Bruins roster reset: Salary cap space, free agents entering offseason

Bruins roster reset: Salary cap space, free agents entering offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins’ run in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs is over.

They were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference second-round series Friday night at TD Garden.

Overall, it was a successful season for the Original Six franchise. After losing so many important players (such as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci) last summer, the Bruins were expected by most experts and fans to be a wild card team in 2023-24, but they actually were in contention for the Presidents’ Trophy right up until the last couple days of the regular season.

They also advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2021 after beating the rival Toronto Maple Leafs in a dramatic overtime of Game 7 in Round 1.

The Bruins have a good foundation to work with entering the summer, but there are plenty of roster weaknesses to address. One that immediately comes to mind is getting another top-six forward, either a natural goal scorer or a playmaking center.

Here’s some important information to keep in mind as we get ready for what should be a busy offseason for the Bruins.

The salary cap for the 2023-24 season was $83.5 million, but for the Bruins it was essentially $79 million because they had $4.5 million in cap overages from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s 2022-23 contracts.

The salary cap ceiling is expected to rise $4.2 million to $87.7 million for the 2024-25 campaign. Using that number, the Bruins are projected to have $20.9 million in cap space this summer, per CapFriendly. This number could increase if the Bruins make a trade or two. For example, trading Linus Ullmark (and his $5 million cap hit) would free up some extra room.

The Bruins had almost no salary cap space last offseason and were forced to go bargain bin shopping in free agency as a result. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney deserves credit for finding some good value in those signings, most notably Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Geekie.

Sweeney will have much more flexibility to work with this summer, but as we detail below, the Bruins also have some important players who are able to become free agents. Some of them won’t be cheap to re-sign.

2024 NHL Draft picks (and beyond)The Bruins currently don’t own a pick until the fourth round in the 2024 NHL Draft. Unless the B’s trade back into Round 1, they will not make a first-round pick for the fifth time in the last seven drafts.

They also don’t have a second- or fourth-round pick in 2025. The next year in which the B’s own all their draft picks is 2026.

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