By Jack Cinquegrana | Follow me on Twitter @bruinschewy
Mike Hoffman has had an excellent career so far. NHL goalies have gotten better over time, and Hoffman is still potting around 30 goals per season, not an easy thing to do. The Boston Bruins need secondary scoring, and Mike Hoffman would be a great addition to the second line.
The Canadian winger is allowed to test free agency though the Panthers would like to have him back, new general manager Bill Zito is willing to risk losing him if that means that the Panthers do not overpay him, per Pierre LeBrun, TSN. His contract carries an average annual value of $5.187 million.
Pros
There are pros and cons to every player in the NHL, and Hoffman has many pros. The skills that he possesses, a wicked shot and great vision, have given him a nine-year career with over 350 points in almost 500 games. The contract he signed with the Senators in 2016 was a four-year, $20.75 million deal. He was traded to Florida after two years, but despite the change in locale, his goal-scoring did not suffer. He had a season-high 36 goals.
Hoffman went on a deep run with Ottawa in 2017 when they eliminated Boston in six games in overtime. The Senators made it to the Eastern Conference final game seven overtime and lost to a Chris Kunitz one-timer off a pass from Sidney Crosby. But, Mike Hoffman has played in the playoffs and has experienced how tough it is to win. He also played six games in 2015 and played four with Florida this past season, scoring three goals and five points. Playoff experience is a valuable commodity in the eyes of a hockey club’s general manager.
Cons
Hoffman is 30-years-old now and will be expecting a big contract for his consistency, and looking at his games played, he has stayed pretty healthy throughout his nine-year career. He will also be expecting a term, which is a problem because I am not sure the Bruins will be interested in signing another 30-year-old to a six, seven, or eight-year deal in the player’s post-prime.
Though there are more pros than cons, that contract that Hoffman wants might be out of their price range. Mike Hoffman is the target of many teams in the NHL, which will only drive up his asking price. He will want to sign long-term, and the Bruins may not be willing to give up so much money and so many years.
In my opinion, I believe the Bruins will not sign Mike Hoffman because the price will be too high. If the Bruins want to make a splash in free agency, you have to have enough room to be able to sign more than one guy, especially if the Bruins are rumored to lose Torey Krug and/or Jake DeBrusk.
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