The Boston Bruins have positioned themselves perfectly for this offseason

The Boston Bruins look poised for a long playoff run. While the players and Bruce Cassidy’s coaching staff battle for playoff positioning in the East Division though, Don Sweeney’s management team seems to have an eye towards the future as well.

One quick look at how this team is constructed contract-wise shows that this could be a pivotal offseason for the Boston Bruins. Let’s take a look at the strategic moves management has made.

Boston Bruins offseason look ahead.

Free Agency

The Boston Bruins have some serious money coming off the books this summer. With franchise stalwarts like David Krejci and Tuukka Rask hitting UFA status this offseason, it will be interesting to see what direction the Bruins go with their veteran’s free agents. Deadline additions Taylor Hall and Mike Reilly are also impending UFAs.

The Boston Bruins will certainly have the money to bring back whatever combination of these guys or other players in free agency they like with what looks like will be just over $30 million in cap space.

Expansion Draft

The beauty of the Boston Bruins’ contract situations really comes to light with the upcoming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. Names like David Krejci, Taylor Hall, and Tuukka Rask would be natural protections if their contracts continued – some mandatory if they had no-move clauses. Without having to protect these guys though, the Bruins can protect some of their depth options while being able to re-sign any of their free agents after the protection period.

Entry Draft/Prospects

This year’s draft is going to be tough with the lack of scouting ability organizations have had. Many junior and college leagues have had condensed seasons – if they had a season at all. Nonetheless, the Boston Bruins have 7 picks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft including what seems like a rare 1st round pick for this organization.

It’s no secret that the Boston Bruins have an aging core so it is important as ever to build up that prospect pool.

Speaking of prospect pools, the Boston Bruins have a pretty solid one considering the success they’ve had this past decade. As Bruins fans saw earlier in the season, promising names like Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic, and Urho Vaakanainen have shown that they are close if not ready to become full-time contributors in the near future.

Trades

This summer seems like it could be a busy one on the trade front. With the upcoming expansion draft on the way and lots of teams struggling despite good talent – a big shakeup could be imminent for several NHL franchises.

With the Boston Bruins having a boatload of cap space upcoming and a solid asset pool of picks and prospects – don’t be surprised to see Don Sweeney sniffing around some of the big names potentially available.

Could the Boston Bruins bring the Boston University product in Jack Eichel home to fill in David Krejci’s slot up the middle? What about the Boston College product Johnny Gaudreau if the Taylor Hall experiment doesn’t end up panning out? Food for thought.

The Boston Bruins are set up for the present and the future.

Sustained success is an insanely hard thing. A lot of teams can achieve temporary success, but prolonging it is usually less than possible. The Boston Bruins are one of few franchises that have been dominant over a decade period.

Don Sweeney being able to keep this team competitive while not mortgaging the future has been something that has angered some Bruins fans for a while now and one does have to wonder if going all-in a couple of years back could have put them over the edge for another Stanley Cup. This trade deadline may have been a perfect storm though, as Sweeney was able to pull the trigger without giving up too much.

Looking towards the offseason, Don Sweeney’s patience may have paid off. The Boston Bruins will be able to protect all valuable players in the upcoming expansion draft, they have tons of cap space upcoming, will be able to be buyers in free agency, and have a boatload of solid prospects/draft picks.

Life is good on Causeway Street, now and for tomorrow.