Offseason Roundup: Boston Bruins

Over the next month, theScore's NHL editors will review all the offseason moves for each team around the league.

The 2013-14 President's Trophy winners bowed out of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hands of the rival Montreal Canadiens, and followed up the disappointing second-round exit with a relatively quiet summer. 

So quiet, in fact, that two key young players remained unsigned as training camp began, with a glut of defensemen set to duke it out for a spot on the blue line, pending a long-expected trade.

Offseason Roundup

The Bruins kicked off the summer by selecting Czech forward David Pasrtnak at the 2014 Draft in Philadelphia, Pa. The 18-year-old, who scored eight goals and added 16 assists in 36 games in the Swedish 1st Division last season, later signed his entry-level contract with the club. 

Pastrnak appeared to be in line to compete for top-six minutes at training camp - especially in light of the departure of Jarome Iginla - but that fast track may have been derailed by a shoulder injury.

A series of minor on- and off-ice moves occured around the draft, with new contracts signed by goaltender Niklas Svedberg (expected to serve as Tuukka Rask's backup this season), defenseman Matt Bartkowski, and forwards Jordan Caron and Matt Fraser.

The team also named former Colorado Avalanche bench boss Joe Sacco as an assistant coach, while also announcing the promotion of Scott Bradley to assistant general manager and the hiring of John Ferguson Jr. (also known as the man who traded Rask to Boston) as executive director of player personnel.

The biggest piece of business finalized by general manager Peter Chiarelli was a six-year, $43.5-million contract extension for David Krejci, keeping the Czech center in the mix through 2020-21. 

Krejci is the latest core player to be locked up long term by the club, and he believes he's in a good position to succeed moving forward. "I feel like we still have lots of years left and we can compete for a [Stanley] Cup in the next few years," he said. "You know that they believe in you, they trust you, that means a lot."

Meanwhile, linemate Milan Lucic was limited in his offseason training due to wrist surgery undergone after the playoffs. The injury was suffered during a season-ending Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

The biggest piece of non-news over the course of the summer was the Bruins' failure to sign key two key restricted free agents: forward Reilly Smith and defenseman Torey Krug. As camp opened on Sept. 15, there was "absolutely nothing new" to report on the status of contract negotiations.

Part of the holdup was Boston's inability to clear cap space, with speculation running rampant over the summer that Chiarelli was set to deal one of nine defensemen under contract (with Johnny Boychuk's name being floated out as the likeliest candidate).

To help fill out the ranks at training camp, the Bruins sent invites to Simon Gagne and Ville Leino - yes, them.

Resolutions in regards to the final three points mentioned above are expected to come at some point before the season opener on Oct. 8

Key Additions

None

Key Departures

F Jarome Iginla
F Shawn Thornton
G Chad Johnson

2014-15 Outlook

The Bruins face questions in regards to whether Loui Eriksson can hang on the top line, and if Smith and Krug will be negatively influenced by missing part of camp. Dougie Hamilton is being looked at to take the next step, while Brad Marchand is expected to direct his somewhat reckless energy in more positive ways.

But even without much tinkering, and despite the loss of Iginla, any team that features the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Rask, and (even an aging) Zdeno Chara remains well positioned in the Atlantic Division, and should contend once again for the Eastern Conference crown.