The Boston Bruins signed forward Zach Senyshyn to a one-year, two-way deal.
Yesterday, October 21st, the Boston Bruins signed restricted free agent (RFA) forward Zach Senyshyn to a one-year, two-way deal at the league minimum of $700,000.
Senyshyn was drafted by the Bruins back in 2015 with the 15th-overall pick. Since then he hasn’t lived up to the hype, mainly playing in the OHL and AHL while playing just six games in the NHL.
Over his last two years in the OHL, Senyshyn was a point-per-game player, scoring 65 points in 66 games in 2015-16 and 65 points in 59 games in 2016-17. In both of these seasons, he was also able to surpass the 40-goal mark, as well.
However, since moving up to the AHL, Senyshyn hasn’t been anything special — unable to reach 30 points in any of his three seasons. Although this season was cut short, he still wasn’t on pace for this benchmark.
Senyshyn made his NHL debut on April 3rd, 2019 against the Minnesota Wild. He was sent back down just four days later after playing in just two games. Fortunately for Senyshyn, he was able to score his first NHL goal in his first game by burying one in an empty net to cap off a 3-0 win over the Wild.
This season, Senyshyn played in just four NHL games after being called up due to injuries in mid-November. In these four games, the Ontario native was able to record two assists and was playing quite well before being sidelined with a knee injury.
How will the Boston Bruins use Zach Senyshyn?
At just 23 years old and only played in six NHL games, Senyshyn is still a prospect and will be treated as such. Barring an impressive training camp, I expect the young forward to start the 2020-21 season in the AHL.
Until he proves otherwise, the young right wing is just a depth piece at the moment, waiting for a spot to open up. If he’s in the NHL he’ll be playing on the third or fourth line at just even-strength minutes, like he was last season, until he shows that he can handle more.
Additionally, some may think that Senyshyn may not have to go through waivers to be sent down from the NHL to the AHL because his contract is a two-way.
However, this is not true.
A two-way contract means he has a different salary for when he’s in the AHL and when he’s in the NHL. NHL waivers have to do with a player’s age, amount of NHL games played, and years since signing their first NHL contract.
Senyshyn will have to go through waivers if sent down from the NHL to the AHL.
With Senyshyn signed, this leaves the Bruins with just two more unsigned RFAs — left wings Jake DeBrusk and Peter Cehlarik. Furthermore, the only unrestricted free agent (UFA) the team has is captain, defenseman Zdeno Chara.
With $6,657,686 in cap space left (via CapFriendly), I’m curious to see what general manager Don Sweeney will do.