NHL Free Agency: The 3 best landing spots for Ryan Suter

1. Boston Bruins

Arguably the best fit for Ryan Suter will be with the Boston Bruins, who have the cap space and the role needed to make a deal with the veteran defenseman really work.

Per CapFriendly, the B’s have around $20 million in cap space remaining, even after signing forward Taylor Hall to a four-year, $24 million contract over the weekend, and even with pending UFA’s like David Krejci and Tuukka Rask still to re-sign, there should be enough space to fit in Suter under the cap.

There would be good reason for Suter to take a discount to sign with Boston because, not only is their Stanley Cup window still open, they can also offer the 36-year-old a premier role in the NHL as a No. 1 defenseman.

While they recently re-signed Brandon Carlo to a six-year, $24,600,000 contract, the Bruins crave a legit shutdown defenseman to pair with Charlie McAvoy on the first pairing, a dynamic they have tried to recreate after losing Zdeno Chara in Free Agency last year.

Suter would therefore play top-pairing minutes on a nightly basis, he could slot in on the second power play unit and, in all likelihood, he would be tasked with running the first penalty kill unit for the Bruins.

One of the main motivating factors behind a Boston pursuit of Suter, however, is how they got bullied in their own crease by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially after Carlo went down hurt.

Having Suter would erase that problem given that he’s a big-body at 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds, and he would also give the Bruins the veteran presence on the backend they lacked in 2020-21 in the wake of the departures of both Chara and Torey Krug.

So, while the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Islanders would both be good destinations for Ryan Suter, there is no doubt that the Boston Bruins would represent the best and most logical fit for the three-time All-Star.