3 Bruins Free Agents Most Likely to Sign With a New Team

Koepke was a bright spot last season, particularly in the first month when nothing seemed to go right. He arrived with few expectations of making the roster and now seems likely to depart the organization for a bigger paycheck and an expanded role elsewhere. 

He’s still only 27 years old, with room to grow in the right environment. With all the young players on the Bruins fighting for roster spots in 2025-26 that the front office should be inclined to give opportunities to, there might not be room to give Koepke the role and opportunity he deserves after a breakout season. I think there is a team willing to give him a two-year deal with a $2-$3 million average annual value (AAV), but I don’t think that team will be the Bruins.

Brandon Bussi

The Bruins had two young and talented goaltenders in rotation in Providence last season: Brandon Bussi and Michael DiPietro. Both are UFAs this summer, and given what everyone just witnessed in the postseason, there is a good chance that the goaltender market will be hot.

John Gibson was already acquired via trade by the Detroit Red Wings during the NHL Draft (from “Red Wings trade or Ducks goalie John Gibson, send out Petr Mrazek and draft picks,” Detroit Free Press, June 28, 2025). While there are some decent free agents hitting the market, there could be some interest in Bussi and DiPietro from teams looking to nab an NHL backup.

In a perfect world, the Bruins would be able to hold onto both goalies, but there’s a good chance they’ll only be able to keep one. I think they’d be more inclined to keep DiPietro, especially if a Joonas Korpisalo trade materializes in the next few days, leaving the backup position open. While both goaltenders had good seasons in 2024-25, DiPietro has a slight edge. He had a .927 save percentage (SV%) and 2.05 goals-against average (GAA) in 40 games, while Bussi had a .907 SV% and 2.77 GAA in 33 games.

Parker Wotherspoon

Parker Wotherspoon has been a solid seventh defenseman for the Bruins, and he could get a better deal elsewhere that will give him more playing time. The team’s blue line is coming off a pretty rough season, and the front office will be looking to make changes. They already traded Brandon Carlo at the deadline and brought in Henri Jokiharju, who the team seems very interested in re-signing.

While Wotherspoon has been solid, he isn’t the solution, and there is a good chance the front office’s focus will be elsewhere, leaving the door open for another team to give him a better option. He’s been a good player in Boston, and while it wouldn’t be a bad thing to see him return, there’s a pretty solid chance that he doesn’t.

The Bruins have also already brought in a potential replacement for Wotherspoon in Victor Soderstrom. The 2019 first-round pick is set to return to North America in 2025-26 after a season resetting in Sweden. The front office will be hoping he makes a push for a full-time NHL role, and if not, could easily slot into the seventh defenseman spot after a strong season playing in Europe.

2025 NHL Free Agency Arrives

The Bruins need to nail the offseason if they want to start turning things around. After what many are initially saying is an excellent draft, the next step is getting free agency right. They made some big splashes last summer to mixed results in 2024-25, so the pressure is on for GM Don Sweeney and the rest of the front office.

They need to bring in at least one solid winger and a defenseman while signing their priority RFAs to fair deals that won’t sour relations between the player and the organization. While they have some solid UFAs, there aren’t really any names that would be truly devastating for them to lose on July 1. Retaining Jokiharju seems to be the goal right now, but even if he signs elsewhere, it would not be a season-derailing loss. But if the Bruins play this right and can finally get some of their talented young players into full-time NHL roles, 2025-26 could and should have a very different feel than 2024-25.