9 free agent defensemen who make sense for the Bruins

Author Ty Anderson

July 28th, 2021 7:01 AM

The frenzy is almost upon us.

And the Bruins, even after signing Mike Reilly to a new three-year deal, still need help on the backend.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney knows it, too.

“The market is tight [and] the supply is what it is,” Sweeney said last week when asked about the defensive market. “We’ll have to be aggressive to find a player or maybe two that want to play for us and what we want.”

But at least Sweeney knows what he’s after this time around.

“Ideally, you’d want an all-situational minutes player, that certainly has been all of those pressure points and, as you mentioned, the penalty kill,” Sweeney said of his desire for the defensive addition to the roster. “Not unlike Charlie McAvoy, who impacts the game in sixty minutes. The other guys — [Matt Grzelcyk] obviously has done a lot of great things for us in puck moving and can complement on the power play as well. [Jakub] Zboril was moving pucks last year, ran into some injuries. But with the loss of Jeremy [Lauzon], there’s a penalty killing component there. Johnny Moore helped, we’ll obviously address some of that from a depth perspective. But we have to go and add to our group, so we have to address that.”

As noted by Sweeney, the Bruins are really entering this market looking for someone who can help take on some of the heavier minutes and grinding workload that Jeremy Lauzon (and the recently retired Kevan Miller) did in 2021.

Honestly, if the Bruins even sign one of these guys, I’ll consider this a victory and ask that you join me on a Duckboat rolling rally through the city. It’ll be a regular Duckboat tour, but we can pretend it’s for us. But really, here’s nine defensemen who could be of some help to the Bruins (and in a variety of roles) as the team begins their jump into the ‘free agent frenzy’…

• Alexander Edler

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  At 35, Alex Edler is getting a little long in the tooth, but he can still be an effective defenseman.
  
  Averaging just under 21 minutes per game in 2021, Edler put up eight assists, but seemingly thrived in the defensive zone, with 118 blocks, which was the fourth-most behind Alec Martinez (168), Adam Larsson (128), and Connor Murphy (123). Edler also logged the most shorthanded time on ice in the entire NHL (180:12), which would make him a suitable Lauzon replacement. 
  
  The 6-foot-3 Edler is no stranger to eating minutes in general, really, as Edler has averaged at least 21 minutes of action per night in 13 of his last 14 seasons, and missed out on making it 14 straight by just six seconds last year, at 20:54 per night. 
  
  A career-long Canuck and hitting the open market for the first time, Edler is still in search of his first Stanley Cup, too, which almost has to makes the prospect of joining an obvious win-now team like the Bruins all the more appealing.

• Jake McCabe

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  I have a feeling this defensive market is going to be full of overpays. And if that is indeed the case, a potential low-risk, high-reward option for the Boston defense could be Jake McCabe.
  
  A key piece of the Buffalo defense (I know, I know), the 6-foot-1, 204-pound McCabe hits the free agent market after injuries to his ACL, MCL, and meniscus ended his 2021 season after just 13 games. But it's what McCabe's done in a downright nightmarish situation in Buffalo that makes him an intriguing option for the Bruins.
  
  McCabe is one of just six Sabres defensemen to play at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes since the start of the 2019-20 season. And among that group of six, he's the only to be above 50 percent in corsi-for percentage (51.52 percent), shots-for percentage (51.92 percent), expected goals-for percentage (51.89 percent), and scoring chances-for percentage (51.68 percent). All while starting less than 50 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone.
  
  The 27-year-old also has experience on the penalty kill, with over 181 minutes of shorthanded time on ice over the last two seasons, and with opponents averaging just 20.86 high-danger scoring chances against with McCabe on the ice and the Sabres down a man, which is the best figure among all Buffalo penalty-killing defensemen, and with the opponents’ power-play units averaging 57.3 shots and 8.94 goals per 60 with McCabe on the kill (both second-best marks for Buffalo defenders). This is all with Buffalo's netminding posting a sub .850 save percentage behind McCabe, too. 
  
  In other words, McCabe has been a legitimate diamond in the rough for the Blades' blue line. 

• Derek Forbort

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  Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has linked Derek Forbort, known primarily for his multi-year run with the Los Angeles Kings before bouncing around Canada, to the Bruins in two separate columns now, so it feels safe to say that there's some fire there.
  
  A 6-foot-4 left shot, Forbort put up two goals and 12 points in 56 games for Winnipeg last season, and has tallied at least 115 blocked shots in four of his last five seasons, and likely would've made it a perfect five-for-five on that front had he played more than 20 games between Calgary and Los Angeles in 2019-20. That shot-blocking element (especially on the penalty kill) is what the Bruins are worried about most with losing Lauzon to Seattle, and that's not an area of play where Johnny Moore or Jakub Zboril particularly excel, so that interest only seems natural. (This is a theme you'll notice in this list.)
  
  Forbort would also know what he was walking into should he be pick up a grind-it-out kind of role with the Bruins, as he was thrown out there for 131 defensive-zone starts (45th-most among all NHL defensemen in 2021). In fact, Forbort's 424 d-zone starts since the start of the 2018-19 season are the 66th-most among all defenders over that span, and that's accounting for that aforementioned 2019-20 season that came with about 50 absences for the veteran defenseman.
• Jani Hakanpaa

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  You already know this space is a big fan of what Jani Hakanpaa can bring to the Boston defense. Standing at 6-foot-5, the right-shot Hakanpaa is exactly what the Bruins are looking for in a depth defenseman on their right side.
  
  In a 2021 split between Anaheim and Carolina, Hakanpaa racked up a staggering 215 hits and 83 blocks in 57 games.
  
  Break it down by per-60 rates and among the group of 107 NHL defensemen with at least 900 minutes of all-situation play in 2021 and Hakanpaa averaged 12.56 hits per 60 (second-most) and his 4.85 blocked shots per 60 minutes were the 20th-most. And one of 74 defensemen to log at least 100 minutes of shorthanded action this past season, Hakanpaa ranked second in shorthanded hits per 60 at 10.46 (only Lauzon had more, at 11.04) and his 9.41 blocks per 60 minutes of shorthanded action were 21st-most among that group of 74.
  
  It wasn't all great for Hakanpaa on the kill, however, as he was on the ice for 9.41 power-play goals against per 60 minutes (12th-highest among that group of 74), and opponents averaged 26.67 high-danger chances per 60 (fifth-worst) with Hakanpaa out there on the kill. That said, Hakanpaa was also victimized by an .818 on-ice save percentage behind him when down a man.
  
  The Bruins, for what it's worth, finished the year surrendering the fewest high-danger scoring chances against per 60 and with the league's fourth-best save percentage on the kill, so you wonder if a move to the Bruins' system could benefit his game, or at the very least clean it up to some more respectable results. But quite simply, if there's dirty work to be done, Hakanpaa is your guy.
  
  Look at his size and style and he may just be the perfect complement to Connor Clifton if the Bruins are rotating bodies on the right side of their third pair. He's also a solid fallback option in the event that Brandon Carlo's rotten injury-luck bleeds over into 2022.
  
  Oh, but most importantly, even with a slight raise, he's beyond affordable, as he's coming off a $750,000 per year contract. 

• Nikita Zadorov

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  OK, maybe this is cheating a little bit, as Zadorov is a restricted free agent. But here's where it gets interesting: The Blackhawks have less than $3 million in available cap space after their Tuesday trades for Marc-Andre Fleury ($7 million) and Tyler Johnson ($5 million). It's entirely possible (likely) that Fleury doesn't play for Chicago in 2021-22, so his $7 million may not be long for the Chicago books. But still, the Blackhawks are operating with limited resources and Zadorov needs a new deal.
  
  And if it's size and nastiness the Bruins are looking for in the wake of Miller's retirement and Lauzon's selection to Seattle, Zadorov checks a lot of boxes. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, Zadorov finds himself without a deal after a 2021 season that included eight points, 190 hits, and 74 blocked shots in 55 games played.
  
  With the Avs before the 'Hawks (and the Sabres before Colorado), Zadorov has recorded a staggering 871 hits since the start of the 2017-18 season, which is the most among all left-shot defenders and by 135 hits over the second-place Brenden Dillon.
  
  The Bruins would theoretically have the goods to trade for Zadorov and sign him to a new deal to lead Boston's third pairing.

• Alex Goligoski

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  Coyotes beat reporter Craig Morgan wrote Tuesday that he believes the Bruins are one of the teams 'most likely' to make a play for the Coyotes' Alex Goligoski. Now, while that was before the club signed Mike Reilly, it does make sense given their failed pursuit of Ryan Suter (the 36-year-old Suter reportedly wants a four-year deal and the Bruins aren't that desperate for help in the now). Goligoski has similar production, durability, and has played in a top-four role since Charlie McAvoy was a preteen.
  
  A second-round pick of the Penguins back in 2004, the Minnesota-born Goligoski has totaled 83 goals and 429 points in 924 NHL games between three organizations since 2007-08, and has seven goals and 21 points in 43 career playoff games.
• Ian Cole

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  Surprise! Another shot-blocking defenseman with some veteran know-how.
  
  But you wanna talk about some insanity? How about Ian Cole's 2021 season?
  
  One of the 129 NHL defensemen to play at least 700 five-on-five minutes this past season, Cole ranked 128th in offensive-zone faceoff percentage (32.49 percent), his shots-for percentage (46.56 percent) was the 14th-worst, and his corsi-for percentage ranked dead last. Yet, the 32-year-old had a plus-15 on-ice goal differential (that 61.19 goals-for percentage was 11th-best), his on-ice shooting percentage (12.62 percent) was tops among that group, and the on-ice save percentage (.930) was the 24th-best mark. In other words, Cole was sentenced to drown and thrived all at once, and it's downright fascinating.
  
  It's just one reason why Cole could be an option for what the Bruins are trying to do with the left side of their defense.
  
  By now, it's clear that the Bruins want to get some more experience back there, and Cole's status as a two-time Cup winner with the Penguins would help them on that front. But going back to his role, the Bruins like to tinker with their pairings, and I don't think 2021-22 will be an exception to that. Matt Grzelcyk is penciled into the top spot next to Charlie McAvoy and Reilly is next to Brandon Carlo... for now. But the Bruins also had hopes of making Grzelcyk a matchup dependent kind of option on their top pairing, and if the Bruins have someone like Cole, who can block shots and take on tougher assignments, that mixing-and-matching is easier on Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. (It's sorta like how he deployed Lauzon at times in 2021, too.)
  
  Cole's 826 blocked shots since 2015 are the seventh-most among all NHL defensemen over that span, by the way.

• Jon Merrill

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  The Bruins were one of the teams reportedly interested in Jon Merrill prior to his trade from Detroit to Montreal. And Merrill's fit in Montreal was an odd one. In 26 games between the regular season and the Canadiens' improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, Merrill went without a point and was a combined minus-15, averaging about 13 and a half minutes per game. But before that, the 6-foot-3 was actually playing some good hockey for the rebuilding Wings, and was shining as one of Detroit's lone bright spots (read as: positive differentials in some important, telling categories) prior to his move to the North Division.
  
  Would the Bruins feel that he would be a better depth option than their current options? That’d likely require some corresponding moves, but it’s an interesting point to consider given their past interest and what you saw from those options this past season.
  
  The 29-year-old has 12 goals and 66 points in 405 career games between the Devils, Golden Knights, Red Wings, and Habs.

• David Savard

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  Would the Bruins want to super-size their right side and sign David Savard fresh off a Cup win with Tampa Bay?
  
  It's an interesting proposition, and it would seriously stagger the right side of the Boston defense when they need another high-impact left-shot, but there's no denying what Savard can do for a team. (And if you can't address the left side because the market's weak, why not just make the right side an absolute nightmare for the opposition and figure out the left side as you go?)
  
  Listed at 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds, Savard would bring some beef to a Boston backend that needs it given their notable offseason departures to date, and it almost helps that Savard has had a big hand in knocking out the teams in your way. Savard was part of those 2018 and 2019 Blue Jacket teams that bounced the Lightning and Maple Leafs, respectively, and most recently embarked on a four-round run that saw Tampa beat Florida, Carolina, the Islanders, and then Montreal. Perhaps it wasn't the role Savard envisioned for himself when he left Columbus to join the real life MonStars of the NHL (he had just one effort of at least 20 minutes for Tampa Bay after the second round, and it was in the Bolts' 8-0 win over the Islanders), but again, there's experience there. And all of those teams are expected to be or remain in your way in 2022.
  
  The contract — both in dollars (you can't over-commit to the right side with McAvoy's extension around the corner) and years — would be the tricky thing, as players of Savard's style either age like a bottle of milk flying towards the sun or last forever. There's seriously no in-between when talking about defensive-zone puck-eaters and it's only mildly infuriating.

Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.

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Author Ty Anderson

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2021 bruins offseason,boston bruins