Bruins Continue Disturbing Free Agent Trend

The Boston Bruins were relatively quiet during the first day of unrestricted free agency. The organization stayed out of the race for top prizes like Vladislav Gavrikov, Brock Boeser, Mikael Granlund or Cody Ceci.

Instead the Bruins opted to sign gritty winger Tanner Jeannot to a five-year contract worth a total of $17 million. The deal will pay him an average annual salary of $3.4 million.

Did the Bruins not learn their lesson from last season?

Flash back to the summer of 2024. The Bruins, a team on the edge of a rebuild, go out and land two of the biggest fish in free agency. They signed center Elias Lindholm to a massive, seven-year contract and added bruising defender Nikita Zadorov on a long-term deal as well. In total, they spent nearly $85 million and tied themselves to Lindholm and Zadorov for at least six seasons.

One year later, those deals already look like mistakes.

So what do the Bruins do this summer after learning the lesson of overpaying on the first day of free agency? They overpay on the first day of free agency and sign the worst contract of the summer again.

This is no disrespect toward Jeannot. The bottom-six forward plays his role. He hits hard, skates hard toward the puck, can fight and occasionally chips in some offense. That’s all well and good, it’s just not worth a five-year commitment worth over $3 million per season.

The Bruins seemingly can’t help themselves once free agency opens. They see an exciting, shiny new player and throw everything at them to sign. It makes no sense. The Bruins are a team on the decline, but they continue to pursue players that won’t help them in the long-term but cost them money and roster spots. The disturbing trend continues in Boston, as they can’t crack the free agency window.