The Bruins are certainly not out of the woods when it comes to the 2019 offseason — especially with both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo still unsigned — but the grind never ends when it comes to constructing a roster worthy of contending for a Stanley Cup.
And if we were to glance ahead, the Bruins have plenty of decisions to make going in the summer of 2020.
Let’s take a look at the Bruins’ cap situation and free-agent checklist once the 2019-20 campaign wraps up.
CAP SPACE
While the Bruins are currently facing a cap crunch right now with the club looking to ink both McAvoy and Carlo to deals (with $8.1 million to currently work with), things should clear up a bit during the following summer, right?
Ehhhhh.
As noted here by @BruinsCapSpace, the Bruins are currently projected to have $32,108,333 in cap space next summer. However, that number is subject to change for a number of reasons.
#NHLBruins Summer 2020 Cap Projection with P. Shen signed to entry-level deal. pic.twitter.com/avxGA2Amtf
— $8.1M=BruinsCapspace (@bruinscapspace) July 23, 2019
First, this doesn’t factor in the rise in the salary cap next season from its current limit of $81.5 million. While the cap ceiling is projected to explode in 2022-23 with the league set to cash in on a new TV/streaming contract, one should still expect the limit to increase some year by year. For the sake of projections, let’s tab the 2020-21 cap limit as rising to $2.8 million — the average cap increase over the last three years.
As such, that would give the Bruins about
$34.9 million in cap space
next summer — not too shabby, considering key cogs like
Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, David Krejci
and
Tuukka Rask
are all signed already.
The Bruins have the luxury of having some dead money coming off the books next season, with Boston no longer set to pay retained salary for
Matt Beleskey
($1.9 million) and buyout cash for
Dennis Seidenberg
($1.167 million) in 2020. The B’s could also clear up even more cap space next summer if the team is unable to move
David Backes
this season.
A buyout is essentially out of the question this summer when it comes to Backes, with the B’s still on the hook for:
- 2019-20: $5,666,667 million cap hit
- 2020-21: $3,666,667 million cap hit
- 2021-22: $666,667
- 2023-23: $666,667
Now, if Boston bites the bullet and either keeps Backes on the roster this season or stashes him down in Providence, a buyout becomes a bit more palatable in 2020, with the team set to save at least $2.3 million in cap space next season if
Don Sweeney
opts to take that route.
Whether it be via trade or buyout, one would have to figure that the Bruins will have the Backes situation settled by next summer. We’ll opt for the buyout route for now, which would then give Boston around
$37.2 million in cap space.
Now, let’s start to eat into some of that cash.
Obviously, these cap projections for next season don’t take into account what Boston still needs to take care of
this
summer, namely, signing McAvoy and Carlo to new contracts.
While the cash and term could fluctuate for these two — along with just how long it takes to seal the deal with a pair of new contracts — we’re going to go with Boston eventually getting these deals done within market value.
If we want to follow
’s projected contracts for next season, then Carlo (six years, $4.3 million annually) and McAvoy’s new deals (six years, $7.25 million annually) would then give Boston around
$25.7 million in cap space
. It could be even more, considering Boston’s current cap crunch and the likelihood that McAvoy and the team settle on a bridge deal, which would likely hover around $6 million annually.
So with McAvoy/Carlo wrapped up, Boston should expect to have around
$26-27 million to work with next season
. So what would be on the B’s to-do list the following summer with all that cash?
Here’s CapFriendly’s layout of Boston’s contracts — from the upcoming 2019-20 campaign all the way through to 2025-26.
FORWARDS
DEFENSE
GOALTENDING
In total, if we were to look ahead to just free agents that Boston will need to address next summer, it amounts to 10 total players — seven unrestricted free agents and three restricted free agents.
Let’s take a look at who Boston will have to re-up or let slip away with around $26 million to play with.
THE FREE AGENTS
Torey Krug:
The toughest decision facing the Bruins going forward will be what to do with Krug, who at age 28 is entering the final year of a four-year, $21-million contract he signed with the club back in June 2016. On the open market, a dynamic blueliner coming off arguably his best overall performance during the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs could easily command upwards of $8 million a year, given how the market has continued to value playmaking D-men like
John Carlson
. Still,
, and one would think that he would offer Boston a discount. Still, you’d have to think the veteran is in line for at least $7 million a year if he stays in Boston. Given the cash available, Boston should be able to absorb a pay increase for Krug. The biggest question, however, is just how long a new deal would be.
Charlie Coyle:
Another veteran due for a nice bump in pay, Coyle should be one of the key cogs up front for the Bruins in 2019-20 — serving as either the driver of Boston’s third line or
Much like Krug, Coyle can expect a nice pay bump up from the $3.2 million he’s currently slated to count against the cap. While his next projected contract could vary some, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if he hovers around the same pay grade that guys like Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak make ($6.5 - 7.0 million annually). After all, if
Kevin Hayes
(a solid, two-way center that has only surpassed 20 goals once) can cash in on a seven-year, $50 million contract from the Flyers ($7.142 million AAV) then Coyle should be in line for a big summer as well.
Jake DeBrusk:
One of Boston’s two key RFAs in 2020, the hard-nosed winger will be looking to cash in next summer after taking in about $1.28 million this year — when factoring in performance bonuses. While he went through his ups and downs in his sophomore year with Boston — there’s no doubting DeBrusk’s potential as a viable top-six winger, considering the 22-year-old skater tallied 27 goals in just 68 games last year. With a clean bill of health and some fewer scoring skids on the horizon, 30 goals are well within reach for DeBrusk in 2020, to go along with a new deal that could easily exceed $4-4.5 million annually.
Matt Grzelcyk:
Another major RFA, the Bruins’ decision to re-up Grzelcyk on a two-year, $2.8 million contract last June turned out to be a great investment, as the 25-year-old blueliner was one of Boston’s top surprises in 2018-19. While he primarily operated on Boston’s third pairing, Grzelcyk still was a key contributor on both the power play (1:34 ATOI) and penalty kill (0:43 ATOI), while standing as one of the most effective skaters in the NHL when it
While McAvoy and Carlo stand as foundational pieces of Boston’s blue line of the future, Grzelcyk isn’t far behind.
Jaroslav Halak:
One of the major question marks for the Bruins next season will be what to do with Halak, who was superb in his first season as Boston’s back-up netminder. Boston reaped the benefits of paying a little extra for a backup goalie this season, so even if the B’s opt to move on from Halak, it seems like a given that the club will be keeping a close watch on the goaltender market — unless an in-house candidate like
Dan Vladar
or
Kyle Keyser
makes a significant leap this winter.
Zdeno Chara:
Boston’s captain is back for another season in 2019-20, and for a bargain deal at just $2 million with $1.75 million available in performance bonuses. While the Bruins should expect to lower Chara’s reps, the 42-year-old is still a top-pairing option that excels on the penalty kill and plays a major role in molding a B’s blue line that continues to get younger and younger. While he may not have many years left, it seems as though the Bruins will keep on bringing Chara back for as long as he feels he’s up for it.
Kevan Miller:
There are few players as tough as Miller in the NHL, but with a cap hit of $2.5 million in 2019-20, there stands a chance that the veteran blueliner may not even be on the roster come the summer of 2020 — especially with Boston needing to clear some cap space for McAvoy/Carlo. If he does remain this whole season, the writing still seems to be on the wall that Miller’s time in Boston is likely coming to a close, given the amount of bodies vying for more playing time going forward.
Chris Wagner/Joakim Nordstrom:
Sweeney has done a great job when it comes to adding bottom-six contributors to the roster, and both Wagner and Nordstrom proved to be home runs in 2018-19. Given their surge in offensive production and versatility, one has to figure that both Wagner and Nordstrom are due for a bit of a pay bump in the summer of 2020. Even if Boston has often had a bit of a “next man up” policy when it comes to adding reliable fourth-liners, count the B’s as being interested in re-upping these two for the foreseeable future.
Brett Ritchie:
One of the wild cards on Boston’s roster this season, Ritchie is a low-risk, high-reward option for the B’s, with the physical winger looking to find some of the magic that allowed him to pot 16 goals back in 2016-17. Another season like that could put Ritchie in line for a nice new contract in 2020 and beyond.
As a whole, the Bruins have plenty of decisions to make in 2020. Just throwing out a few numbers —
if Boston was to, say, sign:
- Krug to a deal with an AAV around $7 million
- Coyle to a deal with an AAV around $6 million
- DeBrusk to a deal with an AAV around $4 million
- Grzelcyk to a deal with an AAV around $4 million
- Chara to a deal with an AAV around $2 million
Boston would have around
$3-4 million
to work with when it comes to dealing with Halak, Wagner, Nordstrom, Miller and Ritchie — along with RFAs down the pipeline like
Anders Bjork, Peter Cehlarik, Zach Senyshyn, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jeremy Lauzon,
Vladar and others.
Of course, plenty of things can alter that number — whether it be other trades, actual AAV on these deals (considering some of them might be lowball offers) an even higher bump in salary cap and more. But with
UFAs wingers like
Taylor Hall, Chris Kreider, Mike Hoffman Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli
and more set to be available, the Bruins might once again have to get creative if they want to become active players in the free-agent market.
Other news:
- Kudos to the Minnesota Wild for ridding themselves of an ugly situation with Paul Fenton as the club’s general manager. It’s a nice course correction for the club after a one-year blunder, but what’s that on the horizon? Could it be? Oh, oh no. That’s Peter Chiarelli’s music!!! Yikes…..
- Man, what a snipe from Cole Caulfield at the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase up in Michigan. The Habs got a good one in the 5-foot-7 sniper, who will head to Wisconsin this season. Meanwhile, B’s first-round pick John Beecher, who tallied four goals through the first three games of the showcase, didn’t appear in the finale on Saturday. Booooooo.
Cole Caufield doing Cole Caufield type things. On the PP, Caufield just snipes on top shelf to put Team USA back in the lead. #WJSS #GoHabsGo #NTDP #Badgers pic.twitter.com/imIMn6XAIa
— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) August 3, 2019
- With a little under a month until training camp gets underway, the Bruins are starting to get back into the swing of things out on the ice, with Halifax native Brad Marchand training with a few fellow Nova Scotians in Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. Quite the talent assembled in one small area of the world.