A look at where every 2022-23 Bruins player landed in free agency
The Bruins were always going to take some losses — and heavy ones at that — when the start of free agency began.
Operating with limited capital, even after giving away Taylor Hall and buying out the final year of Mike Reilly’s contract, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney knew that the Bruins were going to go through some massive changes this summer. Sweeney acknowledged as much back in May, outright telling reporters that the Bruins would not be the same team they were during an NHL record-breaking regular season from both a wins and points standpoint.
And it didn’t take long for the familiar names to start flying off the board last week.
So far, that number is up to 11 players who have found new homes for 2022-23, and the odds are strong that that number will only jump between now and the time the doors open on 2023 training camp around the NHL. Especially with bargain prices being the name of the game in a free agent market that undoubtedly suffered from what was an almost flat salary cap, with the 2023-24 ceiling rising just $1 million from last year’s figure.
Here’s a look at who the Bruins lose, both at the Boston and Providence level, with the dust settling on the ‘frenzy’ part of free agency’s opening week of action…
Tyler Bertuzzi
The obvious big loss of the group, winger Tyler Bertuzzi left the Bruins for a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Maple Leafs. Speaking in the opening hours of free agency, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney felt that the Bruins were out of the running for Bertuzzi because both of the ‘term’ and ‘AAV’ that Bertuzzi was projected to make on his next deal. Things obviously didn’t play out that way, and the Bruins had already pivoted to other business by the time that Bertuzzi’s camp had tried pivoting their own direction away from a big-money, long-term deal.
In Toronto, Bertuzzi will get the chance to absolutely juice his value to the moon, and re-enter the free agent market in 2024 in search of the long-term deal he thought he was going to get this time around. The Maple Leafs are a great spot for Bertuzzi to make that happen, too, especially if it he ends up on a line with Auston Matthews, which certainly seems like a realistic possibility with the Leafs in need of a replacement for Michael Bunting.
As for why that deal didn’t happen with the Bruins? A one-year deal never came up in Boston’s talks with Bertuzzi, and the Bruins weren’t interesting in giving away another player or two to fit Bertuzzi into the mix at that price point, especially with the Bruins still having to fill out a full roster.
