Daily Bean: Bruins Target Signs in Nashville; Offer Sheet Talk; Shane Wright Interest

We are entering the depths of the NHL offseason; the vast majority of the free agents have signed, trades have happened, and the action has slowed down. 

That does not mean there was nothing yesterday. Even on the holiday. It was not as noisy as the Third of July, but if you were looking for fireworks yesterday, there was no shortage. You just had to look (or listen) outside. 

Even after a delay, Boston got off a combination of a neat drone show and the classic fireworks show. 

Back to hockey. The Bruins brought back Connor Clifton for the next two seasons, and he’s excited, knows what he can bring, and so does Don Sweeney. That’s not all from Sweeney’s office, though. The Bruins were reportedly interested in a Stars RFA forward, but he was traded elsewhere and signed a six-year deal there yesterday.

The Bruins are also not done adding, per David Pagnotta. 

Elsewhere around the league, the fallout of the Flyers’ offer sheet to Leo Carlsson. The Flyers can leverage a trade, but they might be giving teams around the league ideas. Hey, it’s a copycat league after all. 

The Kraken are ready to trade a 22-year-old center this summer. It’s just a matter of when and where. The Devils, though they have an offer sheet out there, should be interested if it does not work out. And two 24-year-old players, both newly acquired, signed two-year deals yesterday.

Happy Sunday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:

Boston Bruins

CLIFTON: Cliffy Hockey is back in Boston. The Bruins signed Connor Clifton to a two-year deal ($2.25M AAV) on Wednesday, and aside from knowing his game, Don Sweeney is confident in the right-shot defenseman. It was not all smooth sailing in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, especially the latter, but he knows he played his best hockey in Boston. 

He claims he still has a lot of hockey in the tank. 

The Sheet with Jeff Marek (via YouTube): Jason Marek reported the Bruins were also interested in Mavrik Bourque, starting back at the first round of the draft on Friday. 

“Now Boston was in an interesting situation over the last week and change,” said Marek. “Like they were interested in Mavrik Bourque as well, we had heard that going back to Friday in the first round of the draft and even before the draft started. They went the JJ Peterka way, and the Mavrik Bourque discussions obviously went away.”

David Pagnotta added that the Bruins are looking to add another forward to the top six. 

“The Boston Bruins have definitely been active. You mention Peterka; that’s one of the boxes that they checked. I still think they are looking for another forward, another top-six guy to add to that mix,” Pagnotta said. “Center would be ideal, but it seems like the center market is a pretty tough one at the moment. They are looking to add a little more firepower to that roster up front, and noticing what other teams in that division have done.”

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: Well, Mavrik Bourque signed a six-year deal with the Nashville Predators yesterday. The Predators acquired the 24-year-old RFA on Wednesday, and he is coming off a breakout 41-point season (20-21–41) in Dallas. 

Philly Hockey Now: The Ducks have until the 10th to match the Leo Carlsson offer sheet. Will James writes that the Flyers could make a trade to convince Pat Verbeek not to match the five-year, $90 million deal. The Ducks will get four first-round picks if they do not match, but those will lose value if the Flyers have a player like Carlsson, so why not flip them back for immediate help?

This happened in 1997, when the Flyers signed Chris Gratton to an offer sheet, and the Lightning flipped the first-round picks back to the Flyers for Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis. 

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It’s crazy… or is it? Dan Kingerski looks at which other big-name RFAs are out there, and whether or not the Penguins should follow their in-state rival and take a swing at an offer sheet. 

New Jersey Hockey Now: Carlsson’s offer sheet is not the only one out there. The Devils hit the Mammoth with a one-year, $4.775M bid for Barrett Hayton, and they have less than a week to match. However, if the Mammoth do match, James Nichols writes that Shane Wright should be their backup plan. 

In Elliotte Friedman’s article about offer sheets, he reported that Seattle will move Wright, 22, this summer “to a team in need of a young top center.”

Sportsnet: After acquiring him in the Darnell Nurse trade, the Edmonton Oilers signed Shakir Mukhamadullin yesterday. The 24-year-old lefty defenseman will carry a $1.75 million cap hit over the next two seasons. 

TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Emil Andrae to a two-year deal with a $1.55 million cap hit. They acquired the 24-year-old in a trade that also landed Samuel Ersson (they did not sign him). 

Sportsnet: Gavin McKenna ceded his No. 72 to Sergei Bobrovsky, so he will pivot to No. 92.

Bruins Offseason Schedule

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