The Bruins’ 2022 offseason has followed the same kind of script as a film directed by the likes of Quentin Tarantino or Christopher Nolan.
Thanks to a nonlinear narrative, the Bruins’ endgame for this summer has been established pretty much from the get-go. The real plot? How exactly Don Sweeney and the B’s manage to reach that endpoint.
As soon as the reports first began to circulate that Patrice Bergeron was looking to return for a 19th NHL season, the course of this franchise was charted.
For however long their captain wants to keep playing, the Bruins will look to squeeze every little bit of contention out of this aging core, with the potential reunion of David Krejci — coupled with Jim Montgomery’s new systems — serving as avenues designed to draw more production from this talented (albeit flawed) roster.
Based on everything we heard from Sweeney in the days leading up to the start of NHL free agency, it appeared as though Bergeron and Krejci’s returns were more a formality than anything else.
Once players could begin crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s at noon on Wednesday, most B’s fans were expecting news of the veteran pivots’ deals to join the deluge of signings that flooded the Twittersphere for most of the afternoon.
But by the time Sweeney finally addressed the media around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the B’s GM had little to offer in terms of tangible updates regarding the two dominoes that will determine just how legitimate Boston’s hopes of contention really are in 2022-23.
“Nothing’s changed, there’s no update as of right now in terms of finalizing anything,” Sweeney said of discussions with Bergeron and Krejci. “As I referenced the other day, I think we’re in a really good place with Patrice, just the timing and working out the details of his contract and allowing him to declare he’s good to go. Could be any timeframe there. Just working through some of the stuff, letting this day pass and again, he’s the only one who’s going to make that final announcement, because he’s the one with the final say.
“And David Krejci, we’ve had numerous discussions throughout the day. Going to try to continue to try to find some common ground there. Remains positive, but I just don’t have a clear-cut answer for you.”
Not exactly the type of pending status that the B's faithful were looking for as the free-agent feeding frenzy begins to wind down — especially given the fact that Boston has few contingency plans to turn to if anything goes haywire with contract talks with the 36-year-old centers.
“No, we’re not being aggressive,” Sweeney said of future plans this offseason. “We’ve got a little bit of view to the back end, given a couple of our injuries, if something presents itself there. Some teams have asked about some of our players, so we’re staying in talks in that regard, so we’re not aggressively in the marketplace at this point.”
With little in terms of cap flexibility, a spending spree was never going to be in the cards for the Bruins this summer, not without established NHL talent also getting shipped out for future capital.
And even though Boston’s one-for-one swap of Erik Haula for Pavel Zacha was a crafty move that added a versatile, 25-year-old forward into the middle-six mix, Zacha’s value will only be truly maximized if he’s pushed to the wing and slotted further down the lineup — a scenario that only becomes tangible if both Bergeron and Krejci are holding court at their usual spots at 1C and 2C, respectively.
“I suppose a little of it depends on Patrice and David both in that sense,” Sweeney said of Zacha’s projected position and spot in Boston’s lineup. “He’s more than comfortable playing all three positions and being productive. And again, we can always move other people around. I think he sees himself as a center and he’s excited to be joining the Boston Bruins.
“We’re excited to have him. Not really worried about the position, I think down the road he’s definably a center. I think that helps us if we’re able to find the term and agreement.”
So what exactly is the hold-up when it comes to some clarity regarding both Bergeron and Krejci?
Of course, the fear that immediately sinks into the psyche of most B’s fans is the sight of their team being left at the alter — even if such a nightmare scenario does seem like a foolish musing, considering Bergeron’s ties to this franchise.
“No, I mean the talks have been positive,” Sweeney said of any potential complications regarding their negotiations with Bergeron/Krejci. “So, you know, I’m not a general guy to focus on the negative or the bad side of it. I’m attacking it as it comes and taking my indications from them and hopefully, I find closure here in the shorter term versus the longer term.”
One hurdle that could be hindering the Bruins at this juncture is their cap situation, with Boston currently operating with about $4.7 million in fiscal flexibility (per CapFriendly) — all of which will need to be allocated to cover potential deals for Bergeron/Krejci, along with Zacha’s new contract.
And even though the Bruins do have the ability to exceed the cap ceiling of $82.5 million by 10% during the offseason, doing so would likely hinder Boston’s leverage when it comes to unloading contracts before another 82-game gauntlet begins in October.
For example, let’s say that Boston opted to move Mike Reilly and his $3 million cap hit this summer (a deal that becomes even easier to map out given how tantalizing the puck-moving D-man’s contract looks following this latest string of UFA signings across the league).
If the Bruins just sign Bergeron and Krejci right away and are sitting at around $86 or $87 million in terms of cap commitments, they’ve all but relinquished any advantages they’d have in talks involving Reilly — with any interested party likely low-balling any offer knowing that Boston NEEDS to be cap-compliant.
As such, perhaps the Bruins want to make the necessary moves now when it comes to freeing up some money before incorporating Bergeron and Krejci’s new deals into the mix.
It’s perhaps the only logical impediment at this stage, considering that Sweeney also acknowledged on Wednesday that Bergeron/Krejci’s contracts would likely require incentive-laden bonuses in order to further make the most of the limited cap room that Boston has.
At this point, cautious optimism seems to be the prevailing sentiment shared over at Warrior Ice Arena. Their vision for the 2022-23 season (right or wrong) is close to being realized. But until both Bergeron and Krejci both sign on the dotted line, this vision is nothing more than a nearly-finished, but a woefully unstable, house of cards.