For some of the Boston Bruins players who stepped out of Warrior Ice Arena following the end-of-season media availability on Sunday, it would be the last time.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will have to make decisions on the nine members of the NHL roster entering free agency. Forward Jesper Boqvist and Jeremy Swayman will be restricted free agents, but the rest will hit the open market if they don’t agree to new terms in Boston before July.
Among those players are two who have spent their entire careers to this point wearing the Black-and-Gold, but could see themselves wearing a new uniform in 2024-25: Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk.
Each has been a “full-time” member of the Bruins for the past seven seasons, going as far as the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019. Five years later, both could be parting ways with Boston.
After scoring a career-high 50 points in 64 games last season, DeBrusk took a step back in 2023-24. He had just 19 goals and 40 points in 80 games, but later revealed he had been dealing with a broken hand after the bye week that did not fully heal until before the playoffs. Once in the postseason, DeBrusk flashed his upside again, leading the Bruins with five goals and 11 points in 13 games.
DeBrusk said he’s surprised a new deal has not been agreed to yet, but he’s hopeful to return after completing a two-year, $8 million contract.
“I see a path here. I think I’ve seen it all year,” DeBrusk said on Sunday. “I still have hope. If you told me at the beginning of the year I’d be here without a contract, I probably wouldn’t believe you. But at the same time, I’ve always loved my time here and there’s a lot of great memories.”
Grzelcyk, on the other hand, is a true Boston lifer. The Charlestown native is the son of longtime TD Garden bull gang member, John, who has spent 56 years working in the building his son would eventually play in.
Grzelcyk played for Boston University for four seasons – the latter two as captain – before joining the Bruins, which drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
While he’s been a fixture in the Bruins lineup alongside Charlie McAvoy for the past few seasons, Grzelcyk consistently wound up falling out of the rotation in the postseason. In the last three years, he played in just 12 out of 27 playoff games for Boston, including just three of 13 in 2024. He has not scored a playoff point since 2021.
This spring, rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei replaced Grzelcyk in the Bruins’ top four, which could spell the end for Grzelcyk’s time in Boston with his four-year, $14.75 million contract expiring.
“This is the only place I’ve known and place that I grew up wanting to be,” Grzelcyk said on Sunday. “It’s been an unbelievable experience ever since I’ve been here and I’m so grateful for the opportunity, and not only getting to play here but to be around special place, special people that are here within the organization, so those are things that I’m starting to look back on and cherish.”
The Bruins should have around $21 million in cap space to play with this offseason, but with larger priority re-signings such as Swayman, plus potential incoming options on the open market, Boston may have seen the last of DeBrusk and Grzelcyk in the spoked-B.
