The Boston Bruins deserved credit for how they ripped off the band-aid at the NHL trade deadline just to apply a new one on the first day of free agency.
Boston GM Don Sweeney came into free agency with less than $10 million in salary cap space to use after signing defenseman Henri Jokiharju to a contract extension Sunday. On Monday, Sweeney made three acquisitions to use up that space.
They traded for veteran right winger Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers for a fifth-round draft pick in 2027. The trade didn’t cost the Bruins a lot, but adding Arvidsson, who couldn’t stay in the lineup for the Oilers during their recent Stanley Cup playoff run, doesn’t seem to be the best use of a $4-million cap hit.
In 67 regular-season games with Edmonton this past season, Arvidsson managed only 15 goals and 27 points, a far cry from the 59 he had in 2022-23. Teams can find players who produce that modest degree of offense for far cheaper, but clearly, Sweeney values the edge Arvidsson has.
However, the truly baffling acquisition Sweeney made Monday was the signing of left winger Tanner Jeannot to a five-year, $17-million contract with an average annual value of $3.4 million. Somehow, despite producing just seven goals and 13 points in 67 games with the Los Angeles Kings in 2024-25, Jeannot got a raise on the $2.665 million he earned in 2024-25.
Even if you’re of the opinion that Jeannot deserved that raise – ignoring that Jeannot hasn’t generated more than seven goals and 14 points in a season since the 2021-22 campaign – the biggest area of concern is the term Sweeney gave the 28-year-old. Were there a slew of teams offering Jeannot as much as four years on a new contract? We find that extremely difficult to believe.
Jeannot provides physicality in the bottom six, but if the Tampa Bay Lightning traded him to Los Angeles after one year of having him, it would be great news for the player and the B’s if he excels in every year of his new deal.
Finally, Sweeney signed left winger Sean Kuraly to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.85 million. The 32-year-old spent the past four seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In ’24-25, he produced only six goals and 17 points. This isn’t out of the ordinary for Kuraly, as he hasn’t generated more than 11 goals and 20 points in any of the previous three years.
Now, as the Bruins have only $1.21 million in remaining cap space, you have to ask whether they have sufficiently improved to be a playoff team in the hyper-competitive Atlantic Division. We have serious doubts about that.
The Bruins’ offense, which was the sixth-worst in the league at only 2.71 goals-for per game this past season, hasn’t really improved from a scoring standpoint. They also allowed 3.30 goals against per game, although they had injuries on the blueline. If they trust their defense will bounce back next season, it shows, because they haven’t upgraded there.
You can make the argument that Sweeney has made his team tougher to play against with Arvidsson, Jeannot and Kuraly, but we’d counter by noting that none of those three players are needle-movers. It feels like Boston has spent its cap space for the sake of it when Atlantic teams like the defending Cup-champion Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens all project to be playoff teams next season. It’s hard to envision this Bruins team showing that last season was an anomaly by getting back into the playoff picture in 2025-26.
After plummeting down the Atlantic standings last season, the Bruins traded away valuable components in star left winger Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo. They kickstarted a retool and drafted James Hagens last Friday.
There was potential to bounce right back into the competitive picture, and now, nothing Sweeney has done thus far this off-season convinces us that the Bruins will return to being formidable playoff contenders anytime soon. It's up to the team to prove people wrong.
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