Boston Bruins: List of Free Agent Forwards Shrinks Over the Weekend

The Boston Bruins saw a list of a couple of low risk, high reward free agent forwards shrink this past weekend.

The last 48 hours have not been to kindly to the Boston Bruins in their quest to add depth to their forward grouping prior to the opening of training camp on Jan. 3.

Boston does have just under $3 million remaining in cap space according to capfriendly.com. There is a chance that the remaining money goes towards re-signing captain Zdeno Chara should he come back for a 15th season with the Bruins, but if general manager Don Sweeney was going to add a veteran forward for added offensive production, the list got shorter over the weekend.

Free-agent Ilya Kovalchuk decided against a return to the NHL and is heading to his home country in Russia to play in the Kontinental Hockey League with Avangard Omsk after signing on Saturday. The two-year deal for the 37-year-old basically ends his NHL career. He would have been left wing depth for the Bruins behind Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.

Right wing Corey Perry on Monday signed a one-year, $750,000 free-agent contract with the Montreal Canadiens. He had just 11 goals over the last two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars, but a change of scenery at 35 years old with a Bruins team that can give him a chance to regain his scoring touch would have been worth the investment and fun to watch.

On Sunday, Mike Hoffman, who has been linked to the Bruins on multiple occasions this offseason, agreed to a professional tryout contract (PTO) with the St. Louis Blues. This does not mean that Boston, or any other team, can’t still sign the 30-year-old unrestricted free agent.

The contract allows Hoffman to participate in all team activities in trading camp with St. Louis, while still being able to sign with any NHL team, although the Blues could be bringing him in to work out a long-term deal, which is something to keep an eye. The PTO contract expires at the end of training camp.

Once a final decision is made by Chara, which you would think will come before training camp at Warrior Ice Arena begins on Sunday, then that will leave the Bruins with answers as to how much money they have left for a free-agent forward.

Sweeney may not have any money available to add to the roster in free agency, but if money does become available, the list of possible free-agent signing got smaller over the weekend.