Boston Bruins

Report: Bruins Sign Stralman To One-Year, $1 Million Contract

Published

2 years ago

October 11, 2022

The Boston Bruins have reportedly signed veteran defenseman Anton Stralman to a one-year, $1 million contract.

Just after 6:30 PM ET, TSN and The Athletic NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that Stralman, who had been in training camp on a professional tryout, and the Bruins had come to terms on a deal that will see the 36-year-old rearguard start the 2022-23 regular season with the Boston Bruins.

Anton Stralman has signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Bruins. Was in Boston on a PTO.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 11, 2022

The Boston Bruins signed Anton Stralman to a professional tryout on September 24 and the veteran defenseman has been a steady and poised presence on the Bruins blue line in each of the preseason games he played in and during practice as well. New Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has always admired Stralman’s patience and puck smarts moving the puck up ice.

“Anton’s really smart,” Montgomery said of the 5-foot-11 and 193-pound defenseman. “Anton has never been a really fast, gifted skater in the league and what I mean by that is he’s been always an above average skater. His gift is his brain and how he competes and guys like that are able to extend their careers because they have the ability to adjust because of their brains.

So for us, it’s exciting to have him here because it gives us another right-handed shot, and I think as a coach, you like to have a righty and a lefty as much as you can because on breakouts and on neutral zone counters, pucks can go a lot easier on your forehand.”

With the Boston Bruins set to play at least the first two months of the season without Charlie McAvoy on the right side, the right-shot Stralman could see some time with his fellow Swede defenseman Hampus Lindholm on the first pairing but most likely will rotate with Brandon Carlo, Jakub Zboril and Connor Clifton until the pairings settle in.

Anton Stralman had eight goals and 23 points in 74 games for the Arizona Coyotes last season after a couple of seasons fighting through injuries with the Florida Panthers, but has been a solid top-4 defenseman at the NHL level for 15 seasons with 930 NHL games and counting on his resume. Stralman was at the end of a three-year, $16.5 million contract last season that was originally signed with the Panthers after a long stretch with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also spent time with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. Stralman was originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh round (216th overall), of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the same draft in which the Leafs drafted future Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask 21st overall.