How committed are the Bruins to evolving on offense?

The Boston Bruins know they need to "evolve" on offense. Or do they?

General manager Don Sweeney acknowledged the Bruins' severe offensive struggles during his end-of-season press conference last month, when he, president Cam Neely, and CEO Charlie Jacobs reflected on the team's toughest campaign in more than a decade. Not much went right at all for the B's on the ice, but most glaring was that they netted the fourth-fewest goals in the league. Unlike their defense and goaltending, they didn't really underachieve on offense. They just don't have it.

Chief among the tasks on the table for Sweeney and Neely this summer is to determine who will lead the team behind the bench, as the Bruins will conduct a coaching search. Joe Sacco is in the conversation to remain after serving as interim head coach, but he will have competition. Sweeney seems to believe there was some underachievement, and expects the head coach to unlock something.

"I want a coach that's going to evolve a little bit offensively, and again, that's part and parcel with being able to communicate with sometimes younger players and their stubbornness or their inexperience," Sweeney said. "We went through some of that this year where players were below their watermarks, and they couldn't get back from it. For a period of time in the 20 games they had defended with conviction, but then they got away from it. So, we have to have that detail, we have to get our power play back on course."

Sweeney mentioned a plan to "evolve" on offense multiple times, and alluded to improving at the wing positions. Center may be their biggest long-term need, but a franchise pivot is an obvious one, and that guy will score. They also have several options to fill out the center depth chart already in the fold. It's the guys flanking the centers that could give the Bruins their most immediate offensive improvement.

But how willing is Sweeney to try something different at those spots? Because the NHL is only further moving toward an era of speed and skill. Precocious, lightning-fast young forwards continue to flood the league and make immediate impacts, seemingly everywhere but Boston. The Bruins even took their own stab at that with the selection of Fabian Lysell in the 2021 NHL Draft.

But Lysell is symbolic of a potential problem within the Bruins organization. What is going on with their development? How much has the coaching affected that? Sweeney seems to place some level of blame on the coaches for failing to get the most out of young players in recent years. But the undeniably fast and skilled Lysell has been unable to crack the NHL roster in the first place.

In discussing the Bruins' desire to evolve on offense, Sweeney wrapped that into commentary on the team's steadfast need for a strong two-way game. And to be clear, any Stanley Cup champion requires at least some of that. But the B's seem to expect every forward on the roster to play a Patrice Bergeron do-it-all style. Even with a nebulous "evolution" on offense, that expectation won't change.

"I do understand that the players coming into the League are offensively driven, and they need to understand that it's okay to play with that offensive creativity, but it has to be within the confines of what your team and the structure is going to dictate in order to be successful," Sweeney said.

While it's understandable to avoid treating your forwards like wild horses on the open plains, the idea of confining them goes against the very nature of the speed & skill era. How can they expect a player like Lysell to operate strictly within their dictated structural confines, and still be himself? A team full of Lysells flying around aimlessly may not be a winning strategy, either. But if the Bruins want to actually keep up with the faster, more skilled teams that are having more success across the league, they may be better suited to strike more of a balance.

But, it sounds like the Bruins are going to seek players that can score but can also play a responsible defensive game, even on the wings. If they stick to that plan, their options in free agency could be limited.

One player with an ideal (for the Bruins) combination of size, skill, youth, and all-around upside, is Blue Jackets left wing Dmitri Voronkov, an impending restricted free agent. The 6-foot-5 Voronkov plays a physical game and is unafraid to muck it up in the corners, and he also potted 23 goals in 73 games this past season. Sweeney may have to part with draft pick compensation to pry Voronkov away from the Jackets via offer sheet, but the 24-year-old would qualify as a long-term piece and a fit for what the Bruins (still) want to do offensively.

Otherwise, the Bruins could go big game hunting with Leafs winger Mitch Marner, an elite playmaker fresh off his first career 100-point season. Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers aren't exactly contending for the Selke Trophy anytime soon, but they are established scorers who would boost the power play. If they want to gamble on a veteran who plays a two-way game, they could take a flyer on 35-year-old Gustav Nyquist.

There are other intriguing young forwards on track to hit the restricted free agent market, like the Sabres' J.J. Peterka, the Leafs' Matthew Knies, the Ducks' Mason McTavish, and the Jets' Gabriel Villardi. But they may prove too expensive in terms of draft pick compensation. And even then, would they fit exactly what Sweeney and Neely want? Would they succeed within the confines?

The Bruins' forward additions will indicate how willing they really are to evolve on offense. Because based on Sweeney's comments, it's unclear whether that evolution will actually take place.