The National Hockey League officially opened for free agent signings on Wednesday, and the Boston Bruins have been fairly active through the first two days.
Boston signed goaltender Keith Kinkaid, defenseman Connor Carrick, and center Vinni Letteri all to one year, $750,000 deals. They also inked defensemen AJ Greer and former University of Maine Black Bear Dan Renouf both to two-way contracts. Greer will get $1.525 million, while Renouf will earn $1.25 million. The biggest acquisition thus far for Boston came before free agency began on Wednesday, and was a trade sending defenseman Erik Haula to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Czech born center Pavel Zacha.
Kinkaid comes to Boston from the New York Rangers, where be only saw one start this past season in between the pipes and seven the year before. His best year was during his time with New Jersey when he went 26-10 with a 2.77 goals against and a .913 save percentage in the 2017-18 season. His overall career numbers are 69-58 with a 2.92 GAA and a .905 save percentage. The defenseman Carrick also comes over from the Devils, as has played 241 NHL games between Washington, Toronto, Dallas, and New Jersey. He has 13 goals and 36 assists in his career. Letteri joins the club after spending the last two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, but has played only five NHL games over that time. He also spent two years with the New York Rangers, and has a total of 82 games under his belt with seven goals and 11 assists. Greer and Renouf have spent most of their careers in the minors, and will likely join Kinkaid and Letteri at the AHL level in Providence. Greer has two goals and six assists in 47 appearances at the NHL level with Colorado and New Jersey, while Renouf the former Black Bear who spent three seasons in Orono has been in 23 games overall between Detroit and Colorado and has three assists with no goals. Zacha is the one of note and one that could add more scoring punch with the Bruins. He’s spent his entire seven year career so far with the Devils. The native of Brno, Czechoslovskia has recorded 32 or more points in the last three seasons in a row, registering his best year so far with 15 goals and 21 assists in 2021-22. He’s played in 386 NHL games and has 69 goals and 110 assists.
Boston General Manager Don Sweeney has said the team is in negotiations on a contract extension for Patrice Bergeron, and to also possibly bring back David Krejci. Krejci would be a welcome addition and could slot onto the second line between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak. Krejci sold his Boston home and went back to his native Czech Republic after the 2020-21 season to play professionally and spend time with family overseas. He has played 962 games, all in Beantown, registering 215 goals and 515 assists and was a big contributor to the Bruins Stanley Cup title in 2010-11 and the Cup runs of 2012-13 and 2018-19.
