The Tampa Bay Lightning captured their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, prevailing in five games over the Montreal Canadiens.
Now, the challenge for the three-time champs will be to keep the band together. Success and the modern salary cap often makes it near impossible for teams to prevent the exodus of the supporting cast members so key to winning titles. That's the price you pay when you win, and Tampa is the class of the NHL.
The Boston Bruins find themselves in a different predicament. The core that has been so instrumental in a decade-long run of excellence that produced just one Stanley Cup but two more trips to the final series most recently as 2019, is aging.
Don Sweeney and his team of advisers will have some tougher choices to make when it comes to allocating finite cap room to roster free agents this summer, including Taylor Hall, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, with the B’s also preparing for what will be a big extension for restricted defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and needing to re-sign their captain and unrestricted free agent Patrice Bergeron, in 2022.
We’ll make predictions on Boston free agents before the market opens on July 28.
Charlie Coyle on the mend
The Boston Globe reported that center Charlie Coyle is recovering from knee surgery in June but should be ready for the start of training camp in September.
The East Weymouth, Mass. native played a good chunk of the season with damage to his left knee cap and patellar tendon. That begins to explain why Coyle suffered through his least productive season yet, with 16 points in 51 games. That was his lowest output since 14 points in 37 games in his rookie in 2012-13.
When healthy, Coyle’s size and power allow him to get to the net and finish off plays in tight. He proved during Boston’s run to the final two years ago that he can generate offense in the clutch. His local ties and versatility to play both center and wing made him a priority to re-sign, and the B’s are committed to him through 2026 with an annual cap hit of $5.25 million (source: Cap Friendly).
Getting Coyle back and healthy will be key, but we can’t help wondering if we’ve seen the top-end of his production (56 points in 2017) and that the most the team and fans may typically see is 40-45 points. He’s still a valuable piece, but with Krejci and Bergeron not getting any younger, the pressure is on Sweeney to find more scoring, especially at the center position.
Eichel and Tarasenko rumor mill
It isn’t that either Jack Eichel or Vladimir Tarasenko wouldn’t boost Boston’s production up front, it’s all about how the Bruins would pay for them without robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Eichel has been periodically floated as a trade target in the media for the B’s since he went second overall to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. The problem is that Boston lacks the capital to make an attractive enough offer to GM Kevyn Adams that would see him trade Eichel within the division.
The feeling here is that Eichel is probably finished in Buffalo, but it’s a matter of when and where he will go. We could see something start to bubble to the surface as early as the draft weekend, but the asking price will be astronomical. Teams realistically in the mix for Eichel will need to part with a combination of roster player(s), higher-end prospect and probably a draft pick or two.
That’s not something Boston is in position to offer, especially when you consider that an intra-division trade likely would include a “rival premium” that other clubs like Los Angeles, Colorado and Anaheim, to name a few ,won’t have to cough up. All three of those clubs have an embarrassment of riches both in terms of established players and top young prospects. Teams like Montreal and the New York Rangers could pay such a premium, but Boston? Not likely.
As for Tarasenko, he’s unlikely to land in Boston, for different reasons. Reportedly having requested a trade out of St. Louis, the oft-injured but electric former first-rounder won’t command as rich a price as Eichel but comes with some baggage that the B’s don’t need. As if their track record with Russian players isn’t stellar to begin with, they simply don’t need another big ticket ($7.5 million cap hit through 2023) winger who will cost assets to acquire.
Instead of chasing shiny objects, the B’s need to make the tougher decisions about whom to invest in within the organization and look for some bargain supporting cast members. Even if they could afford to do it, neither Eichel nor Tarasenko would make the Bruins a serious contender in 2022.
Goodbye to Kuraly?
One thing the Bruins have an abundance of is lower-line grinder types, and though Sean Kuraly has been a solid role player since the 2017 playoffs, he’s an unrestricted free agent. With a $1.275 million salary in 2021, the veteran is a luxury, and with enough similar players in the system who will shave at least half a million off the cap, it looks like he has played his last game in the Spoked B.
Target: 2021 draft
Zachary Bolduc, C, 6-1/175, Rimouski (QMJHL)
The Bruins have not invested a first-round pick in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since 2015, and that has yet to pay major dividends for the team. However, Bolduc is a skilled scoring center who is coming off a down year that was impacted by injuries and a lack of a supporting cast when the Oceanic lost Alexis Lafreniere to the NHL.
Highly smart/creative, Bolduc also plays the game the right way. Not a blazing-fast skater, he is nonetheless slippery and elusive and able to handle the puck well in traffic. While not a top-end playmaker, Bolduc is more of an all-around center who makes his linemates better by doing the little things well like puck support, getting to the hard areas, and being able to finish with a heavy shot that he gets off quickly.
With his high compete and ability to hound pucks, he’s another center prospect who appears to be a candidate for Boston’s first-round selection. The braintrust must start finding a next generation of centers after years of relying on Bergeron and Krejci up the middle. Bolduc is a solid place to start.
Scout’s out: “I’m not sold on Bolduc as a definitive top-two-line center in the NHL, but he’s skilled and competitive enough to work his way into that. Sometimes, you rate players as sure bets to be scorers and they don’t pan out. I wouldn’t bet against this kid, but even if he doesn’t evolve the offense to be a top guy, he’s got a pretty high floor.” — NHL scout, Western Conference
New England Hockey Journal draft prediction: Although the B’s haven’t drafted a player out of the major junior ranks in almost four years, Bolduc is worth an exception. He doesn’t come without risk given the injuries and lack of pure offensive skills, but he’s going to put in the work.
