With their Stanley Cup Final loss now nearly a week in the rear-view mirror, the Boston Bruins have their focus shifted to the offseason.
The B’s are in the fortunate position of not having an overwhelming amount of holes and contracts that need tending to, but general manger Don Sweeney has a number of important decisions to make over the coming weeks.
One of those decisions involves unrestricted free agent Marcus Johansson.
Sweeney met with the media on Monday, pouring a bit of water on the Torey Krug trade rumors, and giving some insight on where things stand with Johansson.
“Well, we met — we had some meetings,” Sweeney told reporters. “I told Marcus that I did have the same, along the same lines, with the RFA side of things that we have some things we need to clarify internally before I can definitively tell him.”
The Bruins have three restricted free agents in Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Danton Heinen, with locking McAvoy and Carlo up long-term likely serving as their top priority.
Still, it’s undeniable the jolt Johansson provided offensively when he was healthy, particularly when paired with Charlie Coyle on the third line in the playoffs.
“We found that Marcus was a really good fit for our hockey club,” Sweeney added. “I was proud of how he got injured, came back and elevated his play, was really invested, thought he fit in really well with Charlie [Coyle] coming in, gave us some options on the power play, was a really good fit. Good person, great teammate and got us to a certain point. Wish we could’ve finished it off.”
Johansson’s stock certainly was boosted by the winger’s playoff performance, in which he posted four goals and seven assists in 22 games. The 28-year-old is coming off a 3-year, $13.75 million deal.
