The Boston Bruins added much-needed depth by signing Jesper Boqvist to a one-year contract worth $775,000 on Wednesday.
The New Jersey Devils selected Boqvist in the second round of the 2017 NHL draft but allowed him to walk this offseason after 189 games with the club.
While Boqvist has not yet justified his second-round grade, he has shown flashes in the NHL. His 10-goal, 21-point effort in 70 games during 2022-23 followed a 23-point season in 56 games the year before.
Coach Jim Montgomery and the Bruins should be able to explore the upper limit of the Swede’s potential on a team that has changed drastically this summer.
GM Don Sweeney traded Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno to the Chicago Blackhawks in a cap dump, defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Connor Clifton walked in free agency, and Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci will likely retire.
With a thin prospect pool and most of their money tied into David Pastrnak’s monster extension, a reclamation project like Boqvist represents a low-risk, high-reward play by Sweeney.
Elsewhere in the lineup, big-name veterans like returning 2011 Stanley Cup champion Milan Lucic, left wing James van Riemsdyk and 890-game veteran Kevin Shattenkirk will plug holes in the short term.
Although Boqvist, free-agent acquisition Morgan Geekie and the assortment of aging former stars could give the Bruins enough of a boost to keep their contention window open another year without future Hall of Famer Bergeron playing for peanuts, Montgomery and Sweeney will need to work fast to avoid having to rebuild around Pastrnak.
Boston will likely spend its remaining cap space, a little over $5.4 million, on restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic in the coming days.
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