Bruins offseason rebuild will be huge with how few players are under contract

New York Times

08-04-2025

Don Sweeney has executed the rebuild's simplest part, though the Boston Bruins general manager may disagree if you call trading 2,549 games of Black-and-Gold experience 'easy.'
The hard part of replacing Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau and Max Jones, all while repairing everything else that went sideways in 2024-25, is coming.
Consider that of the 20 roster spots occupied on game days, only 11 project to be populated by players currently under contract in 2025-26.
The difficulty of addressing these vacancies ranges from straightforward to just about impossible.
For this exercise, we'll start with the simple stuff:
Five players who should be on next year's roster will reach restricted free agency on July 1: Morgan Geekie, Mason Lohrei, Jakub Lauko, Johnny Beecher and Marat Khusnutdinov.
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Of this cohort, extending the 22-year-old Khusnutdinov should be the most basic transaction. The former Minnesota Wild forward is coming off his entry-level contract, and he does not have arbitration rights. Typically, a player of his profile (five goals and four assists in 87 career games) earns a two-year bridge contract with a modest bump from his entry-level compensation.
Beecher, 24, is also coming out of entry level. The 2019 first-rounder has played center and left wing on the fourth line. He is averaging 1:32 of ice time on the penalty kill, third-most among team forwards. But Beecher hasn't scored a goal since Jan. 18. The fourth line appears to be his ceiling. Like Khusnutdinov, a two-year extension at short money is likely for Beecher.
Lauko, 25, is exiting a two-year, $1.575 million second contract. He has three goals and five assists this season between the Bruins and Wild. While Lauko has arbitration rights, his production would not necessarily help him in a hearing. He is looking at short term, fourth-line money.
If Beecher and Lauko re-sign, they could skate with Mark Kastelic on the fourth line.
Lohrei leads team defensemen with 33 points. The 24-year-old could be the Bruins' long-term point man on the No. 1 power-play unit. He is creative and fearless on offense.
Defensively, Lohrei has work to do. He has been on the ice for 68 five-on-five opposing goals, according to Natural Stat Trick, seventh-most among NHL defensemen.
That makes projecting Lohrei's next deal a tricky exercise.
Lohrei will have arbitration rights. His points will serve him well. But it's not easy for a youngster like Lohrei to attend a hearing and have his employer disclose his shortcomings.
If the Bruins are confident Lohrei will improve his defense, they could be interested in a long-term agreement. Otherwise, if the sides go for a two-year extension, for example, it could give Lohrei the point total to go for a bigger payday on his third contract. The Bruins went with consecutive one-year deals with Torey Krug, an offensive defenseman like Lohrei, once his ELC expired.
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Geekie has a career-high 29 goals. The 26-year-old has picked the right time to unlock his offense. The cap is rising. He will have arbitration rights.
Part of Geekie's production is tied to his career-best 20.7 percent shooting percentage. He is likely to regress. But Geekie has the confidence of riding with David Pastrnak and being a backup shooter on the No. 1 line.
Negotiations could be lengthy given the degree of Geekie's inbound payday. But based on the market, the right-shot forward could double his current $2 million AAV.
Fabian Lysell and Fraser Minten are currently on the varsity. Whether they stick for 2025-26 is unknown.
Lysell is scoreless in eight games. He has NHL wheels and a good shot. But the 22-year-old is still learning how to be strong on pucks, dependable on the walls and reliable in defensive coverage. At this point, his shortcomings outweigh his skill.
Minten, 20, plays more of a professional game away from the puck. His next step is to transition his good defensive habits into offense. Minten will be a second-year pro in 2025-26. More time in the AHL will not hurt.
As for current AHLers, Georgii Merkulov and Matt Poitras would be next in line. But Merkulov, 24, has no goals and one assist in 10 NHL appearances. It's possible the left-shot forward's AHL production does not translate to the NHL.
The 21-year-old Poitras had one goal and 10 assists in 33 NHL games this year. In retrospect, he was rushed, both this year and in 2023-24. The organization has to be 100 percent certain Poitras is ready for the NHL before bringing him up. At this point, that is not guaranteed.
If the Bruins re-sign their restricted free agents and leave their prospects in Providence, that gives them with four slots to fill. Three are significant: second-line wings for Casey Mittelstadt and a right-shot partner for Hampus Lindholm on the No. 2 pair.
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Given the weakness of their futures, it's unlikely the Bruins flip any of the picks they acquired before the deadline for present-day reinforcements. The 2025 second-rounders that Frederic and Coyle helped to bring back could develop into NHLers in several seasons. The team's amateur scouting staff needs every pick possible to refill the prospects pool.
That leaves free agency as the route to fill out the roster. It did not go well last summer when the Bruins invested in Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. As desperate as they'll be for NHL help, it won't be worth tying up big dollars in players who fall short of their expected thresholds.
The Bruins have all of their 2026 picks, save for the fifth-rounder they sent to the Colorado Avalanche in the Coyle transaction. They project to have cap space. So while they're not in a position to trade picks, it could be worth it to pluck a specific RFA away from a cap-strapped team.
Next year, for example, Igor Shesterkin will begin earning $11.5 million annually from the New York Rangers. Would that leave GM Chris Drury with enough to match an offer sheet for Will Cuylle?
(Top photo of Morgan Geekie, David Pastrnak and Mason Lohrei: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)