7 restricted free agents the Bruins could target with an offer sheet

Whether or not this will indeed become the Summer of the Offer Sheet in the National Hockey League remains to be seen. We've absolutely heard this all before, only to find out that no, it is not. Of course, the dam has been broken to a certain degree (at least by our previous standards, anyway) thanks to what the Blues did to the Oilers a year ago, and with a free-agent market that's not exactly teeming with young talent.

And on Tuesday, we found out what it'll cost teams like the Bruins if they were to try and poach talent via an offer sheet in 2025.

But for as fun as it would be for the Bruins to try and throw $9 million plus at the Leafs' Matthew Knies, there is of course a science to trying to map out an offer sheet for max value. That's essentially how the Blues were indeed able to poach Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg away from the cap-strung Oilers for just a second- and third-round pick last summer.

Something that's worth noting here is that the Bruins are able to make any sort of offer sheet play that interests them this summer, as the club does possess all of their natural compensation-level picks for 2026, and all of their own first-round picks and beyond 2026 should they get real crazy with the dollar amount thrown at a restricted free agent with an offer sheet.

But, with that aforementioned science in mind, who could be on the B's radar should they decide to dip into the offer sheet pool this summer?

When targeting a team’s player with an offer sheet, you always want to try and take advantage of someone whose cap situation is a little… messy. You’d like to make ‘em sweat a bit and say, "Sure, we like this player a lot, but do we like him that much?" This summer, the Rangers could very well be that team and forward Will Cuylle could be that player. 

After what was a nightmarish season by their standards, the Rangers are projected to enter the offseason with $8.4 million and change in cap space. Cuylle is a restricted free agent, as are defenseman K’Andre Miller and some other role players. The Rangers will also see sizable raises for Igor Shesterkin ($11.5 million), Will Borgen ($4.1 million), and Alex Lafreniere ($7.45 million) hit their books beginning in 2025. The Rangers also added center J.T. Miller ($8 million cap hit) at the 2025 deadline.

In essence, they’re running out of cap space. 

And, boy, does Cuylle feel like a Bruins kind of player. A 6-foot-3, 212-pound left wing, Cuylle is coming off a season that featured a career-high 20 goals and 45 points, along with 301 hits. 301 hits! And in case you're wondering, only two players dished out more hits during the 2024-25 season. And if we go back to the start of the 2023-24 season, only Garnet Hathaway and Kiefer Sherwood have thrown more hits than Cuylle.

But it's the physicality and scoring blend that makes Cuylle an intriguing fit for the Bruins. Breaking out with 20 goals this season, it's easy to look for potential red flags. But Cuylle's shooting percentage was relatively fine (13.2 percent), and it wasn't like it was a product of inflated power-play time. In fact, only Artemi Panarin had more even-strength goals than Cuylle for the Rangers during the 2024-25 season.

Expand it beyond New York, and Cuylle was one of 197 forwards to log at least 1,000 even-strength minutes in 2024-25. And among that group of 197, Cuylle ranked 93rd in goals per 60 (0.88), the same rate as Macklin Celebrini and Lucas Raymond, and an actually higher rate than names like Brady Tkachuk and '25 unrestricted free agent-to be Brock Boeser.

It's also no secret that the Bruins are looking for some serious help at left wing, having moved on from Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen a year ago, trading Brad Marchand at the 2025 trade deadline, and with the right-shooting Morgan Geekie currently atop the left-side depth chart.

The 23-year-old Cuylle would certainly bolster that in a big way.

When we last caught up with Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, the first round of the playoffs had just ended and I asked him if anything had stuck out to him as a need for the Bruins from watching the first round of postseason play. He wasn't ready to reveal too much, but did note that secondary scoring does make a difference this time of year.

And if that's indeed the need (and it is), and if the Bruins aren't enamored with the idea of tying up money in older veteran types, a player like the Predators' Luke Evangelista could check a box or two for Boston.

The 23-year-old isn't going to pop off the page with his speed, but he does have a knack for getting to good ice, and shoots the absolute bajesus out of the puck, with 306 shots on goal over the last two seasons (tops among players averaging under 14 minutes per game over that span). He's also a pretty solid passer and probably has more to offer in that regard, too.

So much of what the Bruins do this summer may come back to what kind of coach they hire, but it does feel like the Bruins want to be more of a shot volume team, and that's where a player like Evangelista could have value.

The 23-year-old is coming off a 10-goal, 32-point campaign for the Preds, but had a career-high 16 goals and 39 points in 2023-24.

One thing that's stuck out to me throughout Sweeney's tenure as Bruins general manager is that he loves himself a high draft choice. Now, whether or not that's because the Bruins have either traded or whiffed on so many of their own under his watch is its own his story, but Sweeney has a clear love for taking chances on former first-round picks. Kaapo Kakko, the second overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft, could be right up his alley.

Finishing his season with 10 goals and 30 points in 49 games with the Kraken following his trade out of New York, the 24-year-old Kakko is slated to potentially hit the open market as an offer sheet-eligible RFA.

But why would the Bruins be interested?

If you're looking at Kakko as a game-changing, revolutionary kind of addition to your roster, you're going to be disappointed. He's also a little too slow for a 24-year-old former top pick. But, with all that said, he's also proven to be an absolutely fantastic defensive winger, which the Bruins could be in the market for after moving on from Marchand and after some of the worst defensive hockey you've ever seen from the club in 2024-25.

The Bruins clearly love their identity as a defensively-responsible team and they don't want to stray too far from that. But that goes beyond just the blue line itself, and players like Kakko could help on that front.

I gotta admit, I'm not sure what the Bruins' plans are at center. It has bodies, sure, but is it what you'd consider close to complete?

As it stands right now, Boston's center depth chart features Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, Mark Kastelic, and maybe Matthew Poitras and Fraser Minten depending on how things shake out with their 2025 training camps. Again, they have the bodies, but do they all fit into the mix? A player like Zacha can always move to the wing and still provide value, so there's one less body to worry about. But do the others have what the B's covet? I'm honestly not sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone's moved if the Bruins see a juicy opportunity to move up in the draft (maybe in round two). Anyway, that's a topic for another column.

Instead, let's focus on the Bruins potentially adding another center, this time with Buffalo's Ryan McLeod.

After putting up a career-high 12 goals and 30 points for the Oilers in 2023-24, the 25-year-old McLeod's game exploded in Buffalo this past season, with 20 goals and 53 points in 79 games for the Sabres.

Here's what I like about McLeod: He's got some serious wheels and size (6-foot-3), and he was a super underrated and effective penalty killer on whar was a bottom-10 penalty-kill unit in the NHL a season ago. He also had some downright dominant showings at the faceoff dot against upper-echelon teams like Vegas and Florida. The Bruins need speed and defensive know-how. But here's the red flag: He's coming off a season headlined by a shooting percentage north of 20 percent, meaning that the scoring he experienced in 2024-25 may not be sustainable.

We're already here and looking at external options at a crowded position, so let's stick with it and take a look at Ducks center Mason McTavish.

The third overall pick from the 2021 NHL Draft, McTavish established career-highs in goals (22), assists (30), points (52), shots (180), and hits (70) in 76 games with Anaheim last season. And though 2024-25 was his breakout, McTavish has put together as a solid career to date, with the 22-year-old on the board with 60 goals and 140 points through 229 NHL games. With numbers like that, there's every reason to think he remains a Duck beyond this summer and is part of Anaheim's core.

But here's where things get interesting and why an offer sheet could be an option: The Ducks have tons and tons of cap space, yes, but they're going to have to pay goaltender Lukas Dostal this summer, and 2026 in Anaheim will require new contracts for Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov. Anaheim, with talent now and more on the way, may very well be in a position where they look around and realize not everyone's gonna be able to get paid by them.

A McTavish offer sheet could really test that, and McTavish would immediately slot into the mix as a top-six center for Boston.

By now, we've established that the Bruins need help on the left side, need both high-end and middle-six scoring help, and have a definite type. Another player who may fit their mold? Columbus winger Dmitri Voronkov.

A 6-foot-5 left shot, Voronkov is absolute net-front menace. This past season, Voronkov was in the 95th percentile when it came to shots on goal from the high-danger area of the attacking zone, with 80. His 16 goals from that area of the offensive zone put him the 91st percentile.

One of 240 NHL forwards to log at least 2,000 all-situation minutes over the last two seasons, Voronkov ranks 78th in goals per 60 (0.78) and 123rd in points per 60 (2.17). Those are strong numbers for middle-six help.

Voronkov has also proven to be an absolutely fantastic complementary winger when paired opposite a high-end scorer.

So much of the focus for the Bruins this offseason is going to be on adding more offensive firepower to the mix, and rightfully so.

But the Bruins should and will also find themselves in the market for some defensive help on the right side, which is a bummer for Boston in the sense that the unrestricted free agent market is, well, pretty thin there.

That's what makes the Ducks' Drew Helleson, who had 13 points and 73 blocks in 56 games for the Ducks last year, an interesting candidate if the Bruins are looking for a potential value play on the offer sheet market.

Given his Boston College and Team USA ties, as well as their penchant for players from the Ducks for whatever reason, the Bruins are probably more than familiar with Helleson. And, honestly, the 6-foot-3 righty seems like an ideal fit for Boston given his ability to contribute at both ends of the rink.

Parting with a top-96 pick for a player with 59 total games of NHL experience may seem like a bold move, but ask yourself this: If the Bruins are unable to find what they want on the free agent market, wouldn't they pay something similar (if not more) for an older player with similar attributes? Might be better to just get in on the ground floor with the player with Helleson's upside and potential as a long-term fit on the right side.