NHL Free Agency: The three best fits for defenseman Keith Yandle

1. Boston Bruins

This is an obvious choice, right? It seems like ever since Keith Yandle entered the NHL in 2005 that he was destined to play for the Boston Bruins, his hometown team, and that date with destiny could be rapidly approaching.

Now free to sign with any team in the NHL, Yandle will have his choice of where to go next and it could be very tempting to choose to finish his career with the Bruins and be close to his family.

Bruins fans would love to see Yandle in the Black and Gold and Yandle would no doubt relish the opportunity to chase a Stanley Cup with his hometown team.

After all, Yandle hasn’t really played for a legit contender since his days with the New York Rangers in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and while Boston’s window is closing, they still have at least a couple of years with this current core.

And there would be a big role for Yandle at TD Garden. Due to his prowess on the power play, he could quarterback the second power play unit for the B’s, or even share quarterbacking duties on the top unit with Charlie McAvoy.

He could slot in on the second-pairing or even the third, he would boost the transition game and there is no doubt that Yandle would bring a different dynamic to the Bruins’ current blueline unit.

After all, since joining the Florida Panthers in 2016-17, Yandle’s 30 goals and 231 points rank eighth in the NHL amongst defensemen, while his 114 power play points in that span rank fourth.

Plus, the Bruins have around $20 million in cap space per CapFriendly, and while they have other business to conduct, Yandle would probably be willing to take a discount in order to play for his hometown team and chase a ring.