Breaking Down Bruins’ Defensive Depth Ahead Of Draft, Free Agency

Editorial note: Over the course of several weeks, NESN.com will examine the Boston Bruins' organizational depth. First up was goaltending, next up is defensemen.

The Boston Bruins entered the offseason with eight unrestricted free agents and three restricted free agents with north of $20 million in cap space heading into free agency on July 1.

The Bruins have plenty of depth on the blue line in Boston with a veteran group of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo and newer additions that made a name for themselves last season -- Parker Wotherspoon, Andrew Peeke and Mason Lohrei.

Beyond the core, does Boston have defensemen in the organization that can step in if needed?

Here's a look at what each defenseman has to offer, along with their status within the organization.

IN THE NHL
-- McAvoy will enter his eighth season with Boston when the Bruins hit the ice for the 2024-25 season. In his career, McAvoy has 53 goals and 224 assists in 454 games. McAvoy is not only an anchor on the defensive side of the puck, but he also has a tendency to turn up the intensity by skating pucks up the ice and breaking into the offensive zone. He ranked first among Boston defensemen with 12 goals, 35 assists and 47 points.

He is known for his thunderous hits. McAvoy led all Bruins defensemen and ranked third overall on the team with 159 hits. He led all skaters with 159 blocked shots as well as ice time with 24:51 minutes per game.

McAvoy signed an eight-year, $76 million contract at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign through the 2029-30 season.

-- Lindholm's numbers, three goals and 23 assists, in his second full season with Boston weren't as great as his first, with 10 goals and 43 assists in the 2022-23 campaign, but his patience with the puck often allowed the defenseman to create plays for his teammates which has made him so valuable to the Bruins.

He ranked second among Boston defensemen with 26 points and third in blocked shots with 100. Lindholm was right behind McAvoy in ice time with 23:17 per game.

It is possible his production took a dip, given the knee injury he sustained in February. Perhaps with the offseason to recover and train, Lindholm can produce numbers north of the 2022-23 season.

Like McAvoy, Lindholm is under contract until the conclusion of the 2029-30 campaign with an annual cap hit of $6.5 million.

-- Carlo was the prototypical stay-at-home defenseman in the 2023-24 campaign who registered 140 hits and 140 blocks, second only to McAvoy in both categories, in 76 games while averaging 19:54 minutes of ice time.

The nightly workhorse was a key factor in Boston's penalty kill in both the regular season and playoffs. Carlo managed to lead the Bruins with a plus/minus of plus-23.

Carlo has three years left on his six-year, $24.6 million contract he signed ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. He will become a UFA at the conclusion of the 2026-27 season.

--- Wotherspoon surprised a lot of people around the NHL when the Bruins signed the youngster to a standard contract on the first day of free agency.

After playing just 12 games for the New York Islanders in the 2022-23 season, Wotherspoon began the 2023-24 campaign in Providence before being recalled in October for three games. After several more ups and downs to the AHL, Wotherspoon finished the season playing 41 games for Boston. He registered 67 blocked shots and 84 hits while averaging 17:43 minutes of ice time.

Wotherspoon signed a one-year standard $800,000 contract extension in March, making him a UFA at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

-- Peeke came to the Bruins from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL trade deadline in exchange for Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round draft pick.

Peeke was in his fifth season with Columbus prior to the trade. He averaged over 15 minutes of ice time through 23 games. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman blocked 197 shots last season in 80 games for the Blue Jackets, and he recorded 191 hits during the 2021-22 season where he played all 82 games.

He played in 15 games for Boston in the remainder of the 2023-24 regular season, registering 31 blocks and 44 hits while averaging 17:36 minutes of ice time. Peeke addressed the Bruins' need for a right-side defenseman who could provide valuable minutes on the penalty kill.

He is signed through the 2025-26 season with an annual cap hit of $2.75 million.

-- Lohrei came into his own in 41 games with the Bruins last season.

The 23-year-old rookie scored four goals, added nine assists and blocked 63 shots while averaging 16:57 minutes of ice time.

It became evident that Lohrei earned a spot on Boston's blue line when he appeared in 11 postseason games for the Black and Gold, slotted on the top-defensive pairing with McAvoy. In the playoffs against the Maple Leafs and Panthers, Lohrei registered 12 hits and blocked 17 shots. His confidence with the puck earned him praise from his teammates and head coach Jim Montgomery.

Lohrei is in the final year of his entry-level contract and will become an RFA at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

IN THE PIPELINE
-- Frédéric Brunet played 48 games for the Providence Bruins last season with two goals and 10 helpers for 12 points.

Brunet spent the 2022-23 season in the QMJHL with the Victoriaville Tigers and Rimouski Oceanic, totaling 16 goals and 57 assists for 73 points with a plus-10 rating.

He signed a three-year entry-level contract with an annual NHL cap hit of $860,000 through the 2025-26 season.

-- Jackson Edward has spent the last three seasons with the London Knights of the OHL tallying 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points.

The 20-year-old Newmarket, Ontario native was originally selected by Boston in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

The Bruins signed Edward to a three-year entry-level contract with an annual NHL cap hit of $860,000 through the 2026-27 season.

Unrestricted Free Agents

-- Matt Grzelcyk was plagued by a torn oblique earlier in the season, played just 63 games for the Bruins last season. The eight-year veteran scored two goals and added nine assists for 11 points while averaging 17:36 minutes of ice time. He had 76 blocked shots and 53 hits with a plus-13 rating during those contests.

After starting the past several seasons alongside McAvoy on the top pair, Grzelyck fell out of the Bruins' defensive rotation in the playoffs.

With the emergence of Wotherspoon and Lohrei at left defense, Grzelyck could find himself with a new home for the 2024-25 NHL season. As a hometown boy, Grzelyck could sign a team-friendly contract to stay in Boston as the Bruins' seventh defenseman.

-- Kevin Shattenkirk signed a one-year contract with Boston last July and played in 61 games for the Black and Gold, often seeing himself out of the defensive rotation in favor of Wotherspoon and Lohrei down the stretch.

The veteran blue liner scored six goals and 18 assists for 24 points while averaging 15:47 minutes of ice time.

-- Derek Forbort played just 35 games for Boston and spent the majority of the season sidelined after having surgery on both groins and a thumb ligament repair.

Touted as the team's shutdown defenseman and penalty killing specialist, Forbort didn't bring the same impact he had in previous seasons as he battled his way back from injuries.

It's uncertain which direction general manager Don Sweeney will take in free agency, but the Bruins seem to need more scoring depth than defensive depth in the upcoming season.