Steve Conroy Boston Herald (TNS)
BOSTON — When the Boston Bruins were bounced from the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, coach Jim Montgomery lamented the lack of scoring from his team in the series.
“You can’t win every game 2-1,” said the downcast Montgomery at the time.
Well, it looks like they may have to win some more 2-1 games in 2024-25. But at least now they should be more equipped to do so.
Leaning into their historical identity, the B’s shored up the middle of the ice by signing two-way centerman Elias Lindholm and then added beef on the back end with 6-foot-6, 250-pound defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
As is often the case on Day One of free agency, the prices were steep but, in the B’s situation this summer, not prohibitive. Lindholm signed for seven years at an average annual value of $7.75 million while Zadorov signed for six years at $5 million AAV.
Lindholm and Zadorov are not Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, but it’s hard not to see the organizational lineage.
“To have those two targets in the areas that we had identified independently with our scouting staff and coaches and merging with what they would like to see in players coming here, I’m checking off the box for two guys that acknowledged what our culture is and what our intentions are and want to come and join that,” said GM Don Sweeney, who was also excited by the more modest signing of forward Max Jones (two years at $1 million AAV).
“Max has been an intriguing player, not just because of where he was drafted (24th overall in 2016) but the size of the player (6-foot-3, 215), the forecheck, the ability to possess pucks. He’s shown a willingness to get to the net. Can he finish a little more if he’s pushed up the lineup? That’s what we’re going to find out.”
Picking up a strong two-way centerman who can play both the power play and the penalty kill, put up points of his own and facilitate for a player like David Pastrnak was key for Sweeney. He lauded the seasons that Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha had in taking over for the retired Bergeorn and David Krejci last year. And he spoke of the promise of young center Matt Poitras.
But Sweeney also conceded that there was slippage at the position in the playoffs, enough that he had to make a major acquisition in Lindholm, for whom Sweeney conceded he was on the hunt for two years.
“You start to realize that ‘OK, that’s a little bit of what we had and what we missed,’” said Sweeney.
On the mammoth Zadorov, his strong payoff run in Vancouver (5-5-10 in 13 games) was an eye-opener, but Sweeney felt he started to turn the corner before that. The GM suggested that he could be a top pairing partner with Charlie McAvoy but also said there are a number of possibilities.
“I think playing for (Darryl) Sutter (in Calgary) was really important for him and got him into an understanding of what he’s capable of doing each and every night,” said Sweeney. “Then going to Vancouver and playing in the playoff environment, you really started to see the player he’s capable of being. His game has continued to evolve and that’s exciting to us in realizing how he can complement a number of different partners, depending on how Monty and the staff wants to align him.”
Hovering over the proceedings on Monday was the fact that goalie Jeremy Swayman has yet to be signed, and his number could come in close to $8 million a season. In a perfect world, Sweeney would have been able to sign a scoring winger who could replace the departing Jake DeBrusk’s goals but any Swayman deal, which Sweeney again termed a priority, did not leave the B’s enough in cap space to make more of a splash at the wing position.
Instead, it opens the door wide for Fabian Lysell or Georgii Merkulov or Riley Duran from Providence to grab a spot, or the newly acquired Jones to play higher in the lineup.
Sweeney’s message to Lysell and the rest of the young forwards?
“Just pin your ears back, train your ass off this summer and come with the intent that there’ll be an opportunity here. If you’re the best player then we’ll find a way to get you in the lineup,” said Sweeney. “Those guys should have clear intentions to find an opportunity to beat someone out. Because it’ll be there.”
Nearly two months since being eliminated, Sweeney is still smarting over the loss to the Panthers. He felt Games 4 and 6 were winnable and that the B’s should have at least pushed the series to a Game 7 with the eventual champs. Playoff games come down to one or two plays, and the B’s just didn’t make enough of them.
“That would be the one single push-back I’d have on Monty in his comment. Yeah, you can win 2-1 in those situations. Because you probably have to more often than not. The margins are small,” he said.
If the players live up to their contracts, Sweeney closed those margins on Monday.
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