The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
With the preseason knocking down every door in the National Hockey League, some teams are realizing they are running out of time to fill gaps on their roster. For the first time, in a long time, the Boston Bruins are one of those teams.
With Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci making the decision to hang up the skates before the season, the Bruins are left with the, virtually impossible task of replacing them before the season starts.
Both players left an indelible legacy in Boston, both on and off the ice, but their play-making ability is what really is left to be desired. Boston is still looking for someone to take their place on the top two lines.
Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney has explored trades for players like Elias Lindholm, and head coach Jim Montgomery has even said they would be fine if the top two role was taken by Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha.
What Sweeney, and the rest of the brass have not done, is look at the remaining free agents. Here are three free agent centers that Boston should look at before the season starts.
Eric Staal, Center – Hurricanes (2003-16), Rangers (2016), Wild (2016-20), Sabres (2020-21), Canadiens (2021-22), Panthers (2022-23)
Gone are the days that guys play for one team for most of their career, and Eric Staal is a prime example of that. After spending the first 13 years of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes, he has bounced around between five different clubs since then.
What is not gone, or forgotten for that matter, is how much of a pain in the rear-end Staal has been to the Bruins throughout his career. Usually the saying goes “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”, but Staal himself is not a team, so in this case the saying would have to go something along the lines of “if you can’t beat ’em, sign ’em.”
At age 38 (39 by season’s end), it’s unknown how much Staal has left in the tank, but coming off a Stanley Cup Finals run with the Florida Panthers, where they fell just short of a title, he’s bound to be itching for one more run at a second time lifting the cup.
If Staal is so much older, what would he really bring to the table?
In his last three seasons in the NHL, Staal has looked like a shell of himself, but part of that can be chalked to him not having the supporting cast he had in places like Minnesota or Carolina. What he brings to the table is experience being on a winning team, both internationally and domestically.
As a member of the Hurricanes in the 2005-06 season, he had the best season of his career playing in all 82 games, all while scoring 45 goals and tallying 55 assists (100 points) in the regular season. Carolina wound up winning its lone Stanley Cup Championship that season with Staal scoring nine goals and racking up 19 assists (28 points) in 25 playoff games.
In addition to the Stanley Cup Championship, Staal has also won multiple Gold and Silver Medals for Team Canada – including one Gold Medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He also won a Gold Medal at the World Championships in 2007, and World Junior Championships in 2001, while his lone Silver came in the 2008 World Championships.
2022-23 cap hit: $750,000.00
Paul Stastny, Center – Avalanche (2006-14), Blues (2014-18), Jets (2018, 2020-22), Golden Knights (2018-20), Hurricanes (2022-23)
Paul Stastny is a name that has been tossed around for many teams, but hasn’t found a home to this point. Yet, at the same time, Boston could be a perfect fit for him.
If the Bruins are looking to add a Krejci-style player who distributes the puck well, and thinks about other players first, while still not letting his goal-scoring numbers go by the wasteside, Stastny is the perfect player to fit the mold.
Stastny has bounced between five different clubs in his time in the NHL, but he has spent 12 years with two different clubs, and, to me, that shows loyalty. It shows he is willing to stick with a club for longer stretches – something that is severely lacking in the league these days.
Loyalty isn’t everything though, what can he do on the ice for you?
As stated before, Stastny is a very Krejci-like player, but the one thing he has that Krejci is an ability to play physical when needed while staying healthy at the same time. In fact, Stastny has only one season where he played less than 50 games, and three where he was under 60.
Back to his style of play though. In 1,165 career games, Stastny has 293 goals and 529 assists (822 points), which is even more than Krejci had in his entire career. The only difference is Krejci had more assists, but only by 26.
Stastny has medalled twice in his International Career. Once at the 2010 Olympics, where he finished with a Silver, and in 2013 he finished with a Bronze Medal in the World Championships.
2022-23 cap hit: $1,500,000.00
Derick Brassard, Center/Left Wing – Blue Jackets (2007-13), New York Rangers (2013-16), Senators (2016-18, 2022-23), Penguins (2018-19), Panthers/Avalanche (2019), Islanders (2019-20), Coyotes (2020-21), Flyers (2021-22), Oilers (2022)
Talk about a guy who has bounced around the league, Derick Brassard has never really settled in one place after playing for 10 teams in his 15-year career in the NHL.
While Brassard has had his fair share of health issues in the last few years, and has not played above 65 games with solid numbers as well since the 2019-20 season, he has youth on his side. Brassard is only 35-years-old, and can easily play for two, maybe even three, more years – barring any major injuries.
One thing that Brassard brings with him is versatility which can help the Bruins out in different settings like on the powerplay. This gives them the opportunity to break him out on the wings, if need be, especially if centers like Coyle or Jesper Boqvist get going.
What else does Brassard bring to the table other than versatility?
One big thing that Brassard brings to the table is some chemistry with one current Bruin: James van Riemsdyk. In his time in Philadelphia with the Flyers, Brassard was the center on a line that featured the aforementioned van Riemsdyk and Gerry Mayhew. Both would be newcomers to the team, but with both of them in new environment, it would help to have some familiarity for both.
What he could also do for them is if Boston were to move forward with Coyle and Zacha as their first-line centers, he could act as a fifth winger, occasionally creeping into the top-six or as a third-line center if it were to not work out with Boqvist or Morgan Geekie.
Another thing he brings is his familiarity with the Eastern Conference. Much like Staal, he knows what Eastern Conference hockey is like; whereas, Stastny has played the majority of his career in the Western Conference.
2022-23 cap hit: $750,000.00
Derek Stepan, Center/Right Wing – Rangers (2010-17), Coyotes (2017-20), Senators (2020-21), Hurricanes (2021-23)
Perhaps the best option out of these four, is Derek Stepan. Not only is he a right-handed shooting center, but he is also lower cost, and intimately familiar with the Eastern Conference – specifically with the Atlantic Division through his time with the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Carolina Hurricanes.
Throughout his time with the Rangers, much like the aforementioned Staal, he relished every opportunity to play the Bruins whether it was at the TD Garden, or the Madison Square Garden.
Much like Stastny, Stepan is a distributor with the puck, and will hand out assists before he goes for a goal himself, but at 33-years-old, he has time to develop his goal-scoring ability before he finally hangs up the skates.
If he doesn’t score much, what is his value to the Bruins?
Stepan’s value to Boston is very simple: availability. As former New England Patriots coach, Bill Parcells said, “the best ability, is availability.” And with the Bruins missing two very large pieces of their offense, it’s never rung truer than right now.
In his entire career, Stepan has only played in less than 65 games twice. Yes, you read that right. Now, he may have set career-highs in goals in 2015-16 with 22, assists in 2017-18 with 42, and points with 57 in 2013-14, he has been very available, but also very disciplined throughout his career.
Stepan highest penalty minutes total of any season is 26 which is unusually low for a league where most players are in the upper 50s for the most part. Stepan wouldn’t cost much either, giving him even more added value to the Bruins.
2022-23 cap hit: $750,000.00
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