The Boston Bruins have brought back a familiar face to shore up their bottom-six forward group in free agency.
Sean Kuraly is returning to the Bruins after four seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as first reported by Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff and later confirmed by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson. He’s signing a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.85 million.
Kuraly, 32, played the first five seasons of his NHL career with the Bruins. A fast, dependable fourth-line energy forward, Kuraly gained a reputation for scoring a surprising amount of big goals in the playoffs. Kuraly most notably scored four goals and 10 points in 20 playoff games for the B’s in 2019, and four of his nine career postseason goals are game-winners.
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In his return to the B’s, Kuraly makes sense as a plug-and-play fourth-line forward. However, the Bruins also signed bruising winger Tanner Jeannot to a five-year deal on Tuesday, and they’ve also re-signed Johnny Beecher, while Mark Kastelic remains in the fold.
Bruins fans will have to keep waiting for any moves that are more impactful to the roster, but there’s no question that they’re flush with bottom-six forwards.
Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.