Stop me if you've heard this before: a player leaves the Boston Bruins and finds success elsewhere. Ok, so it happens across the league more than some think. I get it. However, it seems like it happens to more former Bruins players than other clubs.
Three former members of the Black and Gold have moved in different ways, but in the current day and age of the NHL, they are cashing in right before free agency begins on Wednesday at noon. If anything, the contracts give you an idea of just where things are going in terms of the salary cap around the league and how contracts are going to get out of control.
Two former Bruins cashing in with the rising salary cap
Again, they aren't the only ones, but players across the league will have a Brinks truck backing up to them. That's not their fault; it's just the current state of the NHL and a rising salary cap. Former Bruins Jeremy Lauzon and AJ Greer are cashing in this summer.
Let's start with Greer. He was placed on waivers by the Bruins in October of 2023 and claimed by the Calgary Flames before leaving in free agency the following summer for the Florida Panthers. He won a Stanley Cup in South Florida in 2024-25, playing in 81 games with six goals and 17 points. This past season, in 78 games, he had 17 goals and 15 assists on a Panthers team that missed the playoffs.
He was recently traded to the Anaheim Ducks, along with his free-agent rights, for defenseman Radko Gudas. Greer signed a four-year contract with the Ducks for $17 million with a $4.25 million AAV. Good for him.
Then there is Lauzon. Once seen as a future part of Boston's defense, the organization left him exposed for the NHL Expansion Draft in 2021, where the Seattle Kraken took him. He was traded to the Nashville Predators in March of 2022 before being acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights a year ago. Late on Tuesday night, he agreed to a six-year extension to stay in Las Vegas for $24 million with a $4 million AAV. He was a key contributor to the Golden Knights and played in 12 playoff games in their run to the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
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