The Bruins thin down the middle, Jeremy Swayman and arbitration
Mike McKenna of Daily Faceoff: Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement from the NHL yesterday. The future of David Krejci is also up in the air and seems unlikely now that Bergeron isn’t coming back.
The Bruins management shouldn’t have been surprised and it’s surprising they really only added Morgan Geekie at center. Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha are looking like they’re top two centers at the moment.
Trent Frederic has been a winger for the last five years but is a natural center and could be given that role as hinted by Jim Montgomery.
Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov was awarded $3.55 million in salary arbitration after he filed for $4.9 million and the team $2.4 million.
It’s not known what Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman is thinking but it’s likely similar to Samsonov. Swayman had a 24-6-4 record with a 2.27 GAA and .920 SV%. Samsonov went 27-10-5 with a 2.33 GAA and .919 SV%.
The end of an era with Patrice Bergeron retiring.
One of the best Bruins ever.The Updated Cap Situation is below. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mL57HDawzd
— Bruins Cap Space (@BruinsCapSpace) July 25, 2023
Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele likely back to start the season but…
Murat Ates of The Athletic: (mailbag) At this point is expecting that both Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele are wearing Winnipeg Jets jerseys on opening night. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they work on trying to get them signed to contract extensions.
If the Jets looked to trade Scheifele at the trade deadline, they should be able to get a good haul for him. They should be able to get at least a first, second and a young roster player who has top-six potential.
Wonder about Scheifele to the Bruins in deal that includes Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark as the main pieces of the deal.
It’s hard to find trade comparables for someone like Hellebuyck. If looking at the Buffalo Sabres, doubt they would do Zach Benson but what about including Matthew Savoie or Jiri Kulich? What about Alexander Holtz from the New Jersey Devils?
Kulich and Devon Levi for Hellebuyck? The Sabres may want to give Levi an NHL shot this season.