Bruins sign Jonathan Aspirot to two-year extension

The Boston Bruins have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Jonathan Aspirot to a two-year contract extension with an $887,500 cap hit.

Aspirot has been playing the season on a one-year contract at a league-minimum salary of $775,000, and was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. At this point in time, there’s no confirmation on if the contract comes with any bonuses, clauses, or unique salary structures. Most importantly for Aspirot, it’s a one-way contract, so we will keep his $887,500 salary if he plays in the AHL.

According to AFP Analytics, Aspirot was projected to receive another one-year, $775,000 contract, so he receives $112,500 more than expected. This contract will also mark the first time in his career that he’ll make more than $800,000 per year, and the first time he has a one-way contract. The deal will have him locked up until he’s 29 years old at 0.85% of the salary cap.

After spending six seasons in the AHL, Aspirot made his NHL debut with the Bruins this season and has become a mainstay in the Bruins lineup, with two goals and one assist for three points in 25 games. While his defensive game hasn’t been overly notable with a 5v5 regularized adjusted plus-minus expected goals against per 60 minutes of 0.05, he makes up for it with a decent play-driving game with a 5v5 0.054 RAPM xGF/60.

Aspirot also got into five AHL games this year with the Providence Bruins, where he had one goal and two assists for five points.

Aspirot becomes the fifth Bruins defenseman to be locked up until the 2027-28 season, joining Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million per year until 2030), Hampus Lindholm ($6.5 million until 2030), Nikita Zadorov ($5 million until 2030) and Henri Jokiharju ($3 million until 2028).

The Bruins are currently projected to have just over $19 million in salary cap space this summer, with 12 UFAs and 11 restricted free agents to re-sign, highlighted by Viktor Arvidsson, Andrew Peeke and Alex Steeves.