The Boston Bruins have been one of the NHL’s most active teams this offseason.
They traded away Linus Ullmark and spent a franchise-record $92 million in free agency on nine players, including splurging on Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to address key needs in the middle of the ice and on the blue line.
But even with all the moves that general manager Don Sweeney has made this summer, the one that still remains–aside from reaching an agreement on a contract extension with restricted free agent goalie Jeremy Swayman–is adding another goal scorer.
Plenty of players capable of putting the puck in the back of the net were available on the open market, but with glaring holes elsewhere on their roster and only so many funds available to work with, the Bruins opted to prioritize fortifying their defense.
“The depth of our defense is the strength of our hockey club, and I wanted to make sure we had those foundational pieces in place,” Sweeney said on July 1. “I think this group, as a whole, we can tease a little more offense out of it.”
The Bruins are approaching this season with an offense-by-committee attitude. Out of all the players currently listed on their roster, only David Pastrnak scored more than 30 goals last season. While Pastrnak is a perennial candidate for the Rocket Richard Trophy, which the latest odds have him among the favorites to win once again, the Bruins will need to add some more firepower if they hope to make a deep playoff run.
While the Bruins hope that internal candidates such as prospects Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov can take the next step, they remain unproven commodities. At this point, most of the prime free agents have already signed elsewhere, and there are few goal-scoring options left unsigned. But perhaps the Bruins could add some offensive depth by trading for a player with close ties to the Boston area.
If the name Oliver Wahlstrom sounds familiar, it may be because you saw him score an insane, spinning backhand goal in a Bruins mini 1-on-1 competition back in 2010 at the age of nine.
