquire from the Calgary Flames in January. In the end, the deal didn't get across the finish line, and he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.
When it comes to Arvidsson, I'm sure that Sweeney will try to bring him back, but if he doesn't, Metropolitan Division teams were urged to sign him.
2 Metroipolitan Division teams urged to sign Viktor Arvidsson
When it comes to returning to the Bruins for Arvidsson, it's going to come down to money and what the Bruins feel is fair and how Arvidsson feels about it. Head coach Marco Sturm would love to have him back after reuniting with him after being together with the Los Angeles Kings.
As far as The Athletic goes, beat writers for the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders were urged to sign him. Arvidsson landing with either team and having the season with that team that he had in Boston this year would be tough in terms of being an issue when it comes to the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Arvidsson had 25 goals and 29 assists while averaging 14:36 a night. Not many saw that type of production coming from Arvidsson, and some even thought that trading him at the deadline as a pending UFA made sense if he wasn't planning on coming back. In the end, the Bruins held onto him, and it paid off as he tallied some big goals late in the season and in a shootout against the Columbus Blue Jackets to help get his teammates to the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see where Arvidsson ends up next season if it's not Boston.
Add us as a preferred source on Google