A year ago, Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney entered free agency with a pocketful of pennies in cap space and somehow managed to plug numerous holes in his depleted roster. He didn’t exactly wow anyone with his signings at the time, but the B’s managed to be very competitive and win a playoff round.

Now he’s got nearly $22 million in cap space for Monday’s free agency frenzy and one question remains. Can Sweeney, in one of most interesting offseasons of his tenure, meet the mandate to make this team better? Despite the extra cash, that’s not a slam dunk.

We must start with the fact that a good chunk of the $22 million will be chewed up by Jeremy Swayman’s next contract. Nashville has reportedly agreed to a contract extension with Juuse Saros for $7.74 million for eight years that will kick in after his current deal is done. Swayman may not have as long a track record as Saros, but he’s four years younger. Depending on the term, his deal should be in the same ballpark as Saros’.

Another painful truth is that, if Sweeney wants to be active at the top of the market, he’s going to have to overpay for talent. It’s not something a team should do every year but, after the B’s ave dished away high draft picks at the trading deadline, this is the situation the B’s are in.

Still, that leaves a fair amount of mad money money for Sweeney to spend. He said on Thursday that he’s looking to bolster the middle of the ice and add a defenseman.

Let’s start with the centers. The name to which the B’s have been linked most has been Elias Lindholm, even going back to before the most recent trade deadline. He’s not Patrice Bergeron, mind you, but he is in the mold, a good two-way centerman who can facilitate for stars, put up some points of his own and be trusted to win a key faceoff late in a game.

The 29-year-old Lindholm’s best season was in 2021-22 when he had 42-40-82 totals. Critics will rightly point out that he achieved that while he had Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachhuk on his wings. Fair enough. But his next season, after those two star wings left, he wasn’t so bad either, posting 22-42-64 totals. That’s a higher mark than all but three of David Krejci’s seasons.

His numbers from last season, which he split between Calgary and Vancouver, were down. He had just 15-29-48 totals. Perhaps not knowing where his next permanent home would played a part in the drop-off, but it no doubt cost him a few bucks.. There was a time when it was believed he was looking for $9 million a season but that no longer seems reasonable, if it ever was. But he could still get $7 million. We shall see. The center market is not particular deep, but other possible targets include Chandler Stephenson and Sean Monahan while many believe Sam Reinhart will stay with the Panthers, though he’s yet to be extended.

As for the defenseman to target – and one would think they’d be looking at left shots — the B’s have been linked with one to one of the top targets on the market, the massive 6-foot-6, 250-pound Nikita Zadorov. He’s a decent defensive defenseman (his 14-goal season for Calgary in 2022-23 was thus far an anomaly) who would certainly add a different, nasty dimension at the front of the net. But is he worth what what he’s reportedly looking for, which is more than $5 million a season? He’d be a good add, but the B’s may need to be more prudent with their dollars, especially if they want to add another wing.

Other interesting left shot Ds available are Brady Skjei (who could be every bit as expensive as Zadorov), Nate Schmidt (just bought out), Brendan Dillon and the 36-year-old Alec Martinez.

With the expected departure of Jake DeBrusk, they could probably use another wing. The B’s could force-feed some NHL action to Fabian Lysell and/or Georgii Merkulov, and those players should at least get a look this year. But they need someone they can bank on.

And the wing market is pretty good. One target that would help replace DeBrusk’s speed is Anthony Duclair, who is coming off a 24-goal season and can play both sides. There is also Steven Stamkos, more of a wing these days. Another big name still out there is Patrick Kane. But if a wing is a tertiary target, then those Hall of Famers will probably be gone. Other available names include Tyler Toffoli, Jonathan Marchessault and, fresh off his buyout, Jeff Skinner.

The 2023-24 Bruins were better than many of us expected. But if the club really does measure success in Stanley Cups, as CEO Charlie Jacobs recently declared in a Globe interview, then Sweeney needs to construct a team that is markedly better than the most recent vintage. We should know by late Monday afternoon if he has achieved that….

The Bruins did not extend Jesper Boqvist, Curtis Hall or Joey Abate qualifying offers. Boqvist and Hall will now be free agents while Abate will remain under contract with the Providence Bruins. If the B’s don’’t circle back and come to terms with Boqvist, that’s another speedy player out there door. He had 6-8-14 totals in 47 games in Boston and was most effective as a centerman, though his struggles on the dot were a problem.

The B‘s did extend qualifying to Michael Callahan, Marc McLaughlin, Alec Regula and Swayman, which retains the rights to those players for the team…

Sweeney had expressed an interest in re-signing Danton Heinen, but as of Sunday evening there was no deal in place. He’s set to become a UFA on Monday.