Boston Bruins Make Mid-Season Move, Signing Stanley Cup Champion to Help Turn Things Around
This evening the Boston Bruins have given their lineup a big boost by signing Stanley Cup champion Tyler Johnson to an NHL contract for the rest of the season.
The Boston Bruins have had an up-and-down start to their NHL season that has left many fans frustrated. Despite the lack of wins, the Bruins remain in the thick of the playoff race early on. With a lack of production from their depth forwards the Boston Bruins have decided to officially sign former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson to a one-year deal.
Tyler Johnson originally joined the Bruins during training camp and preseason but at the time was not given a contract for the season. Despite not earning a contract Tyler Johnson remained in Boston and continued training. This led to a conditioning stint with the Bruins AHL affiliate the Providence Bruins and from there an NHL deal.
The move comes after a terrible start to the season for the Bruins as far as their standards go. The fans are frustrated and in recent weeks there has even been speculation about the potential firing of head coach Jim Montgomery.
With this signing the Boston Bruins bring in a key depth player with a lot of playoff and big game experience. During his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tyler Johnson was a part of two Stanley Cup winning teams. Over the last three seasons, Tyler Johnson had been with the Chicago Blackhawks and showed his value as a veteran in a depth role mentoring the likes of Connor Bedard. With the Blackhawks in 2023-24, Johnson played 67 games and tallied 31 points. After signing with the Bruins the team will now have just over one million dollars in salary cap space.
In Boston, he will likely fill a similar role playing in the bottom-six providing further veteran leadership to a Bruins team that is younger than they have had in a long time. If he does well surrounded by the Bruins' current forwards we could see him get a shot at a top-six role. At 34 years old it will be interesting to see how much action Tyler Johnson ultimately ends up seeing for the Bruins on a game-to-game basis.
