Bruins notebook: 3 ways the Bruins can go about creating more cap flexibility this summer

The Bruins have $4.5 million in performance bonus overages eating into their cap space for next season, as a result of Patrice Bergeron's and David Krejci's incentive-laden contracts this season. 

That leaves Boston with approximately $4.9 million in cap room to turn the page from this season's collapse and maintain a competitive roster next season. 

While the bones of a strong core are still in place – particularly on the wing, on the blue line and in goal – it's still critical for Don Sweeney and co. to create additional flexibility to retain restricted free agents like Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic, take a run at re-signing an unrestricted free agent like Tyler Bertuzzi or have room to accommodate a potential Bergeron or Krejci return as well as other possible additions. 

Here are three ways the B's can free up financial space:

1. Trade or buy out Mike Reilly

This move has been near the top of the list for a year now. Reilly went unclaimed through waivers at the start of the season after 31 other teams had a chance to pick him up for nothing but cap space.

As such, Reilly, very much an NHL defenseman in other organizations, has toiled away in the AHL with Providence. While he struggled to gain traction during his full season in Bruce Cassidy's system, the returns were more promising under Jim Montgomery at the start of the season as Reilly plugged holes with Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk on the shelf.

The Bruins had a 4-1 edge in high-danger goals in the 148:55 of 5-on-5 ice time for Reilly this season. Scoring chances were 73-62 for Boston (54.07 percent), and high-danger looks were 36-22 (62.07). Nevertheless, someone needed to be sent down to clear enough cap room for players to return, and Reilly, one of six left-handed defensemen in the system capable of logging NHL minutes was the odd-man out. 

While the Bruins were able to offload Craig Smith's cap hit in the deadline deal for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway, there were no takers for Reilly once again.

He has one year remaining on his deal worth $3 million annually. Since being buried in the minors, Reilly has still taken up $1.875 million in cap space. 

Another year of that certainly isn't ideal for a team as strapped for cash as Boston, and with the left-handed logjam still in front of him, there's little to no chance he'd make an NHL impact in Black and Gold. In a January interview with The Athletic, Reilly said there had been "little communication" between him and the front office. He was "crushed" when he was sent down.

In an ideal world, the Bruins would be able to deal away Reilly's contract. Unlike a video game, they wouldn't be able to just dangle him out there for a late draft pick. Cap space is a commodity, so Boston would likely need to send a draft pick with Reilly to a rebuilding team in exchange for "future considerations" (nothing). 

Teams aren't exactly lining up to help each other, though. It seems the easiest option would be a buyout, which would cost Boston $2.667 million with a total savings of $1.333 million, according to CapFriendly. Both sides would be able to move on and be done with each other.

The B's would have to deal with a $333,334 penalty against the cap this season, so fairly marginal due to the $2.667 million it would create in cap space. There would, however, be a penalty cap hit of $1,333,334 in 2024-25. The Bruins would be in better shape to handle that penalty as the cap is expected to have a significant jump, possibly as high as $88 million, that summer.  

2. Move on from either Derek Forbort or Matt Grzlecyk

Forbort and Grzeclyk are each headed into the final year of their deals. 

The former proved to be a steady hand on the penalty kill and nothing more than a third-pair defenseman. Teams like the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs have been able to exploit his lack of ability in transition and with the puck. 

While Boston's penalty kill missed the 31-year-old when he was out with a broken finger early in the season, going just 76.5 percent, it faired just fine without him down the stretch, flourishing at a 93.3 percent success rate. In the playoffs, the B's penalty kill was just 75 percent as part of an overall defensive collapse, even with Forbort in the lineup. He was on for three of Florida's power-play goals. 

"We definitely had some kind of uncharacteristic turnovers, but I didn’t really feel like we were kind of hemmed in our zone too much," Forbort said Tuesday of handling the Panthers' forecheck. "I don’t know what the zone time comparison was. It just seemed like they were just very opportunistic, and every time we’d make one of those little mistakes, it ended up in the back of our net.”

Given his ceiling, Forbort wouldn't exactly fetch an earth-shattering return even if he had a strong regular season, overall, perhaps a mid-round draft pick. There's always the buyout route, which would cost $666,667 against the cap in 2023-24 and $1,166,667 in 2024-25. Not sure that might be worth it for Boston. 

On the other hand, Grzelcyk is the more attractive trade candidate. 

His ability in transition, whether using his vision or skating ability to execute a breakout, is a trait that teams might covet. He and McAvoy have made a dominant play-driving defensive pair in recent years. At 5-on-5 in the 2022-23 regular season, Boston held a plus-57 shot differential, a plus-21 goal differential, a plus-22 scoring chance margin and a plus-10 edge in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Amid concerns over his durability in the playoffs, Boston appeared to have no intention of using Grzlecyk against the Panthers until it was apparent his puck-moving ability was missed after Game 2. The B's looked improved with wins in Games 3 and 4, but after a Game 5 miscue between Grzlecyk and Linus Ullmark, the former was back in the press box in Game 6. Connor Clifton's bad day at the office ensued. 

"Yeah, it’s tough. Obviously, you want to be a part of it, but at the same time, you make sure you’re still being a good teammate and someone who is enjoyable to be around. So, I knew the reality of the situation at the deadline and adding such great players," Grzlecyk said of being a healthy scratch. "I think we all had the same goal in mind and that’s to win the Stanley Cup at any cost… Of course, you want to be out there playing, but like I said, be a good teammate and make sure you’re ready when your name is called.”  

At 5-on-5, Boston out-attempted Florida, 60-41, and out-chanced them, 24-19, despite a 2-3 goal differential. The coaching staff sheltered him at times as well. If he's not going to be used, it may be time to move on in the name of cap space.

Still 29 years old and on a $3.6875 million deal as a top-four defenseman, he may be the more viable trade candidate. The loss of a puck-mover like Grzlecyk could be offset by a potential jump to the NHL by Mason Lohrei next season.

3. Use Taylor Hall or Jake DeBrusk as trade chips

If the Bruins want to seriously look at retaining Tyler Bertuzzi, it may come at the expense of Hall, especially if Bertuzzi's ask is below Hall's current $6 million cap hit. Although, that may be unlikely.

Hall is under contract for two more seasons with modified trade protections in his deal.

The 31-year-old had a strong start to the season before going quiet ahead of a lower-body injury that caused him to miss 20 games before the playoffs. He finished the year with 16 goals and 34 points in 61 games after being projected to finish much higher earlier on.

He made up a strong third line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic, as the B's outscored teams 47-23 (26-9 high-danger) with the three together at 5-on-5 during the regular season. In the playoffs, Hall was one of Boston's best with eight points (five goals) before going quiet in Games 6 and 7. 

“I felt good. I don’t know, when you lose the series you feel like you had more to give and I didn’t have any production in the last two games, and maybe if I did, we wouldn't be doing exit meetings today," Hall said Tuesday. "There are always things to build off of and get better at. I felt more like myself in the playoffs than I did in the regular season. It wasn’t a tremendous season personally, but 65 wins and being a contributor on a team like that is special and something I'll never forget. 

"I want to have a better season next year than I did this year. There are some things for me to get better yet. I want to come back a better player. It's hard when you’re 31, but I really do think I have more to learn and more things to get better at.”

The Bruins outscored the Panthers 7-1 with him on the ice and nearly doubled them up on scoring chances (25-13). In the regular season, he was a strong play-driver as Boston had a 43-17 (71.67 percent) scoring differential with him on the ice in all situations. Shots on goal were 61 percent in their favor as well. 

However, Hall has had some inconsistencies, in terms of production, during his tenure. If the Bruins are unsure he'll be able to gain traction in the top six going forward, it may be worth exploring a trade, especially if they're able to retain Bertuzzi as a top-six wing. He'd likely garner his fair share of interest.

DeBrusk has a year left at $4 million. He's become a consistently impactful top-six contributor, tying a career-high with 27 goals in 64 games this season after 25 goals in 2021-22. His 50 points in 2022-23 were a career-best. 

“That was my goal at the beginning of the year, was to have a year to grow off of the year before," DeBrusk said. "It’s hard to kind of think about that right now, but there are lots of good moments in some ways. You take those positives with it. That’s kind of what you use to go into the next offseason of training and things like that. It’s fresh, so I honestly don’t look at that too much.”

He carved out a key role on the top-line right wing alongside Bergeron and Brad Marchand. With DeBrusk on the ice in all situations during the regular season, Boston out-attempted teams by 62.25 percent, outshot them by 62.38 percent and out-chanced the opposition by 64.84 percent (66.53 high-danger). Goals were 87-38 (69.6 percent) in the B's favor and high-danger goals were 46-23 (66.67). 

If Bergeron is back, the Bruins would likely want to roll that same line again, although No. 37's minutes would be tightly managed. Even without Bergeron, when Marchand and DeBrusk were together in all situations, attempts were 107-88 (54.87 percent) for Boston and scoring chances were 60-44 (57.69 percent) during the regular season. 

In all situations in the playoffs, Boston had sizable advantages in shot attempts (59-30), shots (32-19) and scoring chances (25-17) with Marchand and DeBrusk together. 

DeBrusk had a trade request last season before rescinding it in the summer.

“For sure. It was obviously a crazy year ago at this point in time and even before that. I did feel lucky. I felt lucky to be here every day," DeBrusk said when asked if he was happy to not be traded. "Even just with the start that we had as a group. With the guys in this locker room, it just felt special, and I tried to take every moment I could of any day that I was here, and I was just really grateful for the opportunity. Obviously, at the same time, it was not the result we wanted, so it stings as well.”

On the right side of 30 (26 years old) and on a cheaper deal, other teams would have interest in DeBrusk, although Bosotn may likely be better served retaining him.

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Bruins sign Matthew Poitras to entry-level contract

The Bruins announced Friday that they signed center Matthew Poitras to a three-year entry-level contract, which will begin next season.

Boston selected Poitras 54th overall in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft. He put up 16 goals and 79 assists for 95 points in 63 OHL games with the Guelph Storm this season. In 131 career OHL contests, he has 145 points (37g, 108a). 

The 19-year-old is currently with the Providence Bruins on an amateur tryout during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Poitras is one of a few non-first-round picks like Lohrei, center Brett Harrison and defensemen Frederic Brunet and Ryan Mast that have shown promise at the lower levels since their draft years.

Here are a couple of scouting reports on Poitras...

EliteProspects: "He pre-scans, establishes body positioning, escapes out the back door, and then looks inside for teammates. Doesn’t just make the most direct play; he’s selective and generally balances risk and reward well. Wins positioning by getting low, using heel-to-heel steps to change the point of contact, and changing pace on incoming pressure."

Dobber Hockey: "Hard-working two-way forward with the skill to capitalize on opposing mistakes. Already displays a lot of pro-level habits and projects as a reliable NHL forward with secondary scoring ability."