The Boston Bruins have decisions to make on their expiring contracts before free agency opens on July 1. Based on factors such as roster needs and players' talent, we are ranking the 10 most important free agents and predicting their future in Boston.
With just under one month remaining until free agency opens, we will be going over the top 10 free agents for the Boston Bruins.
These are all “in-house” options that they will have to decide between keeping or letting go. This is not covering potential free agent targets on other teams.
Additionally, the ranking has less to do with the talent or production of the player, but rather the importance of the decision. Obviously each player’s ability factors into that determination, but based on the make-up of the roster and the team’s most-pressing needs, a ‘better’ player may not be as big a priority as a player in another position.
You can find the rest of the list so far below:
Today we look at No. 6:
6. Brandon Bussi, Goaltender
Age: 26*
2023-24 AHL stats: 23-10-5, 2.67 GAA, 0.913 SV%
Previous contract: 1 year, $775k ($100k minors)
Total Years with Bruins organization: 2
*= Will be 26 by the start of next season
Where Bussi should stand among these top 10 free agents depends on what the Bruins do with the two goalies above him on the organizational depth chart. If the Bruins decide to keep Linus Ullmark for the final year of his contract, Bussi would not be nearly as big a factor in next season's plans. However, if the Bruins manage to trade Ullmark, Bussi suddenly becomes much more important.
Would an Ullmark trade guarantee Bussi becomes the No. 2 behind Jeremy Swayman next season? No, he hasn’t even played an NHL game yet. There will be a handful of viable backups with NHL experience on the open market, which the Bruins may opt to go with if Ullmark is gone and Swayman gets the lionshare of the workload for the first time in his Bruins career (during the regular season, at least).
But Bussi is younger than almost all of them, and given his performance in the AHL the past two seasons, the amount of money he would save in cap space relative to Ullmark’s $5 million and his standing in the organization, he’d probably have the inside track.
Another wrinkle to the decision will be Bussi’s waiver eligibility. For the first two years since he signed his entry-level contract in 2022, Bussi could move between the NHL and AHL rosters without having to pass through waivers first. That exemption has expired, so the Bruins would risk losing him if they decided to keep Bussi and send him down to the minors going forward. That makes the decision on whether or not to keep him even more pressing.
Prediction: He re-signs
Ullmark’s no-trade clause will make it difficult, but I believe the Bruins will make a deal to send him away at some point in the offseason. The potential return would be intriguing, but that’ll be a topic for another day.
If that indeed comes to fruition, Bussi will become extremely important to the team’s immediate plans. He’s a restricted free agent, so the Bruins will have the control over the situation.
Given all the factors, I believe the Bruins will enter 2024-25 with Bussi as Swayman's backup.
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