The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers both made some moves, but it appears that the Boston Bruins will again pose a threat to them. Although Steven Stamkos was lost, Jake Guentzel proved to be the perfect substitute for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Thus, should we have hope that the Bruins may reclaim the Atlantic over the Florida Panthers, or did they fall short of their division rivals in free agency? Let’s discuss it.
One, save for the Chicago Blackhawks, who could have prevailed, you couldn’t have asked for a better hour (or so) of free agency from any franchise. The Utah Hockey Club (having made deals in the past) and the Washington Capitals received honorable honors. But seriously, general manager Don Sweeney deserves a lot of credit for landing Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm, even if it meant losing Jake DeBrusk to another team.
The Bruins had one of the most successful free agent frenzys of any team.
Despite being forwards, Elias Lindholm and Jake DeBrusk technically play different positions, so if you had to choose, I would choose the former. While I did include that I wanted to see the Bruins retain DeBrusk in my offseason checklist, I also mentioned that they needed to do more than just make an announcement on July 1st; in addition, Elias Lindholm was listed as “ideal” with Sam Reinhart and Jake Guentzel.
In general, he is a better player than DeBrusk, who strangely joined the formidable Vancouver Canucks. When Lindholm gets into his flow, the seasoned veteran can score goals. The Bruins only won 49.5 percent of faceoffs throughout the regular season last year.
Both Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov significantly improve the Bruins
The best part yet is that Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm have been teammates since their time in Calgary, so there is chemistry here as well, which is always a positive. In fact, Zadorov may play second or even third pairing minutes, which would improve an already excellent penalty kill.
With Jeremy Swayman in goal, there’s also a decent chance he won’t be found out of position too much, and you shouldn’t anticipate him to be held accountable for too many goals allowed. As this squad is designed to hit—Lindholm hit 27.5 runs per game last season—you can anticipate this kind of play to continue in Boston. Lindholm is also a physically strong guy who can pitch in defensively.
It is clear from this that Lindholm is a better player than DeBrusk, even though the latter struggled in the regular season after being traded to Vancouver. Additionally, both players are consistent with the Bruins brand. That should be viewed as an added benefit since it suggests they will get along with their new teammates sooner rather than later.
Furthermore, it will be considerably simpler for them to adjust to head coach Jim Montgomery’s system because they have already been teammates. They are now ahead of teams like the Lightning, who, in spite of signing Jake Guentzel, just lost their captain to the Nashville Predators. There will be a change there.
Sam Reinhart, one of the Panthers’ best players, was retained, but the team also lost defensemen Oliver Eckman-Larsson and Brandon Montour, forwards Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Stenlund, and backup goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz.
You may argue that the Bruins at least drew nearer to the Stanley Cup Champions, but Florida only gained Tomas Nosek and a few more low-tier players who will all be depth guys.
Lightning, how do the Bruins match up with the Maple Leafs?
The Toronto Maple Leafs were defeated by the Boston Bruins both in the regular season and the postseason. Considering the Leafs’ lackluster performance—I can’t help but notice that they also made the Panthers weaker—I have no doubt that Boston is at least one level above one of their all-time greatest rivals. Though we won’t know for sure until the 2024–25 campaign is underway, the Bruins, at least theoretically, improved their squad significantly more than the Leafs.
In terms of the Lightning, they were mediocre but not outstanding the previous season, and even with the addition of Jake Guentzel, you could argue they lost more games than they won. They still have a solid core of players, and they rank in the top four or, in the worst case scenario, the top five teams in the Atlantic. Nevertheless, the Bruins are still ahead of Tampa unless Guentzel turns out to be a real game-changer, which he is not.
With the Stanley Cup still in the rearview mirror and one day of a free agent frenzy, I won’t go so far as to claim the Bruins are on par with the Panthers. But those two major shifts brought them closer to Florida.
Yes, the Bruins also lost a number of players, but at least they were able to replace Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk. On the other hand, I wouldn’t exactly classify Matt Gryzelcyk, Pat Maroon, or Derek Forbort as significant losses. Thus, after a big day of free agency, the Bruins are, at worst, the second-best club in the Atlantic, and they could even overtake Florida.
