Since Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, the Boston Bruins an GM Don Sweeney have been looking for a top center or two to play in their top-six. Instead of trading for Elias Lindholm, Sweeney watched as he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks last season from the Calgary Flmaes. He was banking on him hitting free agency and not re-signing with Vnacouver.
Sweeney was rewarded for his patience with Lindholm as he decided to not re-sign with the Canucks and hit free agency, allowing Sweeney and the Bruins to ponce at the opening of free agency in July. Now with another potential free agent forward, one of the top ones in the game, set to be a free agent next summer, Sweeney was going to sit back and wait until July to make his move. Tuesday, that door slammed shut.
Leon Draisaitl signs extension with Edmonton Oilers
For sometime, the Bruins have been linked to Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl and he was going to be free agent No. 1 next summer for Sweeney, but that won’t happen after he agreed to an eight-year extension for $112 million with an AAV of $14 million. In the overall big picture, the Bruins getting Draisaitl in any fashion, through a trade or if he got the free agency, was going to be a dream and that dream is gone.
For the upcoming season, the Bruins will roll out Lindholm, Charlie Coyle, Matthew Poitras, and John Beecher as their likely centers with Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Trent Frederic, and Mark Kastelic also on the roster and able to slide into the middle in a pinch. This is not a bad center grouping and better than they had last season Zacha there in the top-six and now with the addition of Lindholm, he’ll be able to move out to the wing. As for Leon Draisaitl, he’ll be with Connor McDavid for a long, long time and not don the Black and Gold.
