There’s still hockey going on, but the Bruins have turned the page to 2024-25.
That’s come with a list of ‘critical’ offseason dates, as provided by the team on Tuesday.
And the planning begins sooner than you’d think, with the Bruins less than a week away from getting underway on their draft prep and with free agency just over a month away.
The full list of critical dates goes as follows…
June 2 – June 8: 2024 NHL Scouting Combine (Buffalo, NY)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – FEBRUARY 17: Fans pose for photos with the NHL logo ahead of the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils at MetLife Stadium. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Beginning next week, the B’s brass will head out to Buffalo, NY for the annual NHL Scouting Combine. It’s a week-long event full of fitness tests, interviews between players and team personnel, and some medical information ahead of the draft. It can be a make-or-break type event for a player on a team’s radar.
June 27: Bruins GM Don Sweeney’s pre-draft media availability (Las Vegas, NV)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 26: General Manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins speaks during Media Day ahead of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on May 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Barring something big, June 27 will be the first time we hear from Bruins general manager Don Sweeney again. It could be potentially insightful, too, depending on what’s going on the trade market (namely as it relates to Linus Ullmark), how negotiations with pending free agents are going (the talks between the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman will be the headliner here), and if the Bruins have decided to move on from any pending free agents. While Sweeney tends to be pretty tight-lipped in general and as a rule, tidbits do tend to come out at this availability.
June 28: First round of 2024 NHL Draft (Las Vegas, NV)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 29: Sphere lights up during the venue’s grand opening on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Unless the Bruins make a trade to move into the first round, Sweeney and the Bruins will spend the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft as a spectator. This will mark Boston’s third straight year of simply watching the first round play out, and comes as a result of the Bruins trading their 2024 first-round pick to Detroit in exchange for Tyler Bertuzzi at the 2023 trade deadline. The Red Wings later traded that pick, which will be the No. 25 overall pick this year, to Ottawa.
June 29: Rounds 2-7 of 2024 NHL Draft (Las Vegas, NV)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: The Boston Bruins draft table during Round Six of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The next day will see the Bruins actually get to make some picks, though the arsenal is far from stacked, as the Bruins will only pick in the fourth, fifth, and sixth round of this year’s draft.
The Bruins do not have a second-round pick due to the 2022 trade for Hampus Lindholm, they lack a third-round pick as a result of the 2023 trade for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway, and they’re without a seventh-round pick thanks to the trade that gave the Bruins the exclusive signing rights to defenseman Michael Callahan from Arizona.
July 1: Start of 2024 NHL free agency
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 05: Jake DeBrusk #74 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers at TD Garden on March 05, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Following the 2024 NHL Draft, the real fun for the Bruins will begin on July 1 as the team is set to enter free agency with over $21 million in cap space and with an “aggressive” approach given their needs on the roster.
Some notable unrestricted free agents for the Bruins: Forwards Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Pat Maroon, and James van Riemsdyk. On the backend, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, and Kevin Shattenkirk are the notable free agents to be on the NHL roster.
July 1-4: Bruins 2024 Development Camp (Brighton, MA)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 05: Matthew Poitras #51 of the Boston Bruins skates against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on October 05, 2023 in New York City. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Fans will be able to beat the heat at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena on Fourth of July week, as the Bruins will hold their annual development camp during the holiday week for the second year in a row. This is where crafty center Matt Poitras truly established himself as an NHL roster threat a year ago, and it’ll be interesting to see if any other Bruins prospects can make a similar push this summer. This will also be a good chance to check in on the progress of 2023 draft picks such as Chris Pelosi (55 points in 56 USHL games last year) and Beckett Hendrickson (27 goals and 64 points in 59 USHL games last year) before their begin their collegiate careers.
Sept. 11: Bruins 2024 Rookie Camp opens (Brighton, MA)
MONTREAL, QC – NOVEMBER 26: A detail of the Boston Bruins logo is seen during the third period against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on November 26, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
With so many of Boston’s prospects playing in the NCAA ranks and thus ineligible to take part in this compared to development camp, you can expect this to be another invite-heavy rookie camp for the Bruins. It’ll also be interesting to see if the Bruins try to get some of their notable AHLers in this camp to get their camps off to a jump start.
Sept. 18: Bruins 2024 Training Camp opens (Brighton, MA)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 21: Brad Marchand #63 celebrates a goal with David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Crypto.com Arena on October 21, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The only real question you have entering this: Just how different will the Bruins look when camp opens? Will they have found a new top-six center to add to the equation, and what’s the winger situation looking like? This is also where the Bruins will begin to form what they hope is their identity for the 2024-25 season.
