Getty Images
By: Mitch Cole (@DirtyWaterBuzz)
The wait is over. The Bruins finally managed to get Torey Krug and Reilly Smith to sign one year bridge deals. Both players will earn a salary of $1.4M this year, which allows the Bruins to preserve very little, but precious, cap space.
While GM Peter Chiarelli managed to win the stare down with the two entry-level free agents, he’s taking a gamble that is akin to the one that he took with Jarome Iginla’s one year incentive heavy contract last season.
With any luck, this gamble will work out better in the end than the one with Iginla did, as that ended with a second round exit from the playoffs and Iginla opting to sign a multi-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche.
However, it still puts the Bruins in a serious cap crunch for this coming offseason as well. The Bruins have about $54M committed to the salary cap for next year, with Dougie Hamilton, Krug, Smith, Ryan Spooner, Jared Knight, Matt Fraser, Justin Florek, Nicklas Svedberg, David Warsofsky, Craig Cunningham, Alex Fallstrom, Tommy Cross, and multiple others set to become restricted free agents, and Carl Soderberg, Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid, Daniel Paille, and Gregory Campbell all set to become unrestricted free agents next year.
Many of those on both lists will be seeking a fairly healthy raise, and the Bruins will have to make some more difficult decisions. With Brad Stuart signing a new extension with the Avalanche that will see him carry a $3.6M cap hit, it’s tough to envision Johnny Boychuk taking much of a discount to stay in Boston. Carl Soderberg will also be looking for a raise, although he’s a likely candidate to receive an in-season extension, in my opinion.
Even for this season, the Bruins are in a major cap crunch. Cap Geek tweeted this a short while ago:
With today’s signings, #Bruins can be cap compliant by placing Marc Savard on LTIR. But they’d have little wiggle room for call-ups, etc.
— CapGeek (@capgeek) September 29, 2014
Not good, Mav.
Now granted, Chiarelli is still insistent on the fact that he has to trade a defenseman to help clear the logjam, but the three most likely options are Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid, and Matt Bartkowski. While Boychuk would clear the most cap space, he’s one of the team’s most steady and reliable defenseman who could likely anchor down a top pairing for a team in the echelon below what the Bruins currently sit in. The Bruins are in win-now mode, and trading Boychuk would push the team another step back.
McQuaid and Bartkowski are likely somewhat attractive options on the trade market, and together would clear almost $3M in cap space. However, McQuaid has yet to show that he’s fully healthy, and Bartkowski has shown defensive shortcomings that could give interested teams a little bit of pause. He does, however, demonstrate very strong possession numbers, which could outweigh any concerns about his defense.
Next summer will be loaded with fun. And by fun, I mean that it’ll be a lot like taking a jog through a field laced with mines. Which is to say it won’t be fun at all from a fan’s standpoint. Loads of decisions to be made, and not everybody can stay.
Lineups:
Here’s a look at possible lines for opening night now that Krug and Smith are under contract.
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Loui Eriksson
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly – Carl Soderberg – Matt Fraser
Daniel Paille – Ryan Spooner – Alexander Khokhlachev
Zdeno Chara – Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg – Johnny Boychuk
Torey Krug – Kevan Miller
No Gregory Campbell, no Adam McQuaid, and no Matt Bartkowski. Why? Well, Campbell is currently dealing with a core injury and it sounds like he’s doubtful for opening night. Forgetting about trading a defenseman, McQuaid and Bartkowski are prime candidates to be healthy scratches. Additionally, Simon Gagne, who is in camp on a professional tryout agreement, likely won’t make the team out of camp. It’s entirely possible that he could sign a deal to become the spare forward, ala Jay Pandolfo in 2013, but it’s more likely that either he will be released from his tryout agreement, or he will wind up signing two-way contracts for short money to give the Bruins the ability to shuttle him back and forth between Providence and Boston as they deem necessary. Also, forward Ville Leino was, as per Chiarelli yesterday, released from his tryout agreement.
Keep an eye on this team, as there’s still some interesting moves coming down the line.
The post Bruins Taking Major Gamble With Krug, Smith Deals appeared first on The Hockey Guys.