Don Sweeney was candid on Thursday when asked about Boston’s top needs entering free agency.

“We’d like to deepen the middle of the ice,” Boston’s general manager acknowledged. “So that’s where we’ve been focused to have those talks with our group, to say, ‘OK, who would be the guy?’ And hopefully make the pitch at the right time that we could add a player like that, of that nature. And we’ll continue to look to strengthen our back end and complement the group we have there.”

Given Sweeney’s offseason to-do list, it came as little surprise that Boston reportedly shored up both the center position and blue line shortly after NHL free agency commenced on Monday afternoon. 

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Bruins have signed center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov — add defensive fortitude up front and some heft on the blue line.

According to Chris Johnston of The Athletic, Lindholm’s deal with Boston is for seven years and $7.5 million per season, while Zadorov’s deal is for six years with an annual cap hit of $5 million.

This will mark the third team that both Lindholm and Zadorov have played on together — with the duo also sharing a dressing room with both the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

Lindholm has been linked to the Bruins for some time, with the 29-year-old pivot holding plenty of appeal as a 200-foot center capable of impacting the game in a variety of ways. 

The Swedish pivot has held court as one of the better two-way pivots in the game for the last few seasons — posting four seasons of 50+ points in his career while also finishing second in voting for the 2021-22 Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward.

The 2023-24 season was a down year for Lindholm in terms of his baseline production, especially after getting slotted to the wing with Vancouver. He finished with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) over 75 games, but did elevate his play in the postseason (10 points in 13 games) while dominating in faceoffs all year (56.4 percent). 

Given his hefty price tag, there are questions about whether or not Lindholm is really a bonafide top-line center — or more of an effective second-line, 200-foot stalwart. 

But on Boston’s roster, he will quickly take over as the team’s top center — allowing the Bruins to either push Pavel Zacha to the wing or slot Charlie Coyle further down the depth chart. 

He might be more of a 60-point player, but a full season stapled next to David Pastrnak could help Lindholm recoup the elite scoring touch he displayed in 2021-22 with Calgary (42 goals, 82 points). 

While Lindholm will provide more refined, two-way player up front for Boston, Zadorov will land plenty of welts on the back end.

The 29-year-old Zadorov is an already imposing figure at 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds — and sure plays like it. 

The Russian-born blueliner is one of the most physical players in the league, posting six seasons with at least 175 hits on his resume. Zadorov played arguably his best hockey for Calgary and Vancouver in 2023-24 — scoring six goals and 20 points over 75 games while landing 177 hits and 68 blocks. 

He further elevated his stock during the postseason for the Canucks — scoring four goals and eight points over 13 games while clearing opposing skaters out of Grade-A ice.

Zadorov rounds out the left side of Boston’s defense alongside Hampus Lindholm and Mason Lohrei, although it remains to be seen whether or not the Bruins envision him as more of a third-pairing regular or a possible top-pairing partner next to Charlie McAvoy. 

With Lindholm and Zadorov accounting for a combined $12.75 million cap hit, the Bruins might have to dive in the bargain bin for more scoring help this offseason — with a majority of their remaining camp space likely allocated toward Jeremy Swayman’s pending pay raise. 

Justin Timberlake has appeared to joke about his recent drink-driving arrest at a concert in Boston.

The Grammy Award-winning pop star was arrested in Sag Harbor, a wealthy village in the Hamptons in New York State last month.

In a video shared on social media over the weekend, Timberlake tells a crowd at Boston’s TD Garden arena: “Is there anyone here that is driving, no I’m just kidding.”

Fans appear to laugh and cheer as he continues to address the crowd.

Sag Harbor Village Police Department said Timberlake was pulled over at 12.37am local time (5.27am UK time) on Tuesday 18 June after officers saw him “failing to stop at a duly posted stop sign and failing to maintain his lane of travel” while driving a BMW.

An officer described his eyes as “bloodshot and glassy” and said a “strong odour of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath”, according to court documents.

“He was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardised field sobriety tests,” the court papers added.

A source told Page Six, the New York Post’s celebrity and entertainment site, that Timberlake said “under his breath” during the arrest: “This is going to ruin the tour.”

Timberlake has strongly denied the allegations, with his lawyer saying he looks forward to “vigorously defending” the singer.

The 43-year-old, who first found fame as a member of the pop band NSYNC, was held overnight after his arrest until he was arraigned at Sag Harbor Village Justice Court and released.

A court date is scheduled for 26 July.

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Timberlake previously appeared to address the arrest on stage, saying “it’s been a tough week” during a performance in Chicago last month.

He is set to continue his series of US shows with performances due to take place in Baltimore, Maryland, Cleveland, Ohio, and Lexington, Kentucky.

He is due to perform in Birmingham, Manchester and London in the UK in August.

Justin Timberlake’s DWI joke

During his Boston concert stop, the SexyBack singer, took a moment to address his recent Driving while intoxicated arrest. The 43-year-old singer was mid-tour, performing at the TD Garden when a fan captured a video of him making a joke about the incident. In the clip, Timberlake asks the crowd, “So uhhh, is there anyone here tonight that is driving?” as the crowd erupted in cheers and noise, he quickly added, “No, I’m just kidding.”

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After his playful jab about the DUI arrest, Timberlake swiftly steered the conversation back on track. He jumped in with, “Is there anyone here tonight, that it’s your first time here to the show? Is there anybody here that you’ve been to 1, 2, 3, maybe 4 of our shows?,” he said before adding, “For all of you that it’s your first time tonight — on a serious note — I hope that you feel the fellowship and the love.”

Justin Timberlake was feeling ‘remorseful, ashamed’

Timberlake first addressed the situation at Chicago’s United Center, expressing gratitude to fans who supported him, stating, “I’m here … I know sometimes I’m hard to love but you keep on loving me and I love you right back. Thank you so much.”

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According to a source speaking to ET, the DWI arrest has “taken a toll on him, but he is trying to view it as a way to reset himself.” The insider further claimed that Timberlake is “feeling remorseful, ashamed, and humiliated, taking the situation seriously and acknowledging its potential impact on his family dynamic as a husband and father, as well as on his fans.”

The singer was arrested on June 18 and reportedly spent a night in custody, where he panicked over the situation. The pop star was detained by a young police officer who was unaware of the singer’s identity and asked him to undergo a breathalyzer test, which he refused. Timberlake, with red and glassy eyes, was pulled over on suspicion of running a stop sign and swerving out of his lane in the Hamptons. He subsequently failed a sobriety test. The 43-year-old, who had spent the evening at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, Long Island, confessed to consuming just one martini before choosing to get behind the wheel.