Bruins Sign Two-Time Stanley Cup Champion To Professional Tryout

With training camp less than three weeks away, several players are still left without teams. One of those players was taken off the board Saturday when the Boston Bruins signed forward Tyler Johnson to a professional tryout.

The undrafted 34-year-old was initially signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent in 2011 and made a name for himself when he centered a line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

Johnson won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, so he has a winning pedigree and experience to help bolster the Bruins lineup, especially for the players who haven’t been to the playoffs or made a deep run yet.

The versatile and speedy center tallied 161 goals and 200 assists in 589 games over nine seasons for the Lightning. Johnson scored 32 goals and 33 assists in 116 playoff games, including seven points in both Stanely Cup runs with Tampa Bay.

The Lightning traded Johnson and a 2023 second-round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2021 offseason in exchange for Brent Seabrook’s contract. Johnson was limited to 26 games for the Blackhawks after sustaining a neck injury that required surgery. In three years with Chicago, Johnson tallied 70 points (32 goals, 38 assists) in 149 games.

The Bruins have north of $8 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. However, most of the remaining cap space is most likely earmarked for RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman, so they will need to get a deal inked with him before determining what they can spend on Johnson if they intend to sign the veteran.

The Bruins found success with Danton Heinen last season. On Sept. 5, they reunited with their 2014 fourth-round draft pick for a professional tryout and then rewarded the forward with a one-year deal in October. Heinen signed a two-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks on the first day of free agency with an average annual value of $2.25 million after scoring 17 goals and 19 assists in a bounce-back season with the Bruins.