Updated Bruins roster very mediocre after Patrice Bergeron's retirement; Atlantic Division up for grabs

With the Florida Panthers on the ropes, the Bruins were unable to finish them off and were beaten in rather embarrassing fashion - at least at the time of the defeat since it was a mismatch on paper. There were several question marks surrounding their roster heading into the 2023-24 season on top of the $4.5 million bonus overages that was going to hamper them severely heading into free agency this summer.

The biggest question mark was whether or not Patrice Bergeron would return for his 20th season. The 38-year-old announced his retirement earlier today, fellow long-time Bruin, David Krejci, will probably follow suit, the Bruins also dumped Taylor Hall to Chicago, they weren't able to retain either Dmitry Orlov or Tyler Bertuzzi, and ended up signing veterans Milan Lucic and James van Riemsdyk on the first day of free agency to address their wing depth.

Without Krejci and Bergeron at centre this season, the Bruins have Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie, and Patrick Brown as their top-4 options down the middle. Their prospect pool is barren and has been for some time and even with $5.429 million in available salary cap, they have to address RFAs in Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic first and foremost. A quick glance at the updated roster tells a story of a Bruins team who will have a tough time this season:

The Bruins can surprise us all again in 2023-24 as they did this past season since they still have David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Linus Ullmark but it's going to be tough travels in an Atlantic Division that is suddenly wide open.

Buffalo, Detroit, and Ottawa look to make the leap next season, Florida is coming off a Stanley Cup Finals run, the Tampa Bay Lightning are always a force to reckon with, and suddenly the Toronto Maple Leafs look a much tougher team to play against. Let's also not forget that the Metropolitan Division teams were extremely busy this summer with the Philadelphia Flyers being the only team that is rebuilding out of the bunch - making a wild card spot that much more difficult to compete for.