Top Reasonable Bruins Free Agent Targets

With some help from Asmae_T, I put together a spreadsheet that has a list of players who could be prime bottom six targets to help the Bruins. Heres my top two, plus a few honorable mentions at each position.

Forwards: Focusing on Left Wingers

Sean Bergenheim:

Does anyone remember how Sean Bergenheim finished fourth in goals during the 2010-11 playoffs? (I won't hold it against you if you don't, there was other important things happening then too.) Signing a 4 year, 2.75 AAV contract right after the playoffs were over, the Panthers didn't get the second liner they expected. A case of an inflated shooting percentage in the playoffs led to an inflated contract, and inflated expectations. He's still not a top six option, but as a play driving veteran left winger, I believe he would fit well with Spooner and Connolly on the third line, leaving Kelly to play either center or left wing on the fourth line.

David Booth:

David Booth's first half of last year was abysmal. So bad in fact that the Maple Leafs couldn't move him at the deadline. The good news was that he picked it up after the deadline, and finished with 7 goals and 6 assists over 59 games. A major concern with Booth is injuries, as he hasn't played more than 70 games since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. Booth is coming off of a 1 year deal worth $1.1 million annually.

Honorable Mentions:

Martin Erat, David Moss,

Defensemen:

David Schlemko:

Heres hoping the analytics darling hasnt gotten hyped too much since being waived by the Dallas Stars. The 6'1" left shot D man posted above 50% underlying numbers (Corsi for and Scoring Chances for), on top of the best relative numbers by defenseman I looked at. He wont be extremely cheap, but with around 1.9 million per roster spot, and both Spooner and Connolly coming in slightly below that number, I wouldn't be surprised if he got a short deal for around $2 million per to try and prove that he is a top 4 defenseman. Schlemko is coming off of a 2 year deal worth $1.1875 million annually.

Matt Irwin:

Irwin is closer to a 4/5 defenseman, which is an area the Bruins have a few of, plus a few prospects who should likely play there to get acclimated to the NHL. At least Irwin has proven that he can play at the NHL level, and he could potentially thrive if given more ice time. Irwin is coming off of a 2 year deal worth $1 million annually.

Honorable mentions:

Mark Barberio, John Moore

Goaltenders:

Karri Ramo, Michael Neuvirth:

Assuming that McIntyre or Subban both need another year to develop, signing a 'starting goalie' to a one year deal to backup Rask makes  the most sense. With between 4 to 5 backup spots open (with RFA's not counting in this) the Bruins could very reasonably wind up with one of Ramo, Neuvirth, Griess, Enroth, or Viktor Fasth. Enroth and Neuvirth split starts in Buffalo for most of last year, and even going back to the year before have both put up respectable numbers for such an abysmal team. Karri Ramo backed up Jonas Hiller in Calgary and helped get them into the playoffs with a .929 adjusted save percentage at 5on5. The four other teams they are competing with are the Flyers, Islanders, Kings, and the Coyotes.

The Bruins probably can't screw this aspect up, as they have made very solid decisions regarding goalies in the past, including trading for the goalie that will most likely have gotten the best return (pending where San Jose finishes next year)

Honorable Mention:

Thomas Greiss, Jhonas Enroth