The Bruins' Start To Free Agency This Weekend Has Been Underwhelming To Say The Least

 

    If you were expecting fireworks (sorry for the tired holiday cliche-it is July 3rd you know!) from the Bruins this weekend, you have no doubt been very disappointed as they entered free agency with a whisper rather than a loud pop. We knew that GM Don Sweeney did not have much money to spend-even after the Taylor Hall trade earlier in the week-but it was a tough pill to swallow to see the three valuable guys that they obtained before the trade deadline last season all quickly end up elsewhere. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov (2 years, $7.75 million AAV) signed with Carolina (no surprise since we knew the Russian would go to the highest bidder no questions asked), winger Garnet Hathaway is now a Flyer (2 years, $4.78 million) and the real kick in the teeth came tonight as word came out that winger Tyler Bertuzzi was going to the Maple Leafs on a very affordable one-year deal for $5.5 million. The other notable Bruin to depart was defenseman Connor Clifton who signed a three-year deal worth $10 million with Buffalo. However, for an undrafted guy from Quinnipiac coming off of a career season, we expected that Cliffy would cash in so good for him and his family.

    Losing Bertuzzi to a division rival is especially frustrating since you had to believe that Hall's trade was likely meant to clear some cap space specifically to try to bring back Tyler. I guess not and no matter if Sweeney or Bertuzzi's agent screwed this up, the bottom line is that he obviously panicked and signed a deal that the B's should have been able to offer before. I'm assuming that they had already moved on and committed elsewhere when Bertuzzi's camp might have come crawling back. Ugh. So who has Boston signed to replace these guys? Well get ready to take a time machine back five to ten years and Sweeney would be having a hell of a time. Of the five main players that the Bruins have signed, the three that you have all heard of are former B's left wing Milan Lucic, former BU/Team USA defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and former UNH star winger James van Riemsdyk. Additionally, former BC forward Patrick Brown (2 years, $800,000 AAV which is the veteran minimum) and forward Morgan Geekie (2 years, $2 million AAV) are the other guys that will join the Bruins next season. 

    35-year-old Looch (who has 3 daughters!) needs no introduction if you are reading this and rumors of him signing with his beloved Boston started to percolate last week. On a one-year deal worth $1 million plus up to $500,000 in performance based incentives, it's hard to dislike Milan's return where he can hopefully anchor the fourth line and bring some toughness along with an edge that the Bruins have sorely lacked in recent years. 34-year-old Shattenkirk-who will make $1.05 million in one season here-used to be one of the best puck-moving defenseman in the league but Boston will be his seventh club after stops in Anaheim, Tampa, NY (Rangers), Washington, St. Louis and Colorado. Still, having him replace Clifton on the third defensive pairing would be ideal for a guy with a boatload of experience (891 career NHL games) not to mention talent-he was the 14th overall pick in the 2007 Draft-and plenty of points (97 goals and 363 assists). Finally, JVR also is here for peanuts (1 year, $1 million) and you will remember him mostly for his successful time as a Flyer, not so much as a Leaf. He is 34 as well and was the second overall pick of that 2007 Draft. He has had a very productive NHL career with 591 points (300 goals, 291 assists) in 940 games. 

    It is easy to see Sweeney's thinking with these moves; he could not get any top players without making a real hockey trade so why not fill in any roster and lineup holes with decorated veterans that he and B's head coach Jim Montgomery can trust from Day 1? At least on paper-which is all we have in early July-I do not know how the totality of these additions and subtractions makes Boston a better team. Granted, hockey is the ultimate chemistry sport so maybe bringing back Lucic's mojo will spark his former teammates like left wing Brad Marchand and right wing David Pastrnak. Last week, Cam Neely admitted that the team is operating like both of their ancient centers David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron won't be coming back next season but would it kill either of those guys just to make a decision ASAP? This is beginning to get those gross Brett Favre in Green Bay vibes as I cannot stomach another summer of waiting to hear what these guys are going to do. Truth be told, Krejci looked pretty cooked in his return to the Bruins last season so if he decides to retire and/or go back to playing in his native Czech Republic, oh well. Bergy is the trickier one because he can still compete at a high level-as evidenced by his record sixth Selke Trophy that he won last week-but this is getting ridiculous. I can only surmise that behind the scenes, the front office, coaches and players already know his decision, otherwise this does everyone a complete disservice. Rant over.

After Quite A Lengthy Wait, The B's Finally Signed Forward Jake DeBrusk To A Two-Year Contract

 

    NHL free agency officially opened a month and a half ago so you are not alone if you basically forgot that winger Jake DeBrusk (a restricted free agent) was still sitting around waiting for the Bruins to hit him up with a contract offer. Naturally, on a sleepy Monday night a few days before Thanksgiving, B's GM Don Sweeney & Co. got it done as they signed DeBrusk to a two-year deal worth $7.35 million. It has to be a relief for Jake after he saw literally hundreds of players from around the league get paid recently while he and his agent patiently bided their time waiting for Boston to make a decision. 

    In many ways, this was an easy move for the Bruins since DeBrusk represents one of their few young forwards who has really shown anything positive lately at the NHL level. He was the middle pick of Boston's infamous three first round selections in the 2015 Draft. Sandwiched around DeBrusk at No. 14 were defenseman Jakub Zboril at No. 13 and right wing Zach Senyshyn. Haha who? Only hardcore Bruins or hockey fans know who those other two guys are since neither has made any kind of impact yet for the B's and they've mostly been stuck wasting away in Providence. 

    Jake just wrapped up his third full season with the Bruins and he's been consistently productive from his rookie year until now. He's scored at least 16 goals and had at least 16 assists in all three seasons. He's also been relatively durable-and almost always worthy of a lineup spot-since he played 70 games in 2017-18, 68 games the following season and 65 in this past Covid-19 shortened schedule. After recording 27 assists in his rookie campaign and 27 goals in his second season, I think that many were understandably a bit disappointed that his game didn't take any noticeable leap in 2019-20 but rather it felt stuck in neutral. 

    His plus/minus has also plummeted from plus-13 in his first year, to plus-two then minus-one. For most of his brief Bruins career, David Krejci has centered DeBrusk on the second line with a revolving door of nobodies at right wing. That's not an excuse for the dip in his numbers but a statement of fact. When you watch Jake over a full season including the playoffs, you see more than a few glimpses of some outstanding tools: game-breaking pace, great hands to get around defensemen and goaltenders in small areas not to mention the clutch plays that he often makes. He's been on the Bruins' second power play unit for much of the last two seasons and he has potted eight goals and seven goals there respectively. He also put up 14 game-winning goals (in the regular season) between his first three years which is nothing to sneeze at.

    The bubble playoffs were not his friend though as he was mostly shut down to the tune of only four points (all goals) in 13 games. That paled in comparison to his rookie season when Boston where he notched six goals and two assists in only 12 games or the next season where they went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and he had four goals and seven assists. He's definitely an X-factor kind of guy and like most teams, the Bruins are always in need of some secondary scoring from DeBrusk as well as many others besides the top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

    If you've ever watched Behind The B (NESN's underrated behind the scenes show about the Bruins) or you've caught some of his hilarious post-game interviews, you know that Jake is a character to say the least. Having grown up around the NHL (his dad Louie was a long-time enforcer), he has a great sense of humor-witness the mullet that he has sported for long stretches-and being Canadian the typical down-to-Earth, relatable nature. Playing here generally doesn't bring the same insane pressure as a Toronto or Montreal but for an American market, it's still pretty tough. I wouldn't worry too much though about that being a factor for DeBrusk since he seems well equipped to handling the ups and downs of a professional sports career. With the right attention to details-like getting stronger for puck battles in the corners and better touch around the net-he has the ability to be a 30-goal scorer in the near future. It took way too long to get this done but I think we can all agree that this was a good day for the Bruins.