What I’m hearing about the Bruins’ pursuit of cap space, potential trade bait,

The Bruins’ season ended on April 30. Since then, they’ve made three minor transactions: signing prospects Mason Lohrei and Matthew Poitras to entry-level contracts and extending 24-year-old goalie Brandon Bussi for one season at a $775,000 sum.

The major stuff could come soon.

General manager Don Sweeney and assistant GM Evan Gold have been pounding the phones in pursuit of deals, according to multiple team sources who have communicated with the executives. At this time, the Bruins bosses have one priority: cap flexibility.

Pending restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic and Jakub Lauko need raises. As of now, assuming an $83.5 million cap in 2023-24, the Bruins will have approximately $5.5 million to extend their RFAs-to-be. It’s an impossible task, given that Swayman himself could command $4 million of that sum through his performance and market comparables. Swayman has arbitration rights.

Like every team, the Bruins can exceed the cap during the offseason by 10 percent. This gives them breathing room to add salary before achieving compliancy by the start of 2023-24. But in an ideal situation, they’d prefer to send money out the door before rebuilding their roster. 

That time is approaching.

Draft picks in 2023 are in play prior to Round 1, which begins on June 28 in Nashville. Most teams have yet to write all their paychecks for 2023-24 prior to the July 1 opening of free agency. As such, the Bruins have a little more than a week — less than that if you consider the draft — to do their business before their prospective trade partners’ options begin to dwindle.

So what will the Bruins do?

Matt Grzelcyk, No. 27 on The Athletic’s trade board, is the likeliest player to move. He is one of five left-shot defensemen under contract. He carries a $3,687,500 average annual value for one more season, which is a fair number given how he touches the game at both ends of the ice. The 29-year-old has higher trade value than Derek Forbort, Mike Reilly and Jakub Zboril, three of the other left-shot defensemen. Hampus Lindholm has no-move protection.

If Grzelcyk ends up on the move, it remains to be seen how much cap relief he’ll bring the Bruins, and whether an asset will be inbound. The Bruins are not the only team up against the cap. Rivals with space will not take on contracts, even those of good players, as favors. 

Even if the Bruins clear Grzelcyk’s entire AAV, it might not be enough for them to proceed with their full action plan. Other teams are wondering if the Bruins will put Swayman or Linus Ullmark ($5 million AAV through 2025) up for sale. Ullmark has no-move protection that he’d have to waive.

In one way, it would be a difficult decision. An Ullmark-Swayman tandem would optimize the Bruins’ chances of winning, assuming the Bruins sign the latter to a reasonable extension. Trading one of the goalies would weaken a position of strength.

But if Swayman signs for $4 million annually, for…