Don Sweeney spoke with the media via video conference on Friday afternoon in the midst of the ongoing stoppage of the 2019-20 NHL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sweeney shed light on a number of topics, including potential plans to resume play this season, salary-cap challenges and the future of some key cogs in Boston’s lineup. Here are few takeaways in regards to a number of Boston’s upcoming free agents on the blue line:
Sweeney ‘hopeful’ a deal can be struck with Torey Krug:
A lost season due to an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic would be a brutal blow to a Bruins roster looking to cash in on its dwindling championship window — with a potential playoff push in 2020 perhaps standing as the best remaining chance for franchise stars like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask and Brad Marchand to further pad their resumes by hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.
For a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent in Torey Krug, the ongoing lockdown and suspension of all major sports also brings about the fear that he might never don a black and gold sweater again.
A scenario in which Boston re-ups its power-play quarterback was looking awfully promising just a few weeks ago, especially when Boston was looking at projected salary cap jumping up between $2.5 - $6.7 million from its current limit of $81.5 million.
But in wake of the loss of revenue over the past month — and future shortfalls due to the ongoing crisis – there stands a good chance that any breathing room brought on by an expanded cap limit has been snuffed out.
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“For me, personally, I really hope I did not play my last game as a Boston Bruin,” Krug said on Tuesday when speaking to the media.
Sweeney concurred on Friday afternoon.
"I would echo those same comments,” he said. “I dearly hope that Torey hasn't played his last game — this year or going forward. He's been a big part of any success we've had as an organization. He's a special player, both on and off the ice. He means a lot in the locker room and I think everybody could acknowledge his attributes on the ice and his importance to our team.”
Still, with the new cap limit for next season still undetermined, Sweeney admitted that any discussions between the team and its free agents have yet to gain much traction — given that all parties are still operating in the dark when it comes to how much fiscal leeway there will be whenever the 2020 offseason commences.
“In a cap world, we have to try and fit the pieces together,” Sweeney said. “We've had very, very good discussions with Torey's group and we just haven't found the landing spot and that's understandable. .. As I've always said, every discussion and every contract negotiation kind of has its own timeline.
“We're hopeful that we will find a resolution with Torey. But at this point in time, we haven't been able to do so. But it's been very amicable and we've made our feelings perfectly clear that we respect and acknowledge what Torey has done and what he’s capable of doing for us as a member of the Boston Bruins and we hope that continues."
Bruins will put ball in Zdeno Chara’s court regarding his future
He may not be the perennial Norris Trophy candidate he was during his prime, but a 43-year-old Zdeno Chara still holds immense value to Boston’s blue line — and not just for his role as a steadying presence in the B’s locker room.
Chara remains a viable top-pairing option on a team with loads of D-corps depth, and has anchored one of the top PK units in the NHL alongside one of his many understudies in Brandon Carlo. Charlie McAvoy might command the lion’s share of minutes now on Boston’s roster (23:10 ATOI), but Chara is still a dependable shutdown weapon for Bruce Cassidy — ranking second on the club with an ATOI of 21:01 per game.
As such, it should come as no surprise that the Bruins have pretty much put the ball in Chara’s court when it comes to his decision to eventually hang up his skates and cap off a Hall-of-Fame career.
Over the last few years, the efforts of both Chara and the Bruins to extend his tenure in Boston have been rather fluid — with the captain agreeing to one-year contract extensions in March 2018 and March 2019.
So far, both parties haven’t agreed to the framework that would keep Chara in Boston for the 2020-21 campaign. But Sweeney’s stance hasn’t changed all that much from the organization’s previous position when it comes to discussing Chara’s future — with the captain given the space and time to decide when to finally call it quits.
Even with the amount of mileage he’s racked up over two-plus decades of hockey, it doesn’t seem as though Chara is ready to let up quite yet.
“I think even Zdeno himself has reported that he would like to continue to play,” Sweeney said. “The really unique relationship that we have as an organization with Zdeno, and this started a bunch of years ago — the last three or four in particular — is that he has exercised the ability to show patience, allow us to plan accordingly and then adjust in his own contractual situations.
“You saw two consecutive one-year deals, which was important for us with planning and that's, again, an extension of the relationship that he and (agent) Matt Keator have afforded us. … The ongoing dialogue has been very healthy with Zdeno.”
Sweeney added: “He exhibits all that passion and loyalty to us, so I think it's unique in the fact that he's able to communicate effectively with us and it puts us in a better situation to continue to plan accordingly and then make a decision really in mutual fashion as for what's best for us and what's best for Zdeno.”
Kevan Miller is likely done for the year after facing steep uphill climb
While Sweeney and the Bruins are still holding out hope that some iteration of the 2019-20 campaign can be concluded later this summer — it appears as though injured veteran Kevan Miller will not factor into any of those plans, at least as far as on-ice contributions go.
Miller has forged a reputation as one of the toughest players in the NHL over the years, with the UVM product more than willing to dole out punishment while out on a shift — and battle through whatever subsequent damage is on the receiving end.
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But not even a bruiser like Miller could simply grit his teeth and push through the number of bad breaks and ailments that befell him last year.
Just to recap Miller’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 2018-19 campaign:
- Miller missed over a month of play due to a broken hand — which he suffered while blocking a shot against the Oilers on October 18, 2018.
- Just four games after returning, Miller missed another month of action due to a scary bout of bad luck — as a puck to the throat caused cartilage damage to his larynx that sent him to the hospital up in Toronto.
- Miller played 25 games upon returning to the lineup at the end of December 2018, but then missed 16 additional games after suffering a torn oblique while getting hit into the boards against the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 23.
- Just three games into his return, Miller played his final game of the season — suffering a vertical fracture to his kneecap during Boston's penultimate game of the regular season against the Wild on April 4.
- Even with such a major injury appearing Miller fully expected to recover in time for the Stanley Cup Final, but while rehabbing off ice during the Eastern Conference Final in Carolina, Miller suffered a vertical fracture to the same kneecap — ending his season for good.