The Bruins are officially running out of housekeeping items when it comes to their 2023 offseason.
With the bottom of the roster looking like an awfully crowded group, the Bruins still looking for resolutions on the Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman fronts, and with the Bruins still waiting to hear from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci in regards to their playing futures, there’s not much for Don Sweeney & Co. to truly accomplish in mid-July.
But that didn’t stop Sweeney and the Bruins from getting more work done Monday, with three players — and three of the club’s mid to lower-tier restricted free agents at that — signed to NHL contracts for the 2023-24 season.
May 6, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alec Regula (75) skates before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. (James Guillory/USA TODAY Sports)
One of two Monday signings relating to the backend, the Bruins confirming the signing of defenseman Alec Regula to a one-year, two-way contract. Regula’s contract will come with a league-minimum $775,000 cap hit at the NHL level should Regula skate on the Boston roster this upcoming season.
Acquired from the Blackhawks in the Taylor Hall cap-dump trade last month, the 6-foot-4 Regula is coming to the B’s organization after a 2022-23 campaign that included five goals and 21 points, along with 69 minutes in penalties, in 51 games for AHL Rockford. The 22-year-old also drew into four games for Chicago this past season, and racked up four hits and eight blocks while averaging 16:36 per game for the Blackhawks.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 30: Reilly Walsh #8 of the New Jersey Devils skates against the New York Rangers at the Prudential Center on September 30, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Elsewhere on the point, the Bruins came to terms on a one-year, two-way contract for defenseman Reilly Walsh. Like Regula, Walsh will check in at $775,000 should he make the NHL roster.
Added from New Jersey in what was a potentially shrewd pickup by Sweeney given the Devils’ abundance of right-shot defensemen and Boston’s lack of such options, the Framingham, Mass. native will join the Bruins after another strong season skating for AHL Utica, with nine goals and 41 points in 71 games for the Comets.
Walsh’s 41 points ranked second among all Utica skaters (tops among defensemen), and made him the 17th-highest scoring defenseman in the AHL. And it was actually his second straight season of at least nine goals and 41 points for Walsh, too, as the 24-year-old put up nine goals and 43 points in a breakout year for the Comets in 2021-22.
Sep 25, 2022; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Michael DiPietro (64) during the third period against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)
In net, the Bruins also finalized the contract of Michael DiPietro, with the 24-year-old signed to a one-year, two-way contract worth the league minimum $775,000 at the NHL level.
Brought to Boston as part of the early-season trade that sent Jack Studnicka to the Canucks, DiPietro spent the majority of his 2022-23 campaign with ECHL Maine, and posted a 19-9-0 record and .918 save percentage in 29 appearances for the Mariners. DiPietro also got into action for one game with AHL Providence this past season, and turned aside 33-of-35 shots faced in a Mar. 15 win over Syracuse.
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS – Worcester Railers forward Nolan Vesey can’t get it past Maine Mariners goalie Michael DiPietro and defender Jacob Wilson. (Syndication: Worcester Telegram)
The signing of DiPietro gives the Bruins five goaltenders signed to NHL contracts for next season, and with DiPietro expected to battle with both Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser for starts in Providence. The P-Bruins could go with a three-goalie rotation (they appeared to do that last season prior to trading Keith Kinkaid ahead of the 2023 deadline) and adjust on the fly like they did with Kinkaid, or they could stick DiPietro back in the ECHL until needed.
DiPietro, a third-round pick of the Canucks back in 2017, has compiled a 40-25-6 record and .906 save percentage 75 career AHL games, and has made three NHL appearances in his career.
