The disappointment broadcast by Bruins fans on the airwaves and via various social media channels last Wednesday was palpable.
Be it Don Sweeney’s rather optimistic musings ahead of the start of the annual free agency feeding frenzy or simply reading the tea leaves, many B’s fans were expecting the narrative surrounding both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s potential returns to be tied up with a neat bow on Wednesday afternoon by way of one-year deals.
But no announcement came from Boston’s top brass — with the B’s expected vision of orchestrating one last hurrah with its tried-and-true top-six pivots in 2022-23 put on hold … for now.
Granted, even though both Bergeron and Krejci didn’t put pen to paper on Wednesday despite all of the smoke surrounding their plans for this upcoming season, Sweeney continued to offer up some positive musings when it came to both players during his last presser with the media on Wednesday evening.
“I think we’re in a really good place with Patrice,” Sweeney said. “Just the timing and working out the details of his contract and allowing him to declare that he’s good to go could be any timeframe there. Just working through some of the stuff, letting some of this day pass. He’s the only one that’s going to make that final announcement. He has the final say. David Krejci, we’ve had numerous discussions throughout the day. Going to try to continue to find some common ground there. It remains positive. But I just don’t have a clear-cut answer for you.”
In some respects, Bruins fans had to feel a bit like a kid waking up on Christmas morning, frantically prying open heaps and heaps of gifts — only to discover that the present etched at the top of their list is, unfortunately, going to come a few days late.
(Those damn supply-chain snafus.)
It’s a disappointing feeling, given the pomp and circumstance of the day — but one that, in the grand scheme of things, is certainly digestible.
But in the case of Bergeron/Krejci and waiting for both parties to cross the t’s and dot the i’s on their new deals — Bruins fans have now been waiting for the other shoe to drop for exactly a week, with no end in sight.
Yes, Sweeney seemed hopeful that the Bruins would eventually find a solution for both centers.
But the Bruins faithful are (understandably) a pessimistic bunch. And the longer this state of limbo carries on, the more fans will grow concerned that their team’s only real avenue of potential contention in 2022-23 could dissipate.
So, as all parties await some tangible news regarding both Bergeron and Krejci, what exactly could be the hold-up at this juncture of the offseason?
Being proactive about cap flexibility
It’s clear that the Bruins want to sign both Bergeron and Krejci. Based on Sweeney’s comments, it seems as though both veterans are very interested in returning.
But the Bruins, due in large part to their own actions, need to significantly alter their cap situation in order to accommodate both centers — while also signing new pick-up Pavel Zacha to a new contract.
And with just around $4.8 million in cap space right now (per CapFriendly), the Bruins simply don’t have the wiggle room to sign all three without moving out some contracts in the process — even if Boston was able to get Bergeron and Krejci to sign dirt-cheap, incentive-laden contracts (more on that in a bit).
Now, that’s not to say that the Bruins can’t sign all three of Bergeron, Krejci and Zacha right now, even if they do go over the $82.5 million cap ceiling.
During the offseason, teams can exceed that cap upper limit by 10 percent, so Boston could very well operate this summer at around $86-87 million and kick that problem further down the line to the fall.
And with Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk all expected to spend at least a month or two on the shelf this season due to offseason procedures, Boston could give itself some temporary breathing room by way of long-term injured reserve — with Boston given the option of exceeding the cap by at least some of that trio’s combined contracts once it hits that ceiling.
However, whether it be using that 10-percent rule this offseason or harnessing that LTIR flexibility, both options are just short-term measures that only delay the inevitable when it comes to moving out money.
Sooner or later, the Bruins would have to get at or below that $82.5 million ceiling before the season gets underway, and once Marchand, McAvoy and Grzelcyk do return, the Bruins can no longer use that LTIR loophole and will once again need to be cap compliant.
So rather than simply push that issue into a stretch of the NHL calendar when things are already ramping up (training camp, preseason, etc.), perhaps Sweeney and the Bruins are exploring options right now in order to free up the necessary cap space BEFORE getting Bergeron and Krejci to officially sign.
Yes, the Bruins could free up some room by trading a player like Mike Reilly in September or perhaps right around when someone like McAvoy is set to return from LTIR. But as we mapped out last week, moving an asset then — when teams are well aware that you need to get under that $82.5 million — does take away any leverage that Boston might have when it comes to getting a useful asset in return for what would essentially be a cap-dump trade.
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.
Be it dealing players on the NHL roster like Reilly, Tomas Nosek or Craig Smith — or stashing Nick Foligno down to Providence for about $1 million in cap savings — the Bruins do have some options when it comes to clearing a few contracts off the books.
But with three key cogs still unsigned, the Bruins would likely be wise to do that in-house cap clearing now before putting Bergeron, Krejci and Zacha’s contracts on their ledger.
Navigating a complicated contract situation
Of course, another reason for this extended impasse could be the slog that comes with crafting new contracts for both Bergeron and Krejci. It’s often a drawn-out process when it comes to finding the middle ground regarding dollars and cents.
But in this case, the challenge for Sweeney and the Bruins might hinge more on the fact that the organization likely needs to get very, very creative with one-year deals for their two centers — with bonus-heavy deals standing as an easy way for Boston to squeeze their contracts under that $82.5 million ceiling.
Sweeney even stated last week that both Bergeron and Krejci’s deals would likely involve incentive-heavy qualifiers.
“Yeah, we’ll probably be a little more tilted, look at the performance side of things,” Boston’s GM noted.
As players who are both over 35 years old, Bergeron and Krejci’s eligibility for performance bonuses can be a useful tool for the Bruins when it comes to pushing heftier cap obligations into a new season.
Perhaps the Bruins get both Bergeron and Krejci to sign deals with very low base salaries (perhaps $2 million?), thus allowing them some freedom to fit them under the cap while only needing one move — say, a Reilly deal — in order to also accommodate Zacha.
But the Bruins could significantly sweeten the pot by tacking on a few easily attainable bonuses that could significantly bump up that payout for both Bergeron and Krejci.
The Bruins did a similar maneuver in 2013 when they signed Jarome Iginla to a contract with just a $1.8 million cap hit — but included a whopping $4.2 million in performance bonuses, including $3.7 million just for playing in 10 games.
So the Bruins could conceivably give both Bergeron and Krejci contracts that eventually equal out to $5-6 million once the bonuses are paid out, even if the base salary isn’t all that much.
And with these bonuses, if the Bruins don’t have the cap space this season to accommodate those met payouts, they can push it into next season if need be. That seems like a logical way to avoid a significant cap-crunch headache this season.
However, it’s a move that’s not without some risk, as the Bruins were put in cap jail in 2014-15 when Iginla’s bonuses were pushed over into that season — a year in which he played for the Avalanche. As a result, the Bruins had to move a fantastic asset in Johnny Boychuk for pennies on the dollar to remain compliant.
And with David Pastrnak due for a significant raise next summer — coupled with the fact that the Bruins WILL eventually need to find some replacements down the middle for Bergeron/Krejci in the years ahead — Boston doesn’t necessarily want, say, an extra $7 million in bonus overages tacked on to next year’s payroll for a pair of centers who could not even be on the roster in 2023-24.
It’s a complicated matter that Sweeney and the Bruins have to untangle — but one that at least offers some explanation as to why both players remain unsigned more than a week into free agency.
For Bruins fans, an arduous, drawn-out process when it comes to either finding the right deal to unload cap space or finding the agreeable, incentive-heavy deals to accommodate both centers sure beats the other scenario — in which a late snag in discussions with Bergeron/Krejci might rob this franchise of at least one more kick at the can with this core in place.
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Bruins hire John Gruden as assistant coach
It seems as though Jim Montgomery has his new coaching staff in place for the 2022-23 season.
The Bruins announced on Wednesday that they have hired John Gruden as an assistant coach, with the former Bruins defenseman (59 games from 1993-96) likely serving as Kevin Dean's replacement on Boston's bench.
Gruden, 52, had spent the previous four seasons serving as an assistant coach for the New York Islanders. Prior to making the jump up to the NHL coaching ranks, Gruden cut his teeth as an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2011-15 before later serving as head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL.
The Virginia, Minnesota native is expected to be the final piece added to Montgomery's staff, with Don Sweeney noting earlier this month that the three remaining assistants from Bruce Cassidy's tenure that are under contract were expected to return in 2022-23 — Chris Kelly, Joe Sacco and goalie coach Bob Essensa.
"Monty has had really good discussions with all three of them and I think those are in a really good place," Sweeney said. "Those indications are that they'll be a part of our staff and Monty is excited about it…he's excited to work with them, and they are as well. Kells and Joe and Bob have all indicated that their discussions have gone well."