Free agency sits just a day away, and the NHL rumor mill has kicked into overdrive as teams brace for a chaotic stretch of signings and surprises.
Elliotte Friedman set it off for the Bruins on Monday’s 32 Thoughts Podcast. “[Darnell]Nurse has a three-team list that he’s going to: Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. I think Edmonton is trying to get Nurse to open up his list, and the one team, even though Nurse is a left shot, I think there’s a lot of word that there’s at least noise that Anaheim has interest. And Anaheim does have holes on their blue line. But at this point in time, Nurse has not agreed to that, so we’ll see where that plays out over the week.”
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia aren’t navigating the same cap crunch Boston is, but the Flyers still want to clear space if they’re going to make room for Nurse — and moving out Rasmus Ristolainen remains their most obvious path. Ristolainen, notably, is a name that’s surfaced around the Bruins as well, adding another wrinkle to an already tangled marketplace.
From everything I’ve been told, there were conversations between Daniel Briere and Don Sweeney — but none of them happened recently. And here’s the wrinkle that makes the whole thing even more intriguing: those talks apparently included a discussion to decide among themselves how to divvy up the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first‑round picks, determining which team would take the 2027 selection and which would claim the 2028 pick.
From Boston’s side, any move for Nurse would require money going out the door — full stop. And depending on which contract the Bruins use to offset the hit, the deal might also need salary retention on Nurse’s $9.25 million cap charge, adding another layer of complexity to an already delicate cap puzzle.
Kevin Paul Dupont of the Globe tweeted on Tuesday: Murmurings during draft weekend out of EDM that Oil could be down for a Nurse-Lohrei swap, with Oil willing to “share” the difference in AAVs (approx. $6M spread). I could see Bruins moving form Lohrei’s $3.2M AAV to something around $6.5M AAV for Nurse.
There’s also chatter that some teams are deliberately waiting until after July 1, when Edmonton is on the hook for Nurse’s $6 million signing bonus. It is said that any club acquiring him after that date would dodge the payout entirely and be responsible for only his $2 million base salary this season — a timing play that would reshape actual finances.
However, not every signing bonus hits on July 1 — the payout schedule is negotiated directly into the contract. In Nurse’s case, everything I’ve been able to track down points to a three‑installment structure: November 15, December 15, and February 15. That timing essentially wipes out any perceived advantage of waiting until July 2, because Edmonton wouldn’t be absorbing that bonus on July 1 in the first place.
The UFA market was one of the thinnest (and worst) in recent memory, but Monday’s qualifying‑offer deadline injected some much‑needed intrigue. Players who didn’t receive a QO are now set to hit the open market at noon on July 1, and according to our friends at PuckPedia, that list just grew by 90 skaters and 15 goaltenders. There are some legitimately interesting names among the newly added UFAs, and you can find the full rundown here.
The name that jumps off the page is Matias Maccelli, who went unqualified by the Maple Leafs. According to reporting from Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic and Friedman, the Bruins had Maccelli on their radar during his time in Toronto. There was also indications Boston showed interest while he was with the Utah Mammoth during the 2024–25 season, making his sudden availability one of the more intriguing developments from qualifying day. Do they revisit?
If the Bruins are indeed trying to move out a goaltender, an already crowded goalie market just got even more congested. Still, let’s be honest: the newly added UFAs aren’t exactly the headliners of the position. It’s hard to see how any of those names materially complicate Boston’s efforts to make a move. The challenge was already baked in — this just adds nothing but noise to what was already difficult equation.
The Bruins, who may need to plug as many as four blue‑line holes and six forward spots in Providence, are almost certain to lean on free agency to round out their AHL roster. And, as happens every summer, the moment those depth signings roll in, the outrage machine will fire up — with plenty of fans wondering why Boston would bother with players that don’t appear to have an NHL future. The reality, as always, is simple: the organization has an entire Providence lineup to build, not just NHL headlines to chase.
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