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Bruins Sign Zboril To 2-Year Extension, Beecher To Entry-Level Contract

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Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins announced two signings Monday as the team held their annual breakup day and last media availability session of the season.

The team first announced that they had signed defenseman Jakub Zboril to a two-year contract extension with an annual NHL cap hit of $1,137,500.

Jakub Zboril, 25, was limited to just 10 games for the Bruins in 2021-22 after suffering a torn ACL in a a game against the Nashville Predators on December 2. He would not play again this season and finished with three assists. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound defenseman has appeared in 54 career NHL games with the Boston Bruins and 12 assists over that span.. In 182 career AHL games with the Providence Bruins, Zboril had 11 goals and 46 assists for 57 points.

“I am [excited]. Especially after getting injured, seeing that the team still believes in me, that’s a huge deal for me,” Zboril told reporters Monday.

At the time of his injury, Zboril was just starting to find his niche on the Boston Bruins blue line and showing signs of the defenseman the Bruins thought he could mature into when they drafted him 13th overall at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

“The good news for him is that he should come back stronger,” Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy at the time. “Unfortunately, he was playing well and he had pushed his way into the lineup [at the time of injury]. So for him individually it’s a tough one. He’d spent a lot of time working to get to that spot where he could push into the lineup and I thought he was getting better. He had some room to grow this year if he kept his confidence level up and he was playing. He would only have gotten better as the year went along.”

Just under an hour after announcing the Zboril signing, the Boston Bruins announced that they had also signed forward Johnny Beecher to a to a three-year entry-level contract with an annual NHL cap hit of $925,000.

Beecher, 21, played in nine games for the Providence Bruins on an ATO in 2021-22. He scored three goals and had two assists for five points

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound center was drafted by the Bruins 30th overall the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Beecher spent the past three seasons at the University of Michigan, scoring 19 goals and adding 20 assists for 39 points and a plus-14 rating in 81 games with the Wolverines.

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