Bruins

Jakub Lauko signs 2-year deal with Bruins; Swayman, Frederic file for arbitration

Jakub Lauko posted seven points in 23 games with the Bruins this season.

By Conor Ryan

July 5, 2023

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As the Bruins look to alleviate their cap-related headache through a prescription of young skaters, Jakub Lauko will likely stand at the front of Boston’s influx of internal talent.

And after making a good first impression with the big club in 2022-23, Lauko will try to build on that with Boston for the foreseeable future.

The Bruins signed Lauko to a two-year contract on Wednesday with an annual NHL cap hit of $787,500, with the first year standing as a two-way contract.

Lauko is under a one-way deal in 2024-25, with the 23-year-old winger looking to stamp a permanent spot in Boston’s lineup well before that contractual shift.

Lauko split time between Boston and Providence this past season but impressed whenever he earned a callup to the NHL ranks.

In 23 games with the Bruins, Lauko posted seven points — with his straight-line speed and willingness to pester opponents making him an effective bottom-six contributor. 

Along with injecting some speed and finishing ability into Boston’s checking unit, Lauko quickly developed a knack for drawing penalties.

The Czech forward drew 11 penalties in his 23 games, with his 3.24 penalties drawn per 60 minutes ranking second in the NHL among the 792 skaters with at least 100 minutes of ice time this past season.

Lauko could battle with veteran Patrick Brown and fellow youngsters like Marc McLaughlin and Oskar Steen for reps on the fourth line this upcoming season.

If Boston believes that Lauko’s wheels and finishing ability offers higher upside, he could push for third-line minutes in 2023-24.

“Jakub Lauko is a great example, probably the best example this year of a player that took an enormous jump through the summertime and wasn’t on anybody’s radar to make our opening night roster, and low and behold, he’s another guy that’s in that mix now to become, with our projections, hopefully a regular everyday player. But he has work to be done,” Don Sweeney said of Jakub Lauko’s 2022-23 campaign.

Along with Lauko’s new deal, the Bruins are bolstering their depth in net down in Providence.

Boston signed goalie Kyle Keyser to a one-year, two-way contract with an NHL cap hit of $775,000.

Keyser, also a restricted free agent this offseason, played in 24 games with Providence in 2022-23, forming an effective tandem with Brandon Bussi down in the AHL ranks.

The 24-year-old goalie posted a 13-6-2-1 record with a 2.79 goals against average and .900 save percentage last year with the P-Bruins. In 68 career AHL games with Providence, Keyser is 28-25-11-2 with a 2.79 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

Bruins will look to avoid arbitration hearings with Swayman, Frederic 

Despite signing both Lauko and Keyser on Wednesday, the Bruins are reportedly having a tougher time getting other restricted free agents like Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic to put pen to paper.

Both Swayman and Frederic filed for arbitration on Wednesday, along with recently acquired blueliner Ian Mitchell.

Arbitration hearings are scheduled to begin on July 20 and will run through August 4. However, teams can still negotiate with players in order to try to push across a contract before going to a contentious hearing.

Frederic and Swayman are both due for solid pay raises.

Swayman, who went 24-6-4 with a .920 save percentage last season, earned $1.05 million in salary last season. Frederic, who buried a career-high 17 goals and 31 points, made $1.15 million in 2022-23.

The Bruins currently have $6.2 million in cap space in order to accommodate both Swayman and Frederic’s new contracts. It remains to be seen if they’re stashing aside some of that cap space in case either Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci return this offseason.