Bruins sign two-time Stanley Cup winner for professional trial

With less than three weeks until training camp, several players are still without a team. One of those players was taken off the roster on Saturday when the Boston Bruins signed forward Tyler Johnson to a tryout.

The 34-year-old was initially signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011 and made a name for himself when he formed a center line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

Johnson won two consecutive Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, so he brings the track record and experience needed to strengthen the Bruins' roster, especially those players who have not yet been to the playoffs or had much success.

The versatile and speedy center scored 161 goals and 200 assists in 589 games in nine seasons for the Lightning. Johnson scored 32 goals and 33 assists in 116 playoff games, including seven points in both Stanley Cup runs with Tampa Bay.

The Lightning traded Johnson and a 2023 second-round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2021 offseason for Brent Seabrook's contract. Johnson was only able to play 26 games for the Blackhawks due to a neck injury that required surgery. In three years with Chicago, Johnson scored 70 points (32 goals, 38 assists) in 149 games.

According to PuckPedia, the Bruins have more than $8 million in salary cap space, but most of the remaining salary cap space is most likely earmarked for RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman, so they'll need to get a deal done with him before they can decide how much they can spend on Johnson if they want to sign the veteran.

The Bruins were successful last season with Danton HeinenOn September 5, they met with their fourth-round draft pick from 2014 for a professional tryout and rewarded the forward on a one-year contract in October. Heinen signed a two-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks on the first day of free agency with an average annual value of $2.25 million after scoring 17 goals and 19 assists in a comeback season with the Bruins.