The Bruins signed a goalie on Monday, just not the one many fans have been anticipating signing.

While Jeremy Swayman remains a restricted free agent, the B’s inked Brandon Bussi to a one-year two-way deal worth an NHL cap hit of $775,000.

The 24-year-old Busso, a 6-foot-5, 209 pound out of Sound Beach, New York native who signed with the B’s as a free agent out of Western Michigan in 2022, had an excellent first full pro season. With the Providence Bruins, he posted a 22-5-4 record with a .924 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average. While the P-Bruins dropped their opening round playoff series, Bussi’s numbers actually bumped up a touch as he had a .926 save percentage and and a 2.28 GAA in four games.

Whether or not B’s management believes Bussi is ready for big league duty remains to be seen. While keeping Bussi in the fold made sense no matter what happens with the goaltending picture in Boston, there was been a lot of speculation that the B’s could jettison one of their two NHL goalies because of their salary cap crunch.

According to capfriendly.com, the B’s have just under $5 million available in cap space. Linus Ullmark, who could very well win the Vezina Trophy at the NHL’s Awards show in Nashville next week, has two years left on a four-year contract at $5 million a year, which was a bargain for what he was able to give the team in the regular season, though he faded in the playoffs. He posted the goaltending triple crown, leading the league in wins (40), save percentage (.938) and goals against average (1.89).

Swayman, meanwhile, could command a salary somewhere between $3 and $4 million. Her also had an excellent season, posting 24-6-4 record with .920 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA. While offer sheets rarely come to fruition, if anyone is a candidate for one it would be Swayman.

Of course, the B’s could hold on to both Ullmark and Swayman and still have a reasonable budget for the netminding department. For instance, two of their division rivals, the Lightning and Panthers, have $9.5 million (Andrei Vasilevskiy) and $10 million (Sergei Bobrovsky), respectively, tied up in one goalie.

But the B’s do need to cut salary somewhere. They have just seven NHL forwards under contract. Trent Frederic, another RFA, has arbitration rights and his 17-goal season could yield a contract that the B’s may not be able or willing to pay. On the back end, the B’s have Mike Reilly, who was buried in Providence most of the year as a cap casualty. The B’s could buyout the last year of his deal that carries a $3 million AAV ($4 million in real salary). The B’s could also move Matt Grzelcyk, who has one year left at $3.687.5 million, or they could trade a higher priced forward, perhaps Taylor Hall, who has two years left at $6 million.

With the buyout period already open, the draft coming up next week and then free agency opening on July 1, we should see some more player movement very soon.