Bruins not ruling out bidding on John Tavares

Ilya Kovalchuk signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings Saturday despite receiving significant interest from the Bruins.

After missing out on acquiring the 35-year-old Russian winger, the Bruins may have set their eye on free agent center John Tavares.

Tavares list just about finalized, it appears.

Leafs, Sharks, Stars are in, as mentioned a couple days ago. Believe the Bruins are in as well.

Canadiens and Vegas not on the list as of now.#Isles will get in there too, of course.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) June 25, 2018

GM Don Sweeney not ruling out #NHLBruins being among bidders in John Tavares sweepstakes: “We’ve had a discussion on that front. I think that’s still a bit to be determined so I’m not going to comment on another player at this time, not able to.”
— Matt Kalman (@MattKalman) June 23, 2018

Tavares, 27, has played all nine seasons of his career with the New York Islanders, scoring 272 goals and tallying 349 assists. He scored a near career-high in goals last season with 37, and should be in line for a large pay-day once NHL free agency begins on July 1st.

Sense I get is Bruins haven’t yet been told they’re one of the teams in the John Tavares sweepstakes, but they would very much like to be. They’d definitely like to take a shot at it
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) June 24, 2018

If the Bruins decide to commit big money to Tavares, they risk their salary cap flexibility if they decide to resign Charlie McAvoy and Ryan Donato. Nevertheless, Boston has shown a willingness to spend and upgrade their roster in order to make a Stanley Cup run next season.

Bruins not ruling out bidding on John Tavares

By NBC Sports Boston Report • Published June 24, 2018 • Updated on June 25, 2018 at 11:59 am

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