BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 30: David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with Brandon Carlo #25 after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Stanley Cup Final is almost finished. The greatest trophy in all of sports will be in the building Tuesday night and the Florida Panthers have the chance to capture their first ever Stanley Cup. However, the work in the offseason is already beginning for the other 30 teams, as they begin to plan their next moves this summer.
Free agency is not far away (July 1), and the NHL Draft (June 28) is right before it. Some teams are willing to trade their draft picks in order to upgrade their teams and some key players could be available for trade. For the Boston Bruins, the biggest trade chip they have is goaltender Linus Ullmark. The return for Ullmark remains to be seen, but there is an area that the Bruins need to improve on.
The Area of Improvement
Goal scoring, goal scoring, and more goal scoring. If there is an area of improvement for the Bruins, it is getting more goals. It’s not to say they were bad in that area entirely. As a team during the 2023-24 regular season, they finished 13th in goals scored with 263. Also, they saw players such as Morgan Geekie, Charlie Coyle, and Pavel Zacha have career seasons. It was huge to see those guys seize bigger roles and become impactful depth players. However, that goal scoring dried up in the playoffs and took a turn in the opposite direction.
After a hot start to the playoffs, Brad Marchand didn’t score a goal the rest of the way, and both Coyle and Zacha combined for two goals the entire postseason. The impactful depth that was evident in the regular season was shut down, and in key moments. At the end of the season, general manager Don Sweeney eluded to it in his exit interview by saying,
“It reared its head at the most inopportune time,” Sweeney said, “that we weren’t able to finish in quality chances, and in some cases, guys that generally do finish in quality situations of that nature.”
For the Bruins, there are options this offseason to add additional scoring. The free agency class has standout players such as Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart and Steven Stamkos. While spending in free agency is crucial, Sweeney could turn to the trade market. The player that the Bruins should look at and target is Nikolaj Ehlers.
The Player Ehlers Is
The Bruins need an influx of goal scoring. For the second year in a row, David Pastrnak led the team in goals and was the only player to score beyond 30 during the 2023-24 season. It remains to be seen if Jake DeBrusk is coming back, so inquiring about Ehlers makes sense for the Bruins.
