The 2024 draft is considered weaker than normal by many experts. However, the Bruins’ prospect pool is one of the worst in the league, especially after Matthew Poitras and Mason Lohrei made the jump to the NHL level last season. Boston’s system could really use an infusion of young talent, and if the Bruins retain the pick, they could add a talented player to the mix.
The Bruins could also use this pick as part of a trade to acquire a veteran who can help the team win in the short term. The first round of the 2024 draft is Friday, with rounds two through seven on Saturday afternoon, so Sweeney and his staff have some time to figure out what the Bruins will do with this pick.
Negative point: Joonas Korpisalo’s contract
Korpisalo was one of the worst goalkeepers in the league last season.
He had a record of 21-26-4 with a mediocre save percentage of .890 and a brutal 3.58 GAA. He ranked 97th out of 98 netminders in goals saved above expectations (minus-16.7), per MoneyPuck. Jeremy Swayman (4th) and Ullmark (7th) both ranked in the top 10 in goals saved above expectations.
To be fair, the Senators didn’t play great for him, but they also ranked 15th in shots allowed and 22nd in scoring opportunities allowed at 5-on-5. It’s not like they were dominated every night, and yet Korpisalo still struggled to produce. In fact, the B’s weren’t much better in these metrics. They ranked 18th in shots allowed and 17th in scoring opportunities allowed at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
His contract is not team-friendly and will not expire anytime soon. Korpisalo has signed a contract for three more seasons (through 2027-2028) with a salary cap hit of $3 million. A $3 million cap hit for an average or worse veteran goaltender isn’t great.
There are a few ways the Bruins could handle Korpisalo’s contract if they don’t want him to be their backup next season. Boston could bury him in the minors, which would provide $1.15 million in cap relief and a $1.85 million dead cap hit. They could also buy him out. If they did, the Bruins would have a cap hit of $250,000 next season, $625,000 in 2025-26, $1.375 million in 2026-27, $1.75 million in 2027-28, and then $1 million after that, according to CapFriendly per year from 2028-29. through 2031-32.
The B’s could also trade Korpisalo and add an asset (like a draft pick) to entice a team to take him. Trading him and keeping salary is another option.
Perhaps the Bruins can help Korpisalo rediscover the form he showed with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2022-23, when he posted a .913 save percentage in 28 games. Bob Essensa is the best goaltending coach in the league and has gotten the best out of virtually every netminder to play for the Bruins over the past decade. But unless Korpisalo shows massive improvement, this trade will put enormous pressure on Jeremy Swayman to not only play a ton of games, but also produce at a very high level.
The best-case scenario for the Bruins with Korpisalo is that he becomes a solid player in 2024-25 and trades him for an asset (or just cap relief) next offseason.
Pro: Mark Kastelic could surprise
Don’t be surprised if Mark Kastelic earns the support of Bruins fans pretty quickly. He plays the kind of hard, physical game that is prized in Boston. He’s 6-foot-4, 226 pounds and isn’t afraid to go to the hard parts of the ice to win puck battles. Kastelic also has good speed, something the Bruins needed to add this season. He can also fight.
He will likely play a bottom-six role. He is versatile enough to play as a center or right winger, which gives head coach Jim Montgomery some options. Kastelic won’t brighten up the stat sheet offensively, but he can still provide decent scoring depth. The 25-year-old forward scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 63 games for Ottawa this season.
Kastelic is also very good on faceoffs, which will help the Bruins immensely after going from No. 2 in faceoff winning percentage in 2022-2023 to No. 21 this season without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. He took 349 fights last season and won 54.4 percent of them. Pavel Zacha led the B’s with a faceoff percentage of 54.8.
The Bruins are not committed to Kastelic for the long term. He is signed for one more season with a small salary cap hit of $835,000 and will be a restricted free agent next summer. He has the potential to be a useful cheapie for Boston.
Against: Bruins did not receive premium assets from Senators
The Bruins gave up a goaltender who won the Vezina Trophy in 2023 and couldn’t find a young forward or defenseman who can play a meaningful role on next year’s team.
Shane Pinto is a 25 year old center and a restricted free agent for the Senators. He has much more attacking qualities than Kastelic and would have been a better signing. Boston also failed to land Jakob Chychrun, who is rumored to be available via trade and a legitimate top-four defenseman.
The Bruins were also unable to land the Senators’ top pick in the first round. The Senators owned the No. 7 and No. 25 overall selections in this year’s draft. Boston acquired the latter.
If Ullmark had an extension with the Senators at the time of this trade, the Bruins might get a better return.
Against: Bruins has barely made room for a salary cap
Salary cap space is super valuable in a hard cap league like the NHL. That said, the fact that the Bruins moved Ullmark and his $5 million cap hit and ultimately created only $1.165 million more cap space as a result of this trade is quite disappointing.
One of the biggest reasons trading Ullmark made sense was to create additional cap space for the Bruins to pursue impact players on the free agency or trade market. The Bruins need a top-six center and a proven scorer on the wing. These types of players are expensive to acquire. They also need to re-sign Jeremy Swayman, who will get a huge raise after a great playoff run.
But the Bruins traded Ullmark for very little cap space expansion and took over Korpisalo’s bad contract, which has three years left on it.
Ouch.
