The Boston Bruins are going to look very different next year, and Don Sweeney has his work cut out for him

BOSTON -- Has the shock worn off yet? Has the anger subsided? 

Regardless of the answers to those questions, the reality for the Boston Bruins is that next year is already here. Losing to the Florida Panthers -- to the Florida Panthers! -- will have that effect. Losing to the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs -- in the first round of the playoffs! -- will force that to be the case.

And so, the work for Don Sweeney and the rest of the Boston front office begins. It will not be easy.

Right off the bat, the Bruins will be working at a salary cap disadvantage, as they had to squeeze big performance bonuses into the contracts of both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to fit them under the cap last year. Bergeron hit his $2.5 million bonus by playing in 10 games last year, and Krejci hit all $2 million of his bonuses by playing in 30 games and making the playoffs. That gives the Bruins $4.5 million less to work with when doling out contracts next year.

Also complicating matters -- albeit on more of a long-term than short-term scale -- is the fact that the Bruins won't be able to rebuild quickly through the draft. At least, they won't be able to in the top rounds.

The Bruins don't have a first-round pick this year or next year, and they don't have a second-round pick for the next three years.

This year's first-round pick went to Washington in the Dmitry Orlov/Garnet Hathaway trade. (Both players are pending unrestricted free agents.)  

Next year's first-round pick was traded to Detroit in the Tyler Bertuzzi trade. (Bertuzzi is also a pending UFA.) That pick is top-10 protected, which the Bruins probably hope doesn't come into play.

This year's second-round pick and next year's second-round pick went to Anaheim (along with a 2022 first-round pick) in last year's Hampus Lindholm trade. And the 2025 fifth-round pick went to Minnesota in the three-team deal that sent Hathaway and Orlov to Boston.

The Bruins don't even have a third-round pick next year, as that one went away in the Orlov/Hathaway deal, too. That leaves the Bruins without six out of nine picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. All that's left in the top three rounds are a third-round pick this year, and first- and third-round picks in 2025. Getting high-end talent that can make a quick impact figures to be a near-impossible task for the front office not just this year but for the foreseeable future.

And the Bruins are likely to need reinforcements, too.

(All of the previous and forthcoming information comes from Cap Friendly.)

Unrestricted Free Agents - Forwards
Patrice Bergeron
David Krejci
Tyler Bertuzzi
Nick Foligno
Tomas Nosek
Garnet Hathaway

Unrestricted Free Agents - Defensemen
Dmitry Orlov
Connor Clifton

Restricted Free Agents - Forwards
Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko

Restricted Free Agents - Goaltenders
Jeremy Swayman

That's ... a lot.

We can likely assume that Bergeron is retiring. That was kind of the mantra of the team all year, and even though he delivered a stellar season (before a herniated disc rendered him ineffective in the playoffs), he seemed to have returned for one last ride. Twenty years after making his NHL debut, Bergeron has earned himself a healthy retirement.

Krejci, who just turned 37, figures to be gone as well, though that could theoretically change. Krejci, of course, spent the previous season in his native Czech Republic, and returning to play with Bergeron -- and, to be fair, David Pastrnak -- was a major draw for the veteran center. He had an effective season, with 16 goals and 40 assists in 70 games, and he could help soften the blow of losing Bergeron from the top six. But he played for $3 million last year, playing with a salary under $3.75 million for the first time since 2008-09. He'd seemingly not be extremely interested in taking such a hefty discount to play another season.

Bertuzzi figures to be a re-signing candidate, considering the first-round pick invested to acquire him and his playoff performance.

Where Bertuzzi's salary exactly lands is anyone's guess, but it's safe to assume his $2.625 million cap hit from this past season is set to at least double.

While the Bruins must have liked Tomas Nosek and Garnet Hathaway, there's got to be a budget for the fourth line next year. Nick Foligno and his $3.8 million cap hit are likely to be gone, so that could open things up in that department.

With Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm combining for a $19 million cap hit next year, there likely won't be enough cash for Dmitry Orlov to re-sign in Boston. That being said, perhaps the Bruins could work a creative trade of either Brandon Carlo ($5.7 million cap hit) and/or Matt Grzelcyk ($4.25 million cap hit) if they'd prefer having Orlov.

Clifton had a brutal showing in Game 6 in Florida, but that came after the best year of his career. He's due a hefty raise from his $1 million salary. Under normal circumstances, if the Bruins wanted to keep a home-grown player at a reasonable rate, they'd likely do it. The cap situation may make that more difficult in this instance, though.

On the restricted front, Trent Frederic likewise had the best season of his career, and he's due a notable bump from his $1.05 million salary in arbitration. 

The same goes for Jeremy Swayman, who's built quite the resume over the past two-plus seasons. Since making his debut (10 games in 2020-21), Swayman is 54-23-7 with a .920 save percentage and 2.24 GAA. Among goalies who have played at least 75 games in that span, Swayman ranks fifth in save percentage and second in GAA. On the plus side for Boston, the $5 million salary for Linus Ullmark does allow for Swayman to fit in the goalie budget if he ends up getting something in the $4 million range. It would be surprising to see any changes made with the goaltender situation.

Under Contract - Forwards
David Pastrnak (signed through 2031)
Brad Marchand (signed through 2025)
Taylor Hall (signed through 2025)
Pavel Zacha (signed through 2027)
Jake DeBrusk (signed through 2024)
Charlie Coyle (signed through 2026)
A.J. Greer (signed through 2024)

Under Contract - Defensemen
Charlie McAvoy (signed through 2030)
Hampus Lindholm (signed through 2030)
Brandon Carlo (signed through 2027)
Matt Grzelcyk (signed through 2024)
Derek Forbort (signed through 2024)
Jakub Zboril (signed through 2024)

Under Contract - Goaltenders
Linus Ullmark (signed through 2025)

With the current group of signed forwards, the Bruins do have two top lines. A Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak line and a Hall-Coyle-DeBrusk line would be acceptable, though it would be quite a dropoff from having Bergeron and Krejci in the middle of the top two lines. That also leaves just one forward under contract to fill out the bottom six, so the team has some obvious need to add players up front. Some additions could be made from within the system, but if the Bruins want to maintain their status as a Cup-contending team, they'll need to add from the outside. (They'll also need to stitch a "C" onto the chest of either the No. 63 or 73 jersey.)

That'll leave a lot of work for Sweeney to do, with only about $10 million to do it.

Such is the result when a team goes all in on one season. For most of the past seven months, it looked to have been a worthwhile strategy. The on-ice results in the regular season certainly made it seem like a run to the Cup was going to make it all worth it. And really, looking at the roster on paper, there's no way to fault the front office for the stunning first-round collapse against an inferior Florida team.

That loss falls on the players and the coaching staff, and the front office now faces the extraordinary challenge of trying to move forward.