Rasmus Andersson and Marco Sturm suddenly line up as a clean Boston offseason match.

The Bruins need help on the right side, and that is why Andersson keeps surfacing around this team.

The case is easy to understand. Boston already pushed hard for him when he was still in Calgary, which tells you this is not some random new idea.

Now the angle has changed. Instead of paying with assets in a trade, the Bruins could try to attack the same need through free agency.

That sounds simple on paper. It probably will not be simple at all once the market opens.

Andersson is the kind of right-shot defenseman Boston does not have enough of, and teams looking for top-four stability are always going to chase that profile hard.

The article you shared also makes another point that matters. The Bruins have already re-signed Lukas Reichel, while Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke still sit as notable pending questions on the roster.

“The Bruins need help on defense. They really need help on the right side. They tried to trade for Andersson when he was with the Calgary Flames. If they go the UFA route, they won't have to give up any assets to attack a position of desperate need.” - Fluto Shinzawa

The Bruins could be closing in on a huge offseason move for a top defenseman

This is where the Bruins run into trouble. Andersson is in the final year of a contract worth 4.45 million per season and 27.3 million overall, and nobody expects his next deal to stay in that range.

That means Boston would not be shopping for a bargain. It would be chasing a defenseman heading into a much bigger payday.

“Andersson would be the right-shot defenseman that Boston needs; there is no mistake about it. He would be a perfect fit for the lineup. However, it's hard to see it happening, and it's even harder to envision Vegas letting him hit free agency on July 1 without locking him up.” - Scott Roche

There is also the Vegas problem. The Golden Knights are the club holding him now, and the expectation around the league is that they could still try to lock him up before July 1.

If that happens, Boston never even gets a real swing.

And that is what makes this rumor interesting instead of automatic. The fit in the lineup is obvious. A proven right-shot defenseman would steady a weak spot and give Sturm a cleaner look on the back end right away.

But fit alone does not close deals. Money matters. Timing matters. And Boston may still be dealing with the same issue that reportedly got in the way before: the extension number.

That is why this feels like a real target but still a long shot. Don Sweeney can justify the pursuit without blinking because the need is sitting right there in plain sight.

The question is whether the Bruins can actually get to the finish line on a player who is going to have options and leverage.

Still, this is the kind of move Boston should be tied to. If the Bruins want to stay sturdy in the East, they cannot keep ignoring the right side of the blue line.

Andersson would not fix everything. But he would solve one problem the Bruins have been staring at for a while.

Source : Boston Bruins urged to pursue $28 million defenseman in free agency