Ryan: Thanks to McAvoy & Carlo deals, Bruins have plenty of options as focus turns to next crop of free agents taken at Warrior Ice Arena (Bruins)

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Ryan: Thanks to McAvoy & Carlo deals, Bruins have plenty of options as focus turns to next crop of free agents

By Conor Ryan

Sep 17, 2019 • 10:21 pm

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Turning back the clock to the middle of June, the Bruins looked to be in line for a miserable couple of months — and not just because of the events that transpired on June 12. 

While the pain of dropping a championship-clinching game on home ice was still raw when Don Sweeney addressed the media just days later, the Bruins GM had another gut punch to deal with. 



After all, the organization only possessed a little over $14 million in available cap space that was needed re-up its three restricted free agents in Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Danton Heinen — while also remaining active on the UFA market.

We dissected all of the possible cap-clearing maneuvers on the table for the Bruins all summer long — few of which provided much relief for Boston without a significant cost.

But that seemed to be the hand that was dealt to Boston — especially with EvolvingWild’s contract projections for McAvoy, Carlo and Heinen totaling out at a combined $14.2 million cap hit. 

As such, Boston would already be right at the cap ceiling limit of $81.5 million before even being able to add any other free agents.

So what steps would Sweeney have to take in order to keep his club and its championship window free of cap hell?

Find a trade partner to take David Backes’ contract off the books? Sure, if they were willing to part ways with at least a first-round pick or two and even a promising prospect as sweeteners. 

Deal a player like Kevan Miller or John Moore given the team’s loaded blue line? Not going to happen, especially with both players set to miss the start of the regular season due to injury. 

Worst case? Part ways with a soon-to-be UFA like Torey Krug in order to save some cash, even if that hampers the contending window that Sweeney and all involved are trying to prolong.

So what was it going to be? Pick your poison.

The numbers didn’t seem to be adding up for the Bruins when it came to avoiding a cap crunch. But Sweeney offered his own retort — 10.55. 

It seemed foolhardy when combing over the projected contracts and the state of a stagnant RFA market that such a number would be on the table for Boston. But by the time Sweeney stood in front of the media at Warrior Ice Arena on Tuesday, the ink was already dry on Boston’s ledger. 

Indeed, $10.55 million was all that the Bruins were going to have to pay in 2019-20 in order to retain the services of its trio of RFA skaters — with Carlo standing as the final domino to fall after signing a two-year extension on Tuesday that will pay him $2.85 million per year.  

Coupled with a three-year deal for McAvoy that will only pay the budding franchise D-man $4.9 million per year, Sweeney has pulled off what very few believed was possible a few months ago — remaining under the cap ceiling without having to pry key cogs away from the current roster. 




“Trying to keep the type of team that we have together, and the type of individuals as players together, that’s what the goal is,” Sweeney said Tuesday. “Continue to build our franchise to be a competitive team each and every year, and to reward the players. And Brandon’s a great example of that, in the playoffs he had, that was his first go around. So the players get rewarded in that regard. 


“Putting the pieces together is a challenge, I’m not going to tell you it’s not, but the pie is only so big. You’ve got to divvy it up. Would we have had to move people as a result? Quite possibly. Maybe individual players, they look at it in the grand scheme and say that they’re going to be in a great position. Brandon’s going to be in a fantastic position when we start talking two years from now. That’s where we understand the dynamics.”


Keeping this crop of core players together without having to subtract talent as cap casualties is a huge coup for Sweeney and the Bruins — not just from an on-ice product in 2019-20, either. 


 While Sweeney had to pull off quite the heist to get McAvoy, Heinen and Carlo under contract for less than what the Maple Leafs are paying
Mitch Marner
annually for the next six seasons, his job certainly isn’t getting any easier,


Headlined by the QB of their power play in
Torey Krug
, the Bruins are staring at an upcoming offseason in which more than 10 players currently on the NHL roster are set to enter some form of free agency. 


The list is rather extensive, and while a Bergeron or Pastrnak may not be due for a pay raise, it will cost the Bruins a pretty penny in order to retain a couple of skaters set to cash in if they make it to the open market. 


The next men up on Sweeney’s checklist?

Torey Krug (UFA)

Charlie Coyle (UFA)

Zdeno Chara (UFA)

Jake DeBrusk (RFA)

Matt Grzelcyk (RFA)

Karson Kuhlman (RFA)

Jaroslav Halak (UFA)

Chris Wagner (UFA)

Joakim Nordstrom (UFA)

Kevan Miller (UFA)



Even without retaining that entire group (which would be unlikely, to say the least), one has to figure that a hefty chunk of change is still going to have to be doled out if Boston wants to keep players like Krug (even with a potential hometown discount) and Coyle in the fold, while also giving the next wave of talent in Grzelcyk and DeBrusk new deals. 




As noted by
, with Boston’s RFA situation settled in 2019, the Bruins should have around $24-26 million available to spend next summer — which, barring any severe market fluctuations — should be enough to retain players like Krug and Coyle while having the flexibility to tinker with other areas of the roster. 




That cap room could be adjusted, as @BruinsCapSpace’s projection also factors in the cap ceiling increasing by another $2 million next year. 


Along with opting to let some of their UFAs go, Boston could also free up even more cash next year by revisiting the David Backes’ contract, which will be in the final year of the five-year, $30 million structure that both parties agreed to back in July 2016. A buyout might be a bit more feasible with $2 million in cap savings as a result in 2020-21 (although Boston would then have to put another $1 million against the cap in 2021-22). 


Regardless of whatever routes that Sweeney and the Bruins take, it’s rather evident that these below-market deals for McAvoy and Carlo have given Boston plenty of flexibility when it comes to keeping this championship window alive. 


The next step? Win one more game in 2019-20. But regardless of what transpires this winter, Boston will once again be in a position to jump right back into the ring next offseason when it comes to retooling a loaded roster.


That’s quite the luxury — and one that isn’t afforded to every Stanley Cup contender in the years ahead….




“We have some forecasting to do, we have some conversations that have to take place, they will,” Sweeney said of looking ahead to next summer. “And I’ve indicated to each and every one of our players that we will have those once I have the ability to start to forecast a little more accurately. And then that will move accordingly. ...There’s no prioritization from the standpoint of one player being in front of the other player. 

“It’s just, having the ability to communicate that you have to make those decisions, maybe based financially, sometimes, maybe based on who’s potentially coming along to replace those players if they decide to leave. We had players that left our organization this year because they had opportunities and you wish them well. That may happen again, but it won’t be for lack of the Bruins under-appreciating what they’re doing for our hockey club now. I’ll attack each and every one of them when they finalize, either here or somewhere else, that’s to be determined. But we have to do it, with everyone."


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