It was a case of necessity causing some of the Boston Bruins’ inventive moves a summer ago when salary cap challenges forced the B’s to sign aging veteran players like Kevin Shattenkirk and James van Riemsdyk to one-year free agent contracts.

Most of the veteran roster adds panned out as the Bruins got solid contributions from Shattenkirk and JVR, and an even larger contribution from Danton Heinen after he was forced to earn an NHL job in training camp on a tryout basis. But with the salary cap struggles now in abeyance for the Black and Gold and big FA dollars spent on free agents like Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Max Jones along with a trade for Joonas Korpisalo and Mark Kastelic, the Bruins aren’t nearly as invested in digging into the bargain basement free agent bin this summer.

Sure, they may end up inviting a veteran like Blake Wheeler or Kailer Yamamoto to NHL training camp on a PTO invite, but steady, good-value veterans like van Riemsdyk and Shattenkirk will very likely have to look elsewhere for NHL work this coming season. The time may be nigh when they have to settle for a training camp invite or perhaps grapple with imminent career decisions as they enter a very different phase of their pro hockey lives.

The 35-year-old Shattenkirk actually played a pretty substantial role for the B’s on their back end last season while largely serving as a third-pair defenseman, but also logging considerable PP time during the regular season and playoffs. Shattenkirk finished with six goals and 24 points in 61 games while averaging 15:47 of ice time and was energized after entering in a competitive situation in Boston after languishing a bit for the struggling Ducks in recent seasons.

“You come back and play for a great team like Boston and a competitive team and realize that you still have some value and can have a role,” admitted Shattenkirk. “The thing I’ve learned is that I’m a different player now and that I have to accept a different role, and I’m comfortable with that.”

The veteran played a big leadership role in Boston while playing on a one-year, $1.05 million contract, and was credited with helping spark his Bruins teammates while addressing in a big-time leadership move them prior to Game 7 in the first round against the Maple Leafs. It was impressive stuff for a guy on a one-year deal in a B’s dressing room full of established players, but that kind of speaks to who the former BU standout is as a person.

“[Shattenkirk] gave the group an incredible speech,” Marchand noted after Boston’s 2-1 win over the Leafs. ”That really allowed us to kind of settle down and understand where we were at and how we had to play and what we needed to believe to get the job done.”

Clearly it would have to be the right fit and the right team for Shattenkirk to gel into the roster picture, but he could still help a good, contending team looking for a savvy veteran puck mover that can man the point on a power play unit as well.

The fit for a guy like van Riemsdyk might be a little trickier after he crossed the 1,000 NHL games played mark with the Black and Gold this past season. After a decent first half for the Bruins, an illness zapped him in the middle of the season and his skating legs never truly recovered as he finished with just one point in his final 14 games of the season in Boston. The 11 goals and 38 points in 71 games weren’t bad, particularly for a player on a one-year, $1-million contract, but he looked his age in the second half of the season when he seemed to be moving slower amidst the frenetic pace of the NHL.

He finished with a goal and five points in 11 playoff games while averaging just north of 11 minutes of ice time per game and maintained an interest in keeping his playing career going into this coming season.

“At the end of the day, we all play to win the last game of the year,” van Riemsdyk told reporters after the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs. “It’s all about having a chance to win. You want to be in a place where it’s a good fit as far as what you bring to the table and the role you’ll be playing.”

Clearly it doesn’t seem