2 Free Agent Defensemen the Boston Bruins Should Pursue This Offseason – The Hockey Writers – Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins admirably made it to the postseason after a quick retool by general manager Don Sweeney. Adding talent such as Viktor Arvidsson, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov paid off handsomely during the regular season. Each player would find a way to make it beyond April and into a playoff spot.

The team’s flaws have been exposed, and the Buffalo Sabres, with surgical precision, eliminated them from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with a disappointing area of play for the Bruins, namely the blue line.

The Bruins gave up 20 goals in the first round of the playoffs, leaving goaltender Jeremy Swayman to fend for himself in front of a skilled Sabres team. They will have to reconsider who to target to bolster a defensive core that underperformed this postseason. With a sieve forming in front of Swayman, they will need to consider bringing in a defensive defenseman who plays a heavy game. The team needs more flexibility on the blue line, and they should target a blueliner who can shoot, hit, and quarterback a power play.

Mentioned below are two players who could contribute to the team’s future success.

Braden Schneider, New York Rangers

Braden Schneider’s two-year, $2.2 million average annual value (AAV) contract ends in July, leaving him a restricted free agent.

After two years in New York, he’s been able to play solid bottom-four minutes on a Rangers team that can’t seem to get out of its own way. However, he’s been a bright spot on a team that lacks the fortitude to play a high-level of hockey when it counts.

This may seem like a dig against Schneider, but it is an indictment of the organization. Schneider is a defensive defenseman who could give the Bruins some added muscle in the ranks and could slot in on the right side next to Hampus Lindholm.

Schneider played all 82 games for the Rangers and scored two goals and 18 points. His underlying stats are promising, especially when viewing his expected goals-for percentage (xGF) this season, at 56.24. He is a force to deal with on the ice, shutting down his opponents with 163 hits this season as well.

He could fit the prototypical defenseman of the big-bad Bruins era. But the question arises as to what Sweeney would have to shell out for him.

Darren Raddysh, Tampa Bay Lightning

We know Darren Raddysh may not be able to replicate the 70-point season that he just had in Tampa Bay. The Bruins need a good puck-moving defenseman who can shoot, score, and hit. He checks all three boxes for the Bruins.

As a pending unrestricted free agent, he’s bound to have many suitors, but the Bruins need to capitalize on this opportunity in the offseason and shoot their shot, proverbially.

In 73 games with the Lightning, he recorded 70 points (22 goals, 48 assists) and had a Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of 57.0 during the 2025-26 season. He was also one of the Lightning’s best players and their power-play quarterback with Victor Hedman‘s injury.

Raddysh is due a pay raise after his career year, as his $975,000 AAV contract expires in July. There’s about to be a bidding war for a defenseman like Raddysh, who is a late bloomer.

Per The Tampa Bay Times, projections have him making life-changing money with his next contract. But will GM Sweeney take the dive?

Some high-end projections have Raddysh making a $7 million average annual value, and a team with a need might go there. I can’t see the Lightning doing that. But somewhere in the $4 million-5 million range spread out over a longer term might make sense to them. Regardless, it seems like something that the Lightning and Raddysh have to figure out (from ‘Can Lightning afford not to re-sign defenseman Darren Raddysh’, Tampa Bay Times, 3/21/2026)

These two defensemen could be game-changers for a team that needs extra help on the backend.