Bruins Free Agency Shopping List: Defense Still Top Priority For Boston

Welcome to one of the busiest days on the NHL calendar.

NHL free agency officially opens Friday at noon ET, and the Boston Bruins will be hard at work looking to improve their roster after missing the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Here are the Bruins’ three greatest needs entering free agency, listed in order of importance:

1. Defense
The blue line was the Bruins’ most glaring weakness last season. Zdeno Chara, while still a No. 1 defenseman, isn’t the Norris Trophy-caliber player he was just a few years ago, and there was little consistency behind him.

Kevan Miller improved greatly over the course of the season (really, he did), but he still was prone to highly visible mistakes at times. Torey Krug remains more of an offensive/power-play specialist, and no member of the Colin Miller-Joe Morrow-Zach Trotman trifecta was able to lock down an everyday spot in the lineup.

Boston took a few steps in the right direction Thursday by re-signing Krug and buying out Dennis Seidenberg, but it still will enter free agency will just one surefire top-four D-man: Chara. If the B’s want to return to Stanley Cup contender status, this is an area they absolutely need to address this summer.

The free-agent market is lean on quality blueliners, though, meaning the B’s might need to do this via trade.

Under contract: Chara, Krug, Kevan Miller, Adam McQuaid
Bruins free agents: Joe Morrow (RFA), Colin Miller (RFA), John-Michael Liles (UFA), Zach Trotman (UFA)
Potential free-agent targets: Jason Demers, Justin Schultz, Luke Schenn, Dan Hamhuis

2. Right wing
Outside of Loui Eriksson, who is listed as a right wing but frequently plays on the left, the Bruins did not have a single right winger who cracked 30 points last season. This lack of production was especially apparent on the first line, where Boston struggled to find a third linemate for Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, and the third line, a spot typically occupied by Jimmy Hayes.

Hayes, one of the Bruins’ marquee acquisitions last summer, managed just 13 goals and 16 assists in his first season in black and gold and was held without a point in the final 16 games he played. Brett Connolly, a frequent top-liner, was even less productive (nine goals, 16 assists) and did not receive a qualifying offer. David Pastrnak (15 goals, 11 assists) showed flashes but remained inconsistent as an NHL sophomore and also missed more than 30 games because of injury.

Lee Stempniak, an impending unrestricted free agent who slotted in on the first line after coming over from New Jersey at the trade deadline, could be an affordable option if the B’s choose to re-sign him.

With Eriksson, one of the top UFAs on the market, seemingly destined to take his talents elsewhere, bringing in some help on the wing is another must for the B’s.

Under contract: Hayes, Pastrnak
Bruins free agents: Eriksson (UFA), Connolly (UFA), Stempniak (UFA), Tyler Randell (UFA)
Potential free-agent targets: Kyle Okposo, Mikkel Boedker, Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg

3. Backup goaltender
Ideally, the Bruins would like 2012 first-round pick Malcolm Subban to fill this role as Tuukka Rask’s understudy. But with Subban recovering from the fractured larynx that ended his 2015-16 season, Zane McIntyre and Daniel Vladar lacking any sort of NHL experience, and Jonas Gustavsson’s first season in Boston going down as a disappointment, the B’s could look to bring in a proven netminder if they can find a decent one with a reasonable price tag.

The Bruins haven’t had a reliable backup to Rask since Chad Johnson left town in 2014.

Under contract: Rask, Subban, McIntyre, Vladar
Bruins free agents: Gustavsson (UFA), Jeremy Smith (UFA)
Potential free-agent targets: Karri Ramo, James Reimer, Al Montoya

Thumbnail photo via Robert Mayer/USA TODAY Sports Images