Boston Bruins Rumors: Jesse Puljujarvi, Free Agents, Jason Zucker and more

The Boston Bruins are looking at several options, but it might seem as their hands are a bit tied up.

The salary cap, which was originally believed to be around $83 million was finally set at $81.5 million. That can prove to be the difference for many teams, no exception to the Bruins. Let’s see what the newest piece of the Boston Bruins rumors brings.

The Boston Bruins rumors edition is back there with a few fresh links. Are the Bruins going to be busy in the offseason?

Are they going to have their hands full of work with the free agents on the first of July? There have been players linked to the Bruins via the trades, but everything would require a salary cap dump.

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Jesse Puljujarvi

You probably know by now that Jesse Puljujarvi isn’t happy in Edmonton anymore. There were some rumblings around that the Finnish skilled winger might be looking at forcing a trade or he may go and play a season overseas in Europe. If his trade took place, Elliotte Friedman in his 31 Thoughts mentioned, that the Bruins might be the ideal destination possible for Puljujarvi.

Jesse Puljujarvi was drafted as the fourth overall player in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. In his first season, Puljujarvi made his debut in the NHL as the 18-year-old kid. In 28 games with the Oilers, he collected just one goal and seven assists for eight points. In Edmonton, they hoped that this was just a rough start and the young winger will bounce back. Unfortunately for them, he played in 111 more NHL games tallying just 29 points.

As of now, it’s more than clear that the Oilers rushed him. The 21-year-old is a pending restricted free agent. He won’t be demanding a big amount of salary, he simply wants a fresh start somewhere outside Canada. What about the right wing on David Krejci´s line? Puljujarvi is a big body presence and has tremendous speed. Bruce Cassidy has always loved to work with such players. A cheap and smart steal for the Bruins, maybe?

Free Agents Frenzy (?)

The Boston Bruins rumors are full of big-time names in the free agency. Last year, the Bruins were all over John Tavares or Ilya Kovalchuk. They met with both of the players but ended up empty-handed. Three years ago, the Bruins were in for something big. They had to decide between David Backes and their own rental, Loui Eriksson. They chose David Backes.

This time around, the Bruins are rumored with exactly… Zero big free agents. On the first of July, the Bruins are expected to stay away from any big fish on the market, no Artemi Panarin or Matt Duchene connections. As per NBC Sports Boston’s reporter Joe Haggerty, the Bruins first of July will be quiet.

One of the most important things is that the Bruins free agents design should be quiet. The Bruins should stay away from their big spendings like the one of David Backes or Matt Beleskey. Ultimately, the Bruins have no salary cap space anymore to even jokingly make a call to any big free agent left on the market ahead of Monday.

Jason Zucker

As per Shawn Hutcheon from The Fourth Period, the Bruins were kicking the tires on the Minnesota Wild’s winger Jason Zucker.

How or why the Bruins can make this deal working? The Minnesota Wild have already sent the Bruins a very good player in Charlie Coyle, no worries that Jason Zucker would look very good in the Bruins uniform. But can the Bruins make that trade work?

Firstly, same as with Jesse Puljujarvi´s potential trade, the Bruins have the pieces and prospects. Peter Cehlarik has just been tendered qualifying offer but is not expected to get offered just around 20 NHL games per campaign for eternity. The Bruins might be looking at somehow unloading David Backes and his contract.

Jason Zucker himself isn’t a bad player, he still has a very good age as the 27-year-old. Zucker is a versatile winger, who collected 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points during 81 games last season. Same as with Chris Kreider, the Bruins potentially don’t necessarily need such a skater, unless they are up to the massive shake-up.

Noel Acciari

Will Noel Acciari stay with the Boston Bruins? Acciari has played a total of 180 NHL games and another 35 in the playoffs with the Bruins. The 27-year-old might play on both wings and on the center position as well. In the past season, he has gathered six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 72 games. Then in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Acciari added another four points in 19 games.

Last season, Acciari had the salary cap hit of $725,000 per season. As per The Athletic, if the Bruins won’t be able to keep him, although they would like to do so, Acciari should get plenty of interest outside of Boston.

There is one thing clear, Acciari is a perfect fourth-liner and the penalty killer. As of now, the Bruins have four other fourth-liners: Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner and David Backes (phew). If the Bruins cannot combine any additional free dollar, they will have to let Acciari go and he will find a new home for sure.