The Bruins entered the first day of free agency with a few notable holes to fill, mainly a top-six forward. But with roughly $12 million of cap space to work with entering July 1 — and pending new contracts for Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Danton Heinen — general manager Don Sweeney opted for notable depth additions for the third and fourth lines.
This wasn’t a day for Sweeney to fix the top-six hole that plagued the Bruins against the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. Sweeney didn’t overpay for Artemi Panarin or Matt Duchene, nor did he send an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho.