With training camps now less than three weeks away, it’s expected that there will be an uptick in PTO activity over the coming days as players look to catch on somewhere. The Bruins are getting involved in the tryout market as the team announced that they’ve signed veteran forward Tyler Johnson to a tryout agreement.
[Related: 2024 Professional Tryout Tracker]
The 34-year-old spent the last three seasons with Chicago after being acquired from Tampa Bay in a salary cap-clearing move. Staying healthy had been a challenge for Johnson in his time with the Blackhawks which certainly didn’t help his cause on the open market. Nonetheless, he managed to put up 32 points in 56 games in 2022-23 and followed that up with 17 goals and 14 assists in 67 contents last season while logging 15:32 per night.
Before that time, Johnson spent nine seasons with Tampa Bay, being a key secondary scorer for most of his tenure with them. Over his 12-year career, he has 193 goals and 238 assists in 738 games between the Lightning and Blackhawks. With that track record and a decent showing offensively when healthy with Chicago over the last two years, it’s a little surprising that he wasn’t able to secure a guaranteed contract for the upcoming season.
Earlier this month, we took a closer look at Johnson’s free agency and highlighted the Bruins as one of the possible fits. While Johnson has spent more time on the wing than down the middle in recent years, he can still play center and would represent some insurance on Matthew Poitras who missed 38 games last season due to shoulder troubles. If they want Poitras to ease in on the wing to start the season – or even start at AHL Providence – Johnson could serve as some low-cost insurance on that front.
At the moment, the Bruins have around $8.64MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. However, most of that will be earmarked for RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman; they will need to sign him before they can get a better sense of what they might or might not be able to spend on a contract for Johnson or any other veteran free agents that they might have their eye on. In the meantime, Johnson will at least have a shot at suiting up in the preseason and making a case for a contract either with Boston or elsewhere.