After the Stanley Cup Final is over in June, the NHL offseason officially starts. June 24 is the final date that the Cup Final can take place this year.
By then, the 30 teams eliminated before the Cup Final will have already started their offseason preparations. More than two months will pass for the 16 clubs that miss out on the playoffs to get ready.
Some teams will merely make minor roster changes. Some teams, like the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights, may need to make significant roster adjustments based on their needs, how much salary-cap space they have for the upcoming season, and how many free agents they choose to re-sign.
As the regular season continues until April 18, it’s hard to predict which clubs will have a completely different look the following year. Still, we’ll venture a guess at six teams that, for a variety of reasons, might upend the standings after the 2023–24 campaign.
Do you think our choices are appropriate or not? Which team, in your opinion, should be on this list? Comment below on our app to let us know about it.
The Boston Bruins were expected to undergo a season of transformation this year. Centers David Krejčí and Patrice Bergeron retired last summer, and free agents Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway left the team after the trade deadline.
Rather, the Bruins shocked the hockey community by continuing to be one of the league’s best teams and vying for the top spot in the standings overall. But a few offseason adjustments could have a big impact on their roster for the upcoming year.
Bertuzzi, Orlov, and Hathaway were forced to leave last summer due to a shortage of salary cap space. With 16 players on the current roster under contract, the Bruins should have $21.6 million in salary room this offseason. That ought to be sufficient to re-sign players like Matt Grzelcyk, James van Riemsdyk, and Jake DeBrusk who are prospective unrestricted free agents.
But the Bruins might have a significant impact on the free-agent market this summer. Prior to Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin being sold to new teams, Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy said that they were considering both players before the trade deadline of March 8. This summer, each of them is expected to become an unrestricted free agent, thus Boston may try to sign them on July 1.
The largest shift might be made in goal after it was revealed that Don Sweeney, the general manager of the Boston Bruins, looked into trading for Linus Ullmark. With just one season left on his contract and Jeremy Swayman expected to take over as the team’s primary starter, Ullmark might be traded in a cost-cutting transaction to free up salary space for potential acquisitions.