Offseason about to pick up for Bruins
Suter could be interesting free-agent target
The hockey hot stove is set to heat up later this week, and the Minnesota Wild threw a couple of logs on the fire on Tuesday.
As teams were finalizing their list of protected players for the July 21 expansion draft, which must be turned into the league on Saturday, the Wild dropped a bombshell, buying out defenseman Ryan Suter and forward Zach Parise, nine years after the two Midwest-raised stars in their prime joined forces in an NBA-style tandem signing with the Wild.
While the Wild made the playoffs seven of the nine years they were there in St. Paul, the pairing was never able to turn Minnesota into a true Stanley Cup contender, failing to make it past the second round of the playoffs.
Still, Parise and — of particular interest to the Bruins — Suter are two more big names thrown into the freeagent pool, which is set to open on July 28. The Bruins are in the market for a lefthanded defenseman who can play in the top four and they could do worse than Suter.
At 36, Suter may be past his prime and not exactly a shutdown force, but he’s still got some offensive chops. There was a little drop-off last season, when he had 3-16-19 totals in 56 games, but topped 40 points in seven of his nine previous seasons. And at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he does provide at least a little bit of stoutness.
Suter, at the very least, will be worth a kick of the tires by B’s GM Don Sweeney. Whether it’s worth it for the B’s will come down to whether Suter would be willing to ink a short-term, team-friendly deal for one more shot at a Cup.
But if he is amenable to that kind of deal, the B’s will have competition. Though the Colorado Avalanche still have captain Gabriel Landeskog, goalie Philipp Grubauer and wing Brandon Saad to sign, it wouldn’t be a shock to see GM Joe Sakic go after an experienced hand like Suter after the Avs’ bitterly disappointing loss to the Golden Knights in the playoffs. But B’s fans should keep an eye on Suter.
The trade market is also an interesting route for the B’s improvement, especially up front. While much of the chatter has been about disgruntled Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel, even if the Sabres would be willing to deal in-division with the Bruins (doubtful), the B’s are not overflowing with assets that could put the Sabres’ train back on the track. That’s unless you included Charlie McAvoy or David Pastrnak in the deal, which would be counterproductive for the B’s.
But in a market that also includes right-shot defenseman Seth Jones (terrific player but not a glaring Bruin need), left-shot defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (he’d fit perfectly if not for his onerous $8.25 million contract for the next six years) and Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov (another tough contract: four more years of a $7.8 million cap hit), one more name came loose last week, and he’s already been linked to the Bruins.
The Athletic reported last week that Vladimir Tarasenko requested a trade from the St. Louis Blues and, while he can control his destiny to a certain extent with his no-move close, the Bruins are a team to whom he’d agree to be traded.
There are some serious red flags with Tarasenko, starting with his health. He’s had three shoulder surgeries, limiting him to just seven goals in 34 games the last two seasons since he lifted the Stanley Cup at the Garden.
Then there is his contract, which calls for a cap hit of $7.5 million for the next two years, while his actual salary in 2021-22 is $9.5 million. There’s also the question of whether Tarasenko, a left-shot right wing, would be a great match for David Krejci, who has flourished mostly with natural right wings.
But the idea of a second line of Taylor Hall, Krejci and Tarasenko is admittedly enticing.
Going after a Suter or a Tarasenko, of course, would only make sense if the B’s are able to sign both their UFAs Hall and Krejci. If those deals happen, they would presumably take place after the July 21 expansion draft so the B’s do not have to protect either of the players. We shall see.
But after a month of relative inactivity since the B’s got bounced out of the playoffs, things are about to get interesting.