Grading Bruins' Signings of Lindholm and Zadorov

Monday's NHL free-agent frenzy started off with a bang. After it was announced on June 8 that the NHL salary cap would increase by $4.5 million for 2024-25, the highest increase since 2018-19, fans and those around the league were anxiously awaiting to see how that would impact the free agent market.

Well, Monday didn't disappoint. Within the first hour of free agency, over 50 players were signed. The signings of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Jake Guentzel grabbed many of the headlines, but the Boston Bruins made some noise of their own with two major moves.

Boston's first day of free agency was headlined by the signings of center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Lindholm and the Bruins agreed to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract ($7.75 average annual value). Zadorov and the B's agreed to a six-year, $30 million deal ($5 million AAV).

Lindholm and Zadorov have played 226 regular season and postseason games together between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. If all goes according to plan, they will be playing for at least six more seasons together. Apparently, the pair were already scheming to link up again with the Bruins during a game at TD Garden last season.

The departures of Jake DeBrusk (Vancouver), Matt Grzelcyk (Pittsburgh), Derek Forbort (Vancouver), Pat Maroon (Chicago), and Danton Heinen (Vancouver) headlined those saying goodbye to Boston.

Don Sweeney and Cam Neely made some splashes on Monday (and they weren't the only Boston team to do so). Adding Lindholm and Zadorov should preserve the Bruins positioning as a playoff team. Here are the grades for the newest Bruins signings.