Bruins rumors: Boston not expected to sign 6-foot-4 forward prospect after point-per-game season

Penguins forward prospect Cruz Lucius decided not to sign with Pittsburgh earlier this week, and the Boston Bruins will soon be dealing with a similar situation, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday.

Andre Gasseau, who was selected 213th overall by the Bruins in the 2021 NHL Draft, is unlikely to sign in Beantown, the hockey insider said on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast.

It’s slightly interesting considering the 22-year-old just completed a highly productive campaign as the captain of the Boston College Eagles. Despite being limited to just 23 games due to injury, he played at a point-per-game pace, adding six goals and 17 assists. He also won 49 percent of his faceoffs.

Over four campaigns with the Eagles, the 6-foot-4 center managed 43 goals and 68 assists in 135 appearances. If the Bruins indeed don’t offer Gasseau an immediate contract, his signing rights expire on August 15, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent at that time.

Gasseau will undoubtedly have multiple suitors if he hits the open market. His frame, at least, is NHL-ready, and it’s possible that Boston could recoup an asset from an interested club in a potential trade before the middle of August.

That being said, he wouldn’t be eligible to play in the postseason if he were brought in by a playoff-bound team.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler listed Gasseau as Boston’s No. 13 organizational prospect, noting that he “has a presence to his game, decent hands, and has had to lean into the straight lines, forechecking power forward who can play a give-and-go, push-and-pop complementary scorer game.

“But while he’s not slow, his skating from a standstill can be sluggish (at least from an NHL perspective). He has always topped out as a depth guy in his best-case scenario, but he could play games as a seventh-round pick, which would be a positive in and of itself.”

It looks like Gasseau will be leaving Boston behind one way or another, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can crack an NHL roster over the next couple of years.

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