Bruins Sign Veteran Forward, Two-Time Stanley Cup Champion

The Boston Bruins signed Tyler Johnson to a one-year, $775,000 contract Monday afternoon, general manager Don Sweeney announced.

Johnson was signed to a professional tryout on Aug. 31. He spent training camp and preseason with the Bruins but ultimately missed out on a contract prior to the start of the regular season. He stuck around the Original Six franchise through the first month of the season, waiting for an opportunity that would inevitably come.

The two-time Stanley Cup champion scored a power-play goal in the Bruins’ final home preseason game at TD Garden and impressed head coach Jim Montgomery with each practice and game he participated in.

“I think he’s gotten better through camp,” Montgomery said on Oct. 1. “I thought he made real subtle plays in the first two games he played.”

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 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.