Bruins reportedly leak plans on Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnet Hathaway

Scrappy forward Tyler Bertuzzi came through in the clutch for the Boston Bruins in his first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs action, scoring five goals with five assists with his new club in what would ultimately be a shocking four games to three series loss against the Florida Panthers, the eventual Eastern Conference champions. 

Bertuzzi, who was traded from the Detroit Red Wings to the Bruins at the NHL Trade Deadline this past March, is now set to become an unrestricted free agent. But apparently, the Bruins are looking to do what is necessary to keep him around. Additionally, they're looking to retain fellow pending UFA Garnet Hathaway. 

According to Elliotte Friedman in his latest "32 Thoughts" podcast, the Bruins would like to have both of them back for next season. 

“We’ve talked about how Boston would like to keep Bertuzzi; I think they’d also like to keep Hathaway,” Friedman told Marek. “That’s another guy I think they really want to keep. I heard Sweeney’s burning up the phone lines. I think he’s got some interesting stuff going on.”

Meanwhile, a source for Boston Hockey Now stated that Bertuzzi informed his former team that he was intent on hitting the free agent market this summer. 

“I know he made it clear to the Red Wings when they were discussing an extension with him that he was pretty intent on hitting free agency this summer," the source said. "His camp knew what he can get out there, and that’s probably more now after the way he played for the Bruins. I know the Bruins are trying hard to keep him, but given his desire to test the market for the first time and their cap issues, that will be difficult.”

Originally drafted in the 2nd round of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Red Wings (58th overall), Bertuzzi has scored 92 goals with 126 assists in 326 career NHL games.