When Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney entered free agency last offseason, he did so with limited cap space. To compound matters, after free agency came and went, long-time centers and franchise icons Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired. Talk about roster turnover.
With his hands tied, Sweeney went bargain shopping and in the overall big picture, it ended up not being a bad decision. He signed some veterans and a younger player in Morgan Geekie who was not given a qualifying offer by the Seattle Kraken, which allowed him to be an unrestricted free agent.
One veteran player that Sweeney signed was Kevin Shattenkirk who stepped in and played a big role and helped them fill some holes as the season went along.
Kevin Shattenkirk's 2023-24 regular season
Shattenkirk came in a filled a big hole as a veteran defenseman for the Bruins. In 61 regular season games, the former Anaheim Ducks blueliner had six goals and 18 assists playing 15:46 a night, but it was his veteran presence both on and off the ice that helped coach Jim Montgomery.
He filled in at times on the power play, he was steady in the defensive zone. Yes, like any new player to a new team, he struggled early in Montgomery's system, but once he got comfortable he became a key player. He finished with 78 shots landed on the net during the regular season and after signing a one-year, $1.05 million contract, it's safe to say that Sweeney and the Bruins got their money's worth with him.
Kevin Shattenkirk's 2024 postseason
The playoffs were certainly different than the regular season for Shattenkirk as he played only in six of the 13 postseason games, all against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. He was scratched against the Florida Panthers and fell behind on the depth chart.
Kevin Shattenkirk's future in Boston
Honestly, if you had told Sweeney and Montgomery at the beginning of the season that they would get six goals and 24 points in 61 regular season games from Shattenkirk, they would have been thrilled. He proved to be a good offensive defenseman but often was caught on the ice with too many long shifts in the defensive end.
Boston appears to be set on defense going into 2024-25 with Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo as right-shot defensemen and Andrew Peeke, who was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline, still has two more seasons left with an AAV of $2.75 million. Then there's also Parker Wortherspoon who signed a deal to return during the season.