Last season, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney brought in some veteran free agents when he had limited cap space. James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk were signed to very team-friendly contracts for the 2023-24 season.
Both players played key roles for the Black and Gold. Not only did they play very well on the ice, but they also were great additions to the locker room with veteran leadership. It doesn't always have to be the team captain or his alternates that need to speak up like Nick Foligno did during his tenure in Boston.
Both players remained unsigned as free agents throughout the summer, but right before training camp last month, van Riemsdyk signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Shattenkirk remains unsigned, which is somewhat surprising. That may not be the case for much longer.
Kevin Shattenkirk linked to the Edmonton Oilers
Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston of The Athletic have linked Shattenkirk to the Edmonton Oilers as one team keeping tabs on the former Boston University defenseman. Fresh off winning the Western Conference last spring and losing in seven games to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, Shattenkirk would be a big bolster to Edmonton's backend this season.
He has 952 career regular season games under his belt and last season with the Bruins, he played in 61 regular season games with six goals and 18 assists while averaging 15:47 a night for Jim Montgomery. In the postseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Panthers, he played in six of the 13 games with an assist and only averaged 12:47 a game.
Stats aside, he's not going to come in and light up the scoresheet, but he is going to come in and play a very steady game 5-on-5 and offer some power play insurance. The Oilers have one of the more talented power plays in the NHL with a lot of offensive firepower.
As Boston fans saw last season, he's not going to play on a nightly basis as there were many games where Montgomery had him as a healthy scratch, but he is someone who will get the respect of his teammates. The 2020 Stanley Cup Champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning would come cheap on a team-friendly contract looking to end his career with one more championship at 35 years old.