Boston Bruins 2026 OFFSEASON Roster & Salary Cap V

[chizzler]

I do not think this is a relevant question really. I feel the more relevant question is are they earning the contract they have and yes is the answer for both. Geekie is locked up long term on a team friendly contract. Zacha is entering his final year and will be getting a significant raise, as he should. therefore the question becomes is he more valuable in a trade or signed to a new contract.

Personally ,I think Zacha should be kept till trade dead line and a decision made at that time

What if he gets hurt. It always happens to them. Trade him now and go after a high pick that teams are trying to get out of. Not sure the 2nd is feasible.

 

[DKH]

We need to ban @DKH from going all in on players as targets for the Bruins. Every time he does they sign somewhere else

The Bruins are in a tight spot here. They badly need defensive help but the market just continues to contract. Raddysh is gone. I want no part of Andersson or Klingberg and I'd need a lot of convincing to consider Trouba. Carlson and Burns are too old. There's precious little else. Ryan Shea perhaps. He just had a really nice year in Pittsburgh. A reasonable offer might be of interest there.

Bottom line though is that building on what the Bruins have at present is going to be really tough work. Maybe this forces them to give in-house talent more opportunity. Which perhaps might not be the worst thing in the world.

Here is my target and why

The Knies thing is interesting

1. his GF plays for Boston Fleet, he’s been around Boston. She went in PWHL expansion draft to Detroit last next and day back to Boston

2. The Leafs - Habs rumor is ‘we will trade him’ leaked for a reason with the package 2 firsts & a top prospect & another player

*That is a plant and saying we will trade in Division to our hated rival Montreal *

3. To me it’s
*We (Toronto) will trade him
*We will trade in division (if Montreal certainly Boston)
*Two firsts & top winger and secondary but good player
All lines up

So the picks would be Boston 2026 first & Toronto 2028 first

The player myself & Lou came out with same guy ~ Letourneau

The 4th piece / we both had Poitras but I’m Toronto o want Kuzy but I’m good with Matty P

Let’s be real the rumor was so detailed and they missed by one minute ?? ???? Shhhhhhhure they did

Also it’s Montreal code for Boston

Leafs pick has SUPER value but really only to Leafs

They can’t feel free without that pick in 28 to really operate - the one in 27 is offset by the Colorado deal they got for Roy

 

[Bruin4]

Here is my target and why

The Knies thing is interesting

1. his GF plays for Boston Fleet, he’s been around Boston. She went in PWHL expansion draft to Detroit last next and day back to Boston

2. The Leafs - Habs rumor is ‘we will trade him’ leaked for a reason with the package 2 firsts & a top prospect & another player

*That is a plant and saying we will trade in Division to our hated rival Montreal *

3. To me it’s
*We (Toronto) will trade him
*We will trade in division (if Montreal certainly Boston)
*Two firsts & top winger and secondary but good player
All lines up

So the picks would be Boston 2026 first & Toronto 2028 first

The player myself & Lou came out with same guy ~ Letourneau

The 4th piece / we both had Poitras but I’m Toronto o want Kuzy but I’m good with Matty P

Let’s be real the rumor was so detailed and they missed by one minute ?? ???? Shhhhhhhure they did

Also it’s Montreal code for Boston

Leafs pick has SUPER value but really only to Leafs

They can’t feel free without that pick in 28 to really operate - the one in 27 is offset by the Colorado deal they got for Roy

Yea, he’s not going anywhere

 

[bme44]

What if he gets hurt. It always happens to them. Trade him now and go after a high pick that teams are trying to get out of. Not sure the 2nd is feasible.

Personally I think it all depends on what Zacha's next contract looks like. I think he wants to stay in Boston. IF he can be signed to a team friendly contract sign him.

 

[goldenblack]

When the Bruins acquired Zacha at 25 he had averaged like 25-35 points/season.... career high 17 goals. he was 46% in the the dot over his career at that point. Former #6 overall.

No question Zacha is a better player today.

McTavish appears like a player who is similarly stalled in his development. Maybe in need of a change of scenery to unlock that next gear.

But where, on the wing? He's blocked all up and down at C.

And at 7M per there's not that much edge on salary as there was with Zacha. You gotta hope there's a bit more to McTavish because his contract is long and he's already paid 7M. You can't afford to be wrong...

 

[wintersej]

It's Hampus. It's been Hampus since they acquired him and they just never run them together for any extended stretches. Rantanen even had an interview a while ago where he said that when those two are on the ice together it's the hardest D pair in the league to play against.

Yeah, but they didn’t have enough quality guys to handle the other 35 minutes of the game.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Here is my target and why

The Knies thing is interesting

1. his GF plays for Boston Fleet, he’s been around Boston. She went in PWHL expansion draft to Detroit last next and day back to Boston

2. The Leafs - Habs rumor is ‘we will trade him’ leaked for a reason with the package 2 firsts & a top prospect & another player

*That is a plant and saying we will trade in Division to our hated rival Montreal *

3. To me it’s
*We (Toronto) will trade him
*We will trade in division (if Montreal certainly Boston)
*Two firsts & top winger and secondary but good player
All lines up

So the picks would be Boston 2026 first & Toronto 2028 first

The player myself & Lou came out with same guy ~ Letourneau

The 4th piece / we both had Poitras but I’m Toronto o want Kuzy but I’m good with Matty P

Let’s be real the rumor was so detailed and they missed by one minute ?? ???? Shhhhhhhure they did

Also it’s Montreal code for Boston

Leafs pick has SUPER value but really only to Leafs

They can’t feel free without that pick in 28 to really operate - the one in 27 is offset by the Colorado deal they got for Roy

It makes zero sense for Toronto to trade Knies unless they're going for a full tear-it-down to the bones rebuild. And that's surely not their Plan A, just as it wasn't Boston's last year. He's 23, on a good contract for another 5 years, and while he's not the greatest player ever, he's clearly high quality and has proven he has a pulse. Exactly the sort of guy you re-tool around, and those sort are rare.

And even if they did, the return would have to be huge. The two firsts, yeah I get that. But the players you suggested, surely not. Letourneau (who I like the sound of) is nothing but potential, and Poitras (again I like the kid) has let's be honest proven nothing yet and has the distinct disadvantage of being both undersized and, to be charitable, not fast. If I'm a Leafs fan I absolutely crucify Chayka over that deal, especially to a hated rival.

It's the Leafs, so doing stupid stuff is in their DNA. In which case never say never and if I'm Sweeney I absolutely take that deal. But they'd be looney even by their standards to go for something like this.

With that said, if in 12 months' time the Leafs have another terrible year and Matthews has left the building, then maybe we come back around to this.......

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Yea, he’s not going anywhere

To be fair, Chayka didn't outright say "no" when he easily could have. As I just said in my preceding post, it really makes no sound sense for them to trade Knies. But that sort of non-committal statement actually makes you wonder just a little bit....

 

[PlayMakers]

Team isn’t ready for such a move. Is EP considered a big move?

Yeah, I'd say so.

 

[Bruin4]

To be fair, Chayka didn't outright say "no" when he easily could have. As I just said in my preceding post, it really makes no sound sense for them to trade Knies. But that sort of non-committal statement actually makes you wonder just a little bit....

It’s his job to listen, and even if he did say “no” it wouldn’t mean squat. Most GM’s aren’t going to show their hand.

 

[CellyHard]

I was just looking at the speed of the roster and came up pretty amazed at how medicore our top six is. Just looking at bursts 20+ mph because I think it’s a good benchmark for elite in-game pace. 22+ mph is more for top gear.

In any regard, Kastelic was 63 in the league, Minten 150, Khusnutdinov 171 and Jeannot 179. All things considered, our bottom six next year looks primed to have good legs.

Mittelstadt, Arvi, Zacha, Pasta and Geekie were all between 300-350, which isn’t bad, it just doesn’t have any elite level to it. Lindholm was 562…

In terms of FA, Bobby McMann is 13, Mikheyev is 37, Roslovic 47

They stand out as the cheapest (in terms of assets) if you really want to improve speed like management has suggested.

 

[The don godfather]

From all that's out there in free agency Tuch is the best with the most impact. Get him.

 

[Ladyfan]

It is a beautiful morning.

Time to step away from HF and breath the fresh air

 

[everett rats]

Brunet is a left shot and given your stellar track record I’d wager you’ve never watched him once


Do you ever actually gather evidence to inform your opinions or do you rub the Fushigi ball that’s been sitting under your bed the last 30 years every morning for guidance?

I never said he was a righty I said they need one and yes I have watched him and there's a reason they did not call him up once last year. He's not ready just like you all rushing hagens I told you he wasn't ready how did he look?

 

[everett rats]

Yes he is. He was ready last year too.

He can and has played both sides.

He is not ready and it was proven last year if he was they would have called him up

 

[everett rats]

Here we go again…

Yep I guess I was wrong about hagens to he clearly looked like he was ready for the NHL in the few games he played

 

[Hookslide]

I think they will re-sign Zacha and announce his number retirement night on the same day.

Ozzy, I sense just a little sarcasm in that statement........

 

[everett rats]

based on what? I don't watch all that much Prov but everyone I know that does seems to think he's ready.

Except for the professionals that run the Boston bruins who all felt he was not ready for a call up last year despite using many different Providence defense throughout the season

 

[everett rats]

Not sure. Neely said in the end of year press conference that they don’t have a number 1 center and that they need to address it.

Exactly so until we get that one can we not try to trade the number two center

 

[GHFC79]

I think people are acting as though Zacha is already 34. He's not. He's 29 and won't turn 30 until April 2027.

If he signs an eight-year extension tomorrow, he'd spend most of that contract in what is traditionally still a productive age range for NHL forwards.

The other factor people ignore is the cap environment. If the cap keeps rising by $10M+ annually, an $8M-$9M cap hit won't look nearly as intimidating a few years from now.

And unlike many players, Zacha brings value in almost every situation. Center, wing, PK, PP, faceoffs, offensive role, defensive role, he can do all of it.

I really don't understand the urgency to move him. I don't think we'd get a player of similar quality, versatility, or importance back. And that's before considering leadership, familiarity, and chemistry. Whether people like it or not, he's part of the current veteran core alongside McAvoy, Pastrnak, H. Lindholm, etc...

 

[Bruin4]

The Bruins need help everywhere, but Imo Nurse isn’t the answer and this a big nothing burger

 

[Bruinfanatic]

The Bruins need help everywhere, but Imo Nurse isn’t the answer and this a big nothing burger

With a $9.2 million cap hit ,no way.

 

[Oates2Neely]

The Bruins need help everywhere, but Imo Nurse isn’t the answer and this a big nothing burger

Lol that’s such an absurd proposal! Nobody wants Nurse, especially at that cap hit!

 

[UncleRico]

Exactly so until we get that one can we not try to trade the number two center

No absolutely not.

This is a discussion board.

There are rumors of Bruins shopping Zacha from prominent people in the league and Neely himself has said this team doesn’t have a number 1 center and they are are in the market for one.

Naturally people are going to be discussing Zacha in trade possibilities considering the circumstances.

If you can’t handle trade talks best to come back in a couple months.

 

[The don godfather]

Tuch or bust let's go!