3 potential landing spots for Boston Bruins free agent defenseman Matt Grzelcyk

During his career, Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has only played for one NHL team. After playing his college hockey at Boston University, the Boston native was drafted by his hometown team and has been a staple on the backend for the Black and Gold.

After playing eight seasons with Boston, it appears his time wearing the Spoked-B is coming to an end as is he all but assured to hit free agency on July 1 when players can start talking to other teams. Bruins GM Don Sweeney has fielded calls on Grzelcyk, but never traded him and now is set to lose him for nothing, but to who? Here are three teams that could sign the left-shot blueliner.

3 free agent destinations for Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk

Grzelcyk has been linked to the Blackhawks before and it wouldn't be surprising to see them go after him in free agency. Chicago is in a rebuild and could use a puck-moving defenseman to go with the pieces they are building around Connor Bedard. They do have youngsters  Alex Vlasic and Kevin Korchinski on the left-side and Grzelcyk would be a perfect veteran mentor for them and give them a power play option on defense.

The Kings are looking for stability on the backend, mainly on the left side and that's where Grzelcyk would be a good fit for them. He would be a very good second or third-pairing for Los Angeles and give them a player on the backend who is a good puck-moving defenseman. LA is looking to stay competitive in the Western Conference and Grzelcyk would be someone who should be on their radar.

Four years ago, Torey Krug left the Bruins in free agency and signed a big contract with St. Louis for seven years and $45.5 million. It's safe to say that he has not lived up to the expectations with the Blues, but it wouldn't be surprising at all if GM Doug Armstrong kicked the tires on another Boston left-shot free-agent defenseman. Grzelcyk would require a huge payday in free agency and for a St. Louis team looking to get to the playoffs in 2024-25, he could be a very low-cost, high reward for the organization that beat the Black and Gold in seven games to win the Stanley Cup in 2019.

No doubt Grzelcyk's numbers have taken a bit of a dip lately and he's fallen out of head coach Jim Montgomery's playoff rotation the last two seasons, but what he might need and a team acquiring him hopes he needs is a change of scenery. He is still a very good puck-moving defenseman and could be a nice addition to a team's backend for next season.