Don Sweeney spent the end of June and early July working to improve the Boston Bruins’ roster after a first-round exit to the Buffalo Sabres. The changes helped the Bruins improve from last year’s contract efficiency ranking, but they still sit in the lower half of the NHL.
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic assessed the market value of a player’s contract, using future projections to determine how efficiently general managers are spending their money. What a player has already done does not impact the value of the contract, and Luszczyszyn used player comparisons while considering the expected rise of the cap. Also not considered were NMCs, NTCs, and bonus structures.
The Boston Bruins finished 18th, up from 25th last summer, but a far cry from the 2020 days when they topped the ranking.
One contract was rated an A+, and unsurprisingly, it’s David Pastrnak. The Bruins’ star forward is carrying an $11.5 million cap hit for the next five seasons, and The Athletic’s model values him at $16 million (96.9% positive value, $23.8M total surplus). Jeremy Swayman, who held out of 2025 training camp looking for a new deal, was graded as an A.
He will be making $8.25 million until the end of the 2031-32 season, and the model values him at a $12.1 million AAV ($22.9M total surplus).
The only other contract to fall in the A-range is Jonathan Aspirot’s two-year extension (A-). Sweeney put pen to paper on that deal with Aspirot in January, and he proved to be a reliable option alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top pair. His deal carries an $887.5K cap hit, but The Athletic’s model values him at $4.9 million and gives the deal a positive value of 98%.
McAvoy’s contract (4x$9.5M) was graded as a B (62.1% positive value, $4.6M surplus). Henri Jokiharju, who was on the outs of last year’s lineup, was the third-highest defenseman with a 58.8% positive value (B-). Only Aspirot, McAvoy, and Jokiharju have a positive total surplus among Bruins defensemen, while the other four are all in the negative.
The Bruins have seven forwards, including Pastrnak, who have a positive total surplus. Morgan Geekie (5x$5.5M) is valued at a $7.7 million cap hit, and his contract was graded a B+. Marat Khusnutdinov, Alex Steeves, Mikey Eyssimont, and Mark Kastelic all have positive total surplus, and all finished in the B-range.
Pavel Zacha, who is among the Bruins eligible for an extension, has a model value of $6.5 million. He is in the final year of a deal that pays him $4.75 million annually, and he was graded a B with an 86% positive value.
Also Read:Bruins Could Face Costly Pavel Zacha Extension
Don Sweeney’s offseason moves raised some red flags for Luszczyszyn, as he said the “Bruins have several problem deals on the books, and with term, too. I’m not sure it was wise to add Will Borgen to that list.”
Borgen, who carries a $4.1 million cap hit over the next four seasons, is the lowest-rated defenseman on the Bruins’ roster. His contract grade is a C, but his model value is $2.6 million. JJ Peterka, who Luszczyszyn described as an “interesting swing,” is graded at a C+, though his model value ($7.3M) does not venture too far from his current cap hit ($7.7M).
Connor Clifton’s two-year contract was not listed.
Those are not the only concerns on Luszczyszyn’s model. Both Tanner Jeannot (-$10.3M total surplus) and Elias Lindholm (-$13.1M total surplus) were graded as D+, the two lowest grades on the Bruins’ card.
Although the past is not considered, Lindholm’s contract has not been favorable to the Bruins through the first two years. He has been dealing with a recurring back injury, and over the summer, Cam Neely said the Bruins want to rectify their hole at 1C. Lindholm has yet to eclipse the 50-point mark in the black and gold, and his model value has sunk to $5.1 million.
Jeannot’s contract also raised eyebrows when signed, though he has proven to be an impactful player beyond the scoresheet. The model does not think so, as he is valued at a league-minimum deal with a 6.4% positive value. That is the lowest positive value on the team and ranks in the bottom 50 league-wide.
Players on entry-level contracts were not considered, which eliminated Fraser Minten and James Hagens.
Also Read:Bruins Have Short Window to Maximize Fraser Minten Extension
While the Bruins ranked 18th, they fared much worse relative to their own division. The Bruins ranked seventh in the Atlantic Division, only ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 24). There are five teams from the Atlantic in the top eight.
(Canadiens, 2; Senators, 3; Lightning, 5; Sabres, 7; Panthers, 8).
The Bruins also ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Flyers, Rangers, Maple Leafs, and Islanders.
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