The 2024-25 season was simply a disaster for the Boston Bruins. After a big off-season of spending, they took a major step in the wrong direction, finishing the campaign with a 33-39-10 record and at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. With this, the Bruins are now set for a crucial summer as they look to get things back on track.
The Bruins have an array of pending free agents heading into the off-season, and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon is among them. The 27-year-old blueliner's one-year, $800,000 contract has expired, and he can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 if the Bruins do not sign him to a new deal.
Wotherspoon has been a serviceable depth defenseman for the Bruins over the last two seasons, so they could consider keeping him around if he is willing to re-sign with the team at an affordable price. However, if he is looking for a raise, the Bruins could go in a different direction and look to improve their blueline elsewhere.
Wotherspoon appeared in 55 games this season with the Bruins, where he had one goal, seven points, 66 blocks, and 75 hits. This is after he recorded eight assists, 84 hits, and a plus-6 rating in 41 games with Boston during the 2023-24 season. Overall, he has been decent in a minor role for the Bruins, but the Bruins now must decide if he is somebody they want to try to re-sign.
It will be interesting to see what happens between the Bruins and Wotherspoon from here. At a cheap price, he could be worth keeping around in a bottom-pairing/seventh defenseman role. However, time will tell what happens on that front.
2 Boston Bruins Off-Season Trade Candidates
After an ugly 2024-25 season, the Boston Bruins are gearing up for what should be a busy off-season. The Original Six club are expected to make more changes to their roster and should be quite active in free agency.
However, given how this campaign went, it would not be surprising if they also ended up moving out some of their players this summer. Because of this, let's look at two Bruins who could get dealt this off-season.
Joonas Korpisalo
Korpisalo has made it clear that he was unhappy about his playing time during his first season with the Bruins. Yet, with Jeremy Swayman being the team's starter and having seven years left on his deal, an opening for Korpisalo to get more starts is not there. Thus, it would be understandable if the Bruins listened to offers for Korpisalo this summer.
Trading Korpisalo would free up $3 million of cap space for the Bruins, which would certainly be a plus. In 27 games this season, he had an 11-10-3 record, a 2.90 goals-against average, and a .893 save percentage.
Andrew Peeke
Peeke could be a Bruin to watch this off-season as well. The right-shot defenseman is entering the final season of his deal, and it is fair to wonder if he could be made expendable for the right price. This is especially so if the Bruins do not view him as a long-term part of their future.
The Bruins would gain $2.75 million in cap space by moving on from Peeke, which would help them bring in talent elsewhere. In 76 games this season, the 6-foot-3 blueliner had one goal, 17 points, 105 hits, and a minus-10 rating.
