What’s next for the Boston Bruins?

Times are changing in Boston.

Last off-season, the Bruins opted not to re-sign captain @Zdeno Chara or veteran defenceman @Torey Krug. This summer, @Tuukka Rask and @David Krejci, two of the four remaining members from Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup team, will also become free agents.

The Bruins put together a strong season in 2021, going 33-16-7, good for third in the East Division. They navigated depth scoring issues by acquiring @Taylor Hall at the trade deadline and plowed through the Washington Capitals in the first round. After that, though, Boston got ousted by the New York Islanders in six games.

Boston has nearly $27 million in salary cap room to work with this summer and the goal is to remain competitive while @Patrice Bergeron and @Brad Marchand are still playing at an elite level. Marchand just turned 33 and Bergeron turns 36 this summer.

Given his strong performance (eight goals and 14 points in 16 regular season games), re-signing Hall should be a priority for Boston. He couldn’t get a long-term pay-day last off-season and opted to sign a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres. This time around, Hall should be in line for a big contract, though he might take less to stick around in Boston in order to finally play for a consistent contender for the first time in his career.

The next question is what happens with Rask and Krejeci.

Rask had a solid season, posting a .913 save percentage over 24 games. 22-year-old @Jeremy Swayman was very good in a 10-game showing, putting up a .945 save percentage and appears to be the goaltender of the future. Keeping Rask around on a short-term deal to be a veteran member of a goaltending tandem makes sense for the Bruins.

The same goes for Krejci, who scored 44 points in 51 games and developed nice chemistry with Hall on the team’s second line. So long as he comes in on a short-term deal at a lower hit than his current $7,250,000 figure, keeping Krejci around makes sense.

But, as we saw last off-season with Chara and Krug, the Bruins could opt to move on and try to get younger.