In the dead zone of the NHL offseason for the 30 teams not competing for the 2023 Stanley Cup, which means everybody ‘cept the Golden Knights and Panthers, you’re not going to hear much about the Bruins and their future.

But Thursday will come with a deadline of sorts, as the Bruins have until 5 p.m. on June 1 to sign prospect Matias Mäntykivi before losing his exclusive signing rights.

• Drafted with a sixth-round selection (No. 185 overall) in 2019, Mäntykivi has spent his entire career to date in his native Finland. Mäntykivi’s last two seasons have been spent with Ilves in Finland’s top pro league, and is coming off a 2022-23 campaign that featured 12 goals and 33 points in 60 games played. His 12 goals ranked sixth on the team, while his 33 points ranked seventh among all Ilves skaters.

  The 21-year-old finished the year on a high note, too, as he was Ilves’ top playoff performer, with a team-leading 12 points in 12 playoff games. Mäntykivi’s 12 points were also tied for the seventh-most among all skaters in the Liiga playoffs.

  A youngster in Finland’s top pro league, Mäntykivi has had relatively notable success since his jump to Ilves, with 24 goals and 64 points in 111 games over the last two seasons.

• 

  EDMONTON, AB – JANUARY 05: Vasili Ponomaryov #13 and goaltender Yaroslav Askarov #1 of Russia defend against Matias Mantykivi #32 of Finland during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship bronze medal game at Rogers Place on January 5, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

• But playing in Finland’s top pro league also comes with its own challenges in regards to getting the potential late-round find over to North American ice.

  Speaking at last year’s development camp, the Bruins’ Jamie Langenbrunner outright acknowledged the biggest issue when it comes to getting Mäntykivi over to the organization.

  “He plays second-line in Liiga, gets plenty of opportunity. I don’t know if we’ll be able to provide him much more than that at Providence right now, so,” Langenbrunner said of Mäntykivi last summer. “It’s a hard league to play in, it’s a grinding league, and he’s a good player in that league.

  “We’ll monitor him well this year. We’ll make a decision on him at some point this year on if he’s someone we sign or not.”

  That decision time is officially here for the Bruins.

• 

  EDMONTON, AB – JANUARY 05: Marat Khusnutdinov #22 of Russia skates against Matias Mantykivi #32 of Finland during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship bronze medal game at Rogers Place on January 5, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

• The fate of the franchise will not be determined by whether or not Mäntykivi signs with the Bruins.

  Nobody is saying that, nor should anybody think that. But with draft picks so few and far between in recent years, and with the Bruins staring down at undeniably cloudy future when it comes to their long-term plans at forward, a late-round find averaging half a point per game in Finland’s top league as a kid (and after a breakout playoffs) is someone you’d almost certainly want to get a closer look at.

  There’s also the fact that Mäntykivi is part of a five-player 2019 class that’s looking a biiiit rough at the moment, with the Bruins desperate for someoner to pop. That class is obviously headlined by first-round pick Johnny Beecher, and has four-year NCAAer Quinn Olson (75 points in 138 games at Duluth), Roman Bychkov (four points in 39 KHL games), and seventh-round pick Jake Schmaltz (36 points in 73 games at North Dakota) lingering in the background with Mäntykivi.

  This is also the new reality the Bruins find themselves in, in some respects.

  Late-round steals and undrafted finds are going to become a must for this franchise. And it’s best executed if those late-round picks are actually able to be signed and give the North American game a run.

  Whether or not that happens with Mäntykivi, however, is coming down to the wire.

• 

  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. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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