Boston Bruins reportedly on the verge of offering a contract to 1100-game NHL veteran Blake Wheeler

The NHL season is just around the corner and with that in mind teams are making their final additions to the roster. In the case of the Boston Bruins, this means considering signing a pair of NHL veterans Blake Wheeler and Kailer Yamamoto according to Shawn Hutcheon.

The Bruins have lost significant forward depth over the past couple of seasons due to retirement and free agency. Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Jake DeBrusk are just a few of the players who have left Boston over the past 2 seasons.

With the Bruins now connected to Blake Wheeler and Kailer Yamamoto, the question is whether they can help contribute to the Bruins' Stanley Cup aspirations.

When considering whether or not to sign Blake Wheeler and Kailer Yamamoto each player has major question marks surrounding their games that could make them risky.

First up in the case of Kailer Yamamoto, his risk lies in the lack of versatility within his game. Drafted in the 1st round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft Kailer Yamamoto was expected to be an offensively dynamic goal-scoring winger. At just 5'8 there were questions about how effective he could be in the NHL.

Since debuting in the NHL these assessments from his draft year seem to be pretty accurate. When at his best Kailer Yamamoto was a 20-goal scorer playing middle-six minutes for the Edmonton Oilers. However, in most seasons he struggled to produce points and could not impact the game in other ways to work his way up the lineup.

In the case of Blake Wheeler, the risks in signing him are a lot more simple but less predictable as well. When Blake Wheeler is healthy he is one of the best power forwards in the NHL.

This can be showcased by his incredible consistency of 50-point seasons stretching from 2011-12 to 2022-23 within that he did have one season where he did not eclipse 50 only reaching 46 in 2020-21.

However, last season his production took a dip with the New York Rangers down to just 21 points. If the Bruins believe they can get the 37-year-old back to his prior form he could be an absolute steal this late in free agency.

If the Boston Bruins do sign both Blake Wheeler and Kailer Yamamoto to player tryouts look for them to then get preseason action. If either player can show even glimpses of their prior great success the Bruins who are still in need of depth should heavily consider jumping on signing them.

Source: Elite Prospects
Blake Wheeler Stats

Source: Elite Prospects
Kailer Yamamoto Stats