The Boston Bruins managed to win a first-round series in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, but their hole at the first-line center spot was glaring. Will they find their saving grace this off-season? Adam Proteau has his thoughts.
In some ways, the Boston Bruins defied expectations this season, shrugging off the retirements of veteran stars Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to finish second in the Atlantic Division and win their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But as they discovered in their second-round series loss to the Florida Panthers, the Bruins are no longer a truly elite team. And one of the biggest reasons why that has to do with their situation at the center position.
Indeed, with Bergeron and Krejci leaving a massive hole down the middle this past year, the Bruins didn’t have the depth and high-end skill at center that the Panthers and other legit Cup front-runners possess. And there’s going to be a massive temptation on Bruins management to go out and acquire a No. 1 center – a temptation that could lead to disastrous results.
With star Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins are set in net. And with defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm, they’re good to go on the blueline. But it’s that center spot that sticks out like a sore thumb. Charlie Coyle had a career-best year on offense with 25 goals and 60 points, but those are hardly elite first-line center numbers. And second-line pivot Morgan Geekie (17 goals, 39 points) is more of a third-liner. But what options are realistic for Boston to bring in a first-line center?
To be sure, the Bruins could throw a lot of money – much of their current $23.5 million in salary cap – at a looming UFA like Canucks center Elias Lindholm to be their first-line center. But from this writer’s perspective, that would be a mistake. The 29-year-old Lindholm produced just 15 goals and 44 points in 75 games this past season, his worst totals in those categories since the 2017-18 campaign. Lindholm cost himself a lot of money with his sub-par season, and while some team is going to give him a significant raise on the $4.85 million he earned in 2023-24, it shouldn’t be the Bruins.
The challenge for Bruins GM Don Sweeney will be to identify a center who no longer fits into his current team’s plans/budget, and the best choice might be longtime Vegas Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson, a UFA who generated 16 goals and 51 points in 75 games last year. He’s capable of more offense than that, though, as evidenced by his 21-goal, 64-point campaign in 2021-22. Stephenson also won’t cost Boston as much as Lindholm would, with Stephenson coming off a $2.75-million cap hit last season. And Stephenson’s pedigree as a two-time Cup winner would fit in very nicely with the Bruins’ culture.
A longer-shot candidate for Boston might be current Anaheim Ducks center Trevor Zegras. Many stars would have to line up perfectly for the Bruins to be in a position to trade for Zegras; Sweeney might have interest in peddling veteran goalie Linus Ullmark in a deal for Zegras, but that would mean the Ducks first have to find a new home for current No. 1 goalie John Gibson, and that’s easier said than done. But the 23-year-old Zegras does have connections to the Boston area – he played one season at Boston University – and his upside on offense is better than Lindholm’s or Stephenson’s. But again, his services won’t come cheaply.
Regardless of who they identify and acquire down the middle, Boston’s needs at center are obvious. In an Atlantic Division that has stars Auston Matthews, Tim Stutzle and Aleksander Barkov occupying their team’s No. 1 center spot, the Bruins have to manufacture a first-line center of their own. There are trap solutions out there like Lindholm, and any team that gives up a top-line center usually does so because that player has their blemishes. But bringing back Coyle in the first-line center spot wouldn’t bode well for Boston’s chances of going on a deep post-season run next year. Replacing what Bergeron and Krejci brought to the table couldn’t be done this season, and Sweeney has to know it’s only going to get more difficult from here with the same lineup.
Boston’s downfall this season was their depth up front, and now they’ve got to make some precision roster surgery to avoid the same fate in 2024-25. First-line centers don’t grow on trees, but somehow, Sweeney and the Bruins need to make a veteran addition that can push them deeper in the playoffs next year. If they don’t, more disappointment awaits.