(Photo Credit: Leila Devlin/GettyImages)

By: Jack Studley  |  Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13

On Tuesday, the Boston Bruins traded for forward Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins traded Edmonton a 2027 fifth-round draft pick. Arvidsson, who is coming off a season with 15 goals, 12 assists, and finished with a -3, has one year left on his current deal, carrying a cap hit of $4M. Arvidsson posted a career high with 34 goals in the 2018-19 season with Nashville, and his career high in points was 61, in the 2017-18 season.

Viktor Arvidsson notched a career-high 34 goals with Nashville in 2018-19, and his career-high in points was 61, which he achieved twice in the late 2010s. He contributed three goals and 13 points to Nashville’s 2017 Stanley Cup Final run. Arvidsson’s best season recently came with the Los Angeles Kings, where in 2022-23, he scored 26 goals and 59 points, adding seven more playoff points.

Arvidsson has dealt with back problems, which sidelined him for most of the 2023-24 season. He only played 18 games, but in those, he scored six times, added nine assists, and had three more helpers in five playoff games. In the 2024-25 season, he was one of 596 players who played over 500 even-strength minutes and ranked 19th out of that group with 9.57 shots per 60 minutes.

Although not in Boston, Arvidsson is a familiar face. He has a history with the new Bruins head coach, Marco Sturm, through their time in Los Angeles. They overlapped in the 2021-22 season, before Sturm was named the head coach of their AHL affiliate. In the 2021-22 season, Arvidsson posted a stat line of 20-29–49, with 16 of his 20 goals coming at even strength.

Irfaan Gaffar was the first to report the trade, and it was confirmed shortly thereafter. The Bruins will absorb the entirety of Arvidsson’s $4 million cap hit. This move came within the hour of the free agency window opening, leaving the Bruins with $8,743,333 in salary cap space as they enter the day.