We aren’t breaking any new ground when we say that Don Sweeney and the Bruins have their work cut out for them in the coming months — to put it lightly.
To be fair, the B’s are far from the only dogs in the fight against the most pressing issue gripping both the NHL and the world — the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has ground just about everything to a halt.
Measures have been taken by both the league and teams in an effort to protect players and curtail the spread of COVID-19 — with the hope of potentially resuming play later this spring.
*If* such a best-case scenario were to play out, Sweeney and the Bruins would then still be tasked with the looming challenge that has hung over them for a better part of a year — avenge last year’s crushing playoff defeat loss and hoist the Stanley Cup.
Smooth sailing isn’t exactly guaranteed beyond the maelstrom that has been the 2019-20 NHL campaign.
The Bruins are set to benefit from a nice bump in the cap ceiling for next year, with the $81.5 million soaring to a figure between $84 to $88.2 million for the 2020-21 season. That sizable chunk of change will come in handy as Boston looks to re-up Torey Krug and seven other free agents this summer, although this current stoppage and the subsequent lost revenue do make it seem as though next year’s cap bump will be on the lower end of those projections.
Still, freeing themselves from a majority of David Backes’ $6 million cap hit and another $3 million in dead money should have Boston not limited by the same salary crunch that kept RFAs in Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy out of the first few days of training camp this year.
All things considered, Boston will be able to get most of the band back together in 2021 and beyond for a couple more runs at some championship hardware.
That’s good news for the B’s — and very, very good news for NHL Seattle GM Ron Francis, who likely will be licking his chops at the chance to pry a valuable player from this Bruins’ core in the following summer.
For as much as the COVID-19 pandemic rightfully deserves most of the headlines, a Bruins team primed to contend for at least the next couple of seasons is in line for another major dilemma in short order — with the NHL’s latest franchise set to formulate its roster by way of an expansion draft in the summer of 2021.
To go over the rules for the Seattle expansion draft:
Seattle will select one player from each team — except for the Golden Knights — for a total of 30 (14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies). The team must choose a minimum of 20 players under contract for the 2021-22 regular season and those with an aggregate Expansion Draft value that is between 60-100% of the prior season’s upper limit for the salary cap. Seattle also cannot buy out players that it selected in the Expansion Draft earlier than the summer following its first season.
The teams forced to participate in the Expansion Draft will have two options when it comes to protecting players:
— Protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie.
— Protect eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goalie.
There are conditions when it comes to these player protections, of course.
- All players with no-movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected by their teams and will be counted toward their team’s applicable protection limits. So, for example, players with NMCs like Patrice Bergeron WILL need to be protected by Boston (as if they weren’t going to do it anyway.)
- All first- and second-year NHL players, and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward protection limits.)
- One defenseman who is a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played in at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons.
- Two forwards who are a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons.
- One goalie who is under contract in 2021-22 or will be a restricted free agent at the end of his current contract immediately prior to 2021-22. If a team elects to make a restricted free agent goalie available to meet this requirement, that goalie must have received his qualifying offer prior to the submission of the team’s protected list.
Brandon Carlo
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