Report: Bruins looking to add at least one depth forward originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
NHL free agency begins at noon on Wednesday, and the Boston Bruins are not expected to be among the suitors for the top players on the market.
The reason for that is the Bruins are tight against the salary cap. They only have about $2.3 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, and most (if not all) of that will go toward signing centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
2022 NHL free agency live blog: Latest rumors, news and contracts on Day 1
The Bruins do have options to clear cap space. They could trade a veteran forward or one of their five left-shot defensemen under contract. They also could send Nick Foligno to the AHL or put one of their injured veterans on LTIR.
If the Bruins do create some more salary cap space, what will they plan to do with it? Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported Wednesday morning that Boston is looking to add a depth forward.
One depth forward who would make sense for the B’s is Danton Heinen. The 27-year-old winger was drafted by Boston in 2014 and played three-plus seasons for the Bruins before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2020. Heinen scored a career-high 18 goals for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. He also played under new Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery at the University of Denver.
Heinen is an unrestricted free agent after the Penguins decided not to extend him a qualifying offer.
