Boston Bruins and Mike Hoffman look like perfect free agency marriage

Mike Hoffman is among the top names still available in NHL free agency and the Boston Bruins are a perfect fit for him.

A significant wave of NHL free agency is over. One of the top names left available is Mike Hoffman, most recently of the Florida Panthers. Frank Seravalli of TSN has reported he is open to a one-year deal while holding firm on an asking price between $5.5 and $6.5 million.

Hoffman had 65 goals and had 129 points with a -29 rating in 151 games with the Panthers over the last two seasons. He has scored at least 22 goals in five straight seasons, with at least 59 points in four. In three of the last four seasons, he has reached double-digit power play goals with 28 total over the last two. Any team in need of a top-six forward with scoring prowess should be interested.

Seravalli listed the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators as the teams with the most interest in Hoffman. The Bruins in particular look like a perfect fit.

The Bruins could use Mike Hoffman and mask his flaws

After recent surgeries, the Bruins will be without David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand at the start of next season, which looks like it’ll be Jan. 1. They were the team’s top two scorers from this past season, with 95 and 87 points respectively, and Pastrnak tied for the league-lead in goals with 48. Patrice Bergeron finished third on the Bruins with 56 points. After those three, no one else had 20 goals (Jake DeBrusk-19).

Hoffman is not a strong defensive forward. But the Bruins, as cited by NBC Sports Boston via Natural Stat Trick, were top-10 in the league in shot attempts against (7th), shots on net against (2nd) and goals against at 5-on-5 (No. 1 last season). If there’s a team that can cover for Hoffman’s shortcomings in the defensive zone, it is the Bruins.

Another red flag with Hoffman is his subpar play at even strength. Out of 303 forwards with at least 1,800 minutes played over the last three seasons, he’s 117th in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes (0.77).

That said, the Bruins are in a win-now window for the next couple of seasons. So bringing Hoffman on a one-year deal to bolster their scoring looks ideal. According to Cap Friendly, they have about $10.3 million in cap space for 2020-21 right now, with free agents Zdeno Chara, Matt Grzelcyk (restricted) and DeBrusk (restricted) to consider bringing back. Hoffman’s asking price fits in with no further moves, but trading DeBrusk certainly becomes an option to make it easier to re-sign Chara or Grzelcyk.

Hoffman may sign somewhere soon. But the Bruins should be at the front of the line, with an offer at the high end of his asking price range if that’s what it takes.