Veteran forward Tyler Johnson signs a professional tryout agreement with the Bruins
Johnson, the two-time Stanley Cup champion, will get an opportunity to earn a spot on the team.

By signing veteran forward Tyler Johnson to a professional tryout agreement on Saturday, the Bruins made a low-risk move to strengthen their depth.

Over the course of 12 seasons, Johnson, 34, has participated in 738 games in the National Hockey League. In his career, he has scored 193 goals, provided 238 assists, and won the Stanley Cup twice, in 2020 and 2021, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The forward Tyler Johnson has been signed by the Bruins to a training camp tryout. He was undoubtedly one of the more intriguing men considering his background and body of performance from the playoffs.

Bears and Matt Judon discussed a preliminary contract; more on Judon’s departure to New England.

Both Atlanta and the Bears offered New England a third-round draft pick in return for contract-year edge defender Matt Judon, as we found out shortly after the Patriots decided to trade Judon to the Falcons last month. Judon was then allowed to select the team he wanted to play for, and he went with the Falcons.

Judon was interested in playing for Chicago, and he and the team did hold initial contract negotiations, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer. But the athlete believed he would likely only be with the squad for the upcoming season because of the Bears’ 2025 commitments already in place.

Judon can at least envision staying with the Falcons for a number of years, even if he stated that he would not pursue an instant contract from Atlanta like he did from New England, claiming that “the Falcons know nothing about me as a football player or as a man.” It’s interesting to note that the Bears are predicted to have the eighth-most cap room in the league in 2025, while the Falcons are predicted to have the sixth-least, according to OverTheCap.com.

However, Atlanta does not currently have a contract for a top edge rusher, like Montgomery Sweat, while Chicago is already bound by one. The Sweat contract, along with what Breer claims to be a strong sales drive from Falcons head coach Raheem Morris to Judon regarding his role in the team’s defense, may have swung the odds in Atlanta’s favor.

In a recent interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub, Breer stated that the Patriots’ front office staff and coaches “were just sick of” Judon, despite the fact that New England gave Judon the option to select between the two teams that made legitimate trade offers (video link). Judon’s departure was undoubtedly influenced by the unresolved nature of his contract situation (the four-time Pro Bowler was, of course, pressing for a new deal when he was still a member of the Pats), but Breer points out that the disagreement went beyond money.

Breer reported that Patriots employees felt there was a “Judon behind the scenes” and a “public-facing Judon,” with the latter being more of a “operator” whose “act had worn thin.” According to Breer, Judon shown similar qualities while he was with the Ravens, and the Pats, who have extended a number of acquisitions from the Bill Belichick era this summer, were more than happy to move on.

Oshane Ximines seems to have benefited most from Judon’s departure, even as he tries to regain form in a platform campaign for his new team. Ximines, a former third-round selection of the Giants, never really made a name for himself in New York and signed this summer with the Patriots using the veteran salary advantage. When training camp started, Ximines was considered a bubble player, as noted by Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, but the Judon trade created a position on the roster.

“[Ximines] has been great,” said Drew Wilkins, the Giants’ outside linebackers coach, who held the same position for the previous two seasons. I came in, picked up the playbook fast, and took a humble attitude to everything. I’m the kind of guy who likes to take the initiative, set the pace, and handle the grunt labor. He is a perfect fit for this defense.