Bruins' offseason goal? 'We need more talent, we need more speed'

Last offseason, the Boston Bruins' goal was to repair a cracked foundation. After a bottom-five finish, team president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney wanted a harder-working team that would be a "tougher out" and play with "piss and vinegar."

A year later, they believe that foundation is sturdy once again. New head coach Marco Sturm helped re-establish that culture, as did the addition of veterans like Viktor Arvidsson, Tanner Jeannot and Sean Kuraly. The Bruins put together a 100-point regular season – a 24-point improvement over last season – and returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence.

Now, the offseason goal is a little different. They have the depth, the physicality, the grinders. What they need to go from "hard out" to "Stanley Cup contender" is skill and speed, and they know it.

"We got bounced in the first round, so yeah, we need more talent, we need more speed," Neely said Wednesday at the team's end-of-season press conference. "That's something that we have to try to acquire in one way, shape or form. You look at the elite teams in the league, we’re not there."

Neely is right in his blunt assessment, of course. The Bruins are at least one or two high-in-the-lineup, impact players away from true Cup contention.

It's the "way, shape or form" that's the problem. Adding high-end talent is not easy. In theory, there are three ways to do it: via the draft, via free agency, or via trade.

The Bruins used the seventh overall pick last year on James Hagens, who they obviously hope will develop into a top-of-the-lineup player. He should be an NHL regular next season, but how much of a real impact he'll be able to make as a rookie – and one who will still be a teenager when the season starts – remains to be seen.

They could have had another top-10 pick this year with some lottery luck, but the ping pong balls did not bounce their way Tuesday night, as the Maple Leafs won the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes. The first-round pick Boston will get from Toronto as part of the Brandon Carlo trade is now likely to be delayed until 2028.

The Bruins will still have their own first-round pick, likely to be 23rd overall. Picks in the 20s are much more hit-or-miss than picks in the top 10, and they usually take longer to develop.

So, what about free agency? Well, NHL free agency is pretty much a barren wasteland these days. With a steadily rising salary cap, teams are having an easier time re-signing their top players before they ever get to free agency.

Buffalo's Alex Tuch, who just had a big series against the Bruins, would be the clear top forward if he goes to market, but I still wouldn't bet on him getting there. Tampa Bay's Darren Raddysh and Vegas' Rasmus Andersson would be the top two defensemen. The Bruins could certainly use a right-shot D, which both of them are, but whether either comes in at a price point that makes sense remains to be seen. It's also debatable just how "high-end" either of them are, which only serves to highlight the dearth of options.

That leaves the trade market. Sweeney certainly poked around on some big names before the trade deadline, including Andersson, but ultimately opted against paying any exorbitant prices. He said Wednesday he will explore all options again, including potentially trading some of the picks and/or prospects he accumulated at the 2025 trade deadline.

"We have to have everything in play in terms of how we continue to improve our club," Sweeney said.

The elephant in the room: a true number one center. Every recent Stanley Cup winner has had one. The Bruins, at this moment, do not. Neely, again in his bluntness, did not hide from that fact.

"We all in this room recognize we don't have a true number one C," Neely said. "And that's something that we want to try to rectify, whether it's this offseason or those guys growing into it. But it's something that we know that's needed."

"Those guys" in this case refers to Hagens and Fraser Minten. Both certainly have promising futures, but whether they'll develop into true first-line centers is a big question mark.

"I think they both have that skill set," Neely said. "They're both a little different players. One's more like Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] as far as a 200-foot player, and maybe not see the ice as well as Hagens does. Hagens’ head is up all the time. Like he's constantly looking to distribute. Fraser said to me at the exit meetings, he's like, ‘Wow, what a difference playoff hockey is compared to regular-season hockey.’ So that experience for him was invaluable. He realizes how things close quicker. There's not as much time to do anything. Once he figures that out, like every player does over time, or most players do over time, I think he's going to grow and continue to grow. Whether either become number one centers is up to them and how that goes for them and what the path is for them. But we want to give these guys every opportunity to take a job that's staring at them."

In the meantime, Sweeney will also have to explore any and all trade possibilities that might present. The Bruins are believed to have checked in on St. Louis' Robert Thomas before the trade deadline, and they could circle back on the 26-year-old this offseason. But as Sweeney noted Wednesday, any deal for a player like that would come at a very high cost.

"Even at the trade deadline as you're exploring," Sweeney said, "whether it’s this time or the summertime, you realize that when you do make a call about a player of that nature you've just described, the guy on the other side says there's not even 32 of them in the league."

And all that brings us back to the challenge facing Sweeney this summer and in the years to come: the what is a lot easier than the how. The Bruins know they need more speed and skill. Whether they can actually find a way to add it is a different story.