The Bruins are officially in offseason mode after a first-round loss to the Buffalo Sabres, and the front office does not have much time to sit around and sulk. On paper, Boston has cap flexibility, but several medium-to-long term deals are hanging over any attempt to add talent or lock up younger pieces. How general manager Don Sweeney chooses to handle those contracts will go a long way toward deciding whether the Bruins reload through trades or lean harder on internal prospects in bigger roles.
Globe's List: Seven Contracts on the Hot Seat
As reported by The Boston Globe, a recent breakdown highlighted seven Bruins contracts that could be traded or reworked: Joonas Korpisalo, Henri Jokiharju, Mikey Eyssimont, Mason Lohrei, Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm. The analysis urged the club to get out in front of the cap crunch by moving bloated or redundant deals, framing those names as the most realistic candidates to clear space for upgrades or to open minutes for prospects who are knocking on the door.
Cap Room and the Buyout Math
PuckPedia projects that the Bruins will have roughly $15 to $16 million of cap space for 2026-27, which gives Sweeney some room to maneuver this summer but not enough to make mistakes. The real headache is Elias Lindholm. According to PuckPedia's buyout calculator, Lindholm carries a $7.75 million AAV, and a buyout would still stick the Bruins with about $5.33 million in dead-cap charges in both 2029-30 and 2030-31, with the penalty stretched over 10 years. In other words, any decision on Lindholm is going to echo for a long time.
Goaltending Logjam and an Internal Option
In net, Joonas Korpisalo spent the season backing up Jeremy Swayman but finished with a .894 save percentage and a 3.15 goals-against average, numbers that make his $3 million cap hit a tougher sell on the market, per StatMuse. At the same time, the AHL confirmed that Providence netminder Michael DiPietro was voted the league's MVP, giving Boston a homegrown option who can credibly push for the backup job if Korpisalo is moved, per the league announcement. As The Boston Globe noted, trading Korpisalo, potentially with a sweetener attached, would be one of the cleanest ways to open that runway for DiPietro.
What Realistically Moves and the Youth Angle
Pavel Zacha's breakout 30-goal, 65-point season has turned him into one of Boston's most valuable short-term assets, and he now looks like a player who could either be extended or flipped for a meaningful return on the trade market, per NHL.com. At the same time, Charlie Coyle's new six-year, $36 million commitment to Columbus, announced on the Blue Jackets' club site, is a reminder that middle-six centers are still getting serious term and dollars, which complicates Boston's internal debate over cashing in on value now versus securing cost certainty.
Layered on top of all this is the youth movement. Boston's youngsters, including Fraser Minten and James Hagens, are pushing for larger roles next season, which makes a handful of salary-clearing moves easier to stomach if those internal replacements can actually step up, as noted in recent coverage of the club's young core. The challenge for Sweeney is threading the needle between staying competitive in the short term and not boxing the Bruins into a corner with contracts that will sting years down the line.
