The Bruins have had quite the start to their work week, and there may still be more to come.
Boston packaged Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno's rights to Chicago for young right-handed defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell on Monday before swapping center prospect Shane Bowers for defense prospect Reilly Walsh with New Jersey. The night ended with Patrice Bergeron, Linus Ullmark and Jim Montgomery cleaning up at the NHL Awards.
Speaking during their pre-draft media availability, Don Sweeney and Cam Neely indicated they still have their work cut out for them.
“There are times that you’re somewhat up against [the salary cap], but this is the closest we’ve been in a long time, where we’ve got to do a lot of juggling,” Neely said. He later added, "We figured that if the cap didn’t go up we were going to have some juggling to do. We unfortunately lose Taylor, a great player for us. We really loved him as a Bruin, but we knew that was gonna happen. Unfortunately, the cap didn’t go up like everybody was hoping for, but we kind of anticipated that.”
The two trades accomplished multiple goals in Sweeney's eyes, creating much-needed cap space in moving Hall while also bringing three younger right-shot defensemen. Boston only had three right-handed D under contract for next season in Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and prospect Ryan Mast.
“That was a target for us. We had two right-D signed … we’ve been thin in that area," Sweeney said. "We were cognizant of guys that we feel could go in and play there.”
On the free-agent front, unrestricted free-agent defenseman Dmitry Orlov is unlikely to be back. Sweeney also didn't sound confident that the Bruins would be able to retain some of their other pending UFAs in Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnet Hathaway and Tomas Nosek.
"None of those guys have necessarily been closed off," Sweeney said of the possibilities. "Haven’t really put anything together that will indicate that I’m going to be able to [re-sign them], in particular on Orly."
The opening of free agency on July 1 (Saturday) looms large. The Bruins understand the chance is greater than not that all could hit the market.
“Again, we’re close [to July 1], so you have to assume they may, but if something else materializes, I’m going to have to move forward with the guys," Sweeney said.
In total, the Bruins sent away two first-round picks (2023 and a top-10 protected 2024), a second (2025), a third (2024), a fourth (2025) and a fifth (2023) to acquire Orlov, Bertuzzi and Hathaway at the deadline. Whether or not they can successfully move up in the draft, which begins Wednesday evening in Nasvhille, remains to be seen.
Now, the Bruins are up to just shy of $11 million in cap space, and a Mike Reilly buyout should bump it up to roughly $13.5 million, which should be enough to re-sign RFAs Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic. Maybe it's enough to fit Hathaway, but Boston would probably need more to fit Bertuzzi. Based off Sweeney's comments, that may not matter now. The general manager feels Boston is now in a spot where it doesn't have to do anything additional.
“There’s a couple things that we still may look at," Sweeney said. "We’re just not forced to do anything, to be perfectly honest with you."
Neely noted the intricacy of navigating the salary cap this season while also remaining in a good spot in 2024, when there is expected to see a a significant boost.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we don’t take advantage of that [cap bump] next year," he said. "We feel really good about where we are going into the following year, but it’s just this season that we’re trying to piece together.”
Neely also said the Bruins need to operate as if Bergeron and David Krejci, who are yet to officially make decisions on their futures, will not return in 2023-24.
"For us, we've really got to plan that they're not coming back until we hear otherwise," Neely said. "We would be doing the organization a service if we planned that they are coming back and then we're told they're not. So for us, it's kind of going down two paths. Hopefully, we'll hear something soon, but we certainly want to give those guys the time they need.
“I think as a player, you might kind of think you’re done, but then a month or two into the offseason, you’re kind of like ‘Wait a minute, what am I gonna do next winter?’"
Sweeney echoed a similar sentiment, noting he's had multiple conversations with Bergeron. He said the Bruins will respect both players' processes and be ready to go from there.
“No, it really doesn’t [affect July 1]. You can tell where Patrice was last year in terms of having an understanding in terms of what we were trying to accomplish in bringing Krejci back and being very, very flexible. He’s indicated that it’ll be no different this year," Sweeney said, recalling Bergeron and Krejci both signing late in the offseason last year after Boston had gotten much of its business done. "It won’t affect what we’re trying to accomplish as an organization between now and when he makes a decision.”
Neely said, “[This year] it's a lot more conversations of ‘What if’s,’ right? That’s kind of the difference. We had a pretty good idea of what our roster would look like and how to put it together last offseason compared to this offseason."
BSJ Analysis...
On the free agents:
- That's no surprise on Orlov. During breakup day, he somewhat indicated that he'd be in search of the most term and money that he can get, considering where he's at in his career. Makes perfect sense for him, personally, but made little sense for the Bruins to commit a big deal to a 31-year-old. Interested to see where he ends up and what the deal looks like.
- Not very surprised on Nosek either. As strong as he was defensively for Boston at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill, the Bruins are better off working younger players into the nooks and crannies of the lineup. Could see Marc McLaughlin or even John Beecher take a run at that 4C spot.
- There were reports at the end of last week that the Bruins wanted to re-sign Hathaway, but I wasn't sure it could work. Given their priorities with their restricted free agents, the apparent prioritizing of Bertuzzi (more on that in a second), etc., I'm not sure it would have made sense for Boston to commit money to a fourth-liner who did not have the physical impact he should have had in the playoffs.
- Safe to assume Connor Clifton is gone. The three defensemen acquired Monday should have a chance to compete for roster spots in training camp.
- Now Bertuzzi is where you can color me shocked, especially after the talk of him being among the Bruins' top priorities and the Hall move yesterday. Sweeney's words today might give a little more weight to an Andy Strickland report that there were yet to be formal conversations between the front office and Bertuzzi's camp.
- Have to wonder if the Bruins have some more irons in the fire here if the cap created from the Hall trade doesn't lead to a Bertuzzi move. A possible deal involving Matt Grzlecyk and Derek Forbort, along with a Reilly buyout, would create enough space to potentially make a swing on the trade market or in free agency.
On the salary cap:
- I'm not sure I believe Sweeney at face value when he says the Bruins are in a spot where they don't need to make another move for cap space. Sure, they could stand pat, but it would leave them with what they currently have. He again emphasized needing some younger players to step up, but Boston could still make affordable improvements with more cap space. Wonder if he's playing the cards close to the vest.
- Even if there isn't another trade coming, have to assume the Reilly buyout is coming soon. The deadline is Friday.
- Interesting to hear Neely say they were expecting to lose Hall. Thought if they knew they might not be able to re-sign Bertuzzi, they'd find a way to make it work with Hall and explore other moves to create cap space (Grzelcyk, Forbort or Linus Ullmark).
On Bergeron and Krejci:
- As expected, it's still the waiting game. Surprised we haven't heard a call from either by now. At breakup day, Krejci seemed to indicate that he would want his decision made sooner rather than later. Here we are over a month and a half later. Bergeron mentioned perhaps having a decision before July 1. He's got four days if that was a hard deadline.
- I'm confident that if one or both opt to come back, it shouldn't be a problem to fit it under the cap. Both contracts should be low-money against the cap. Then, you get into navigating bonus structures. Neely talked about needing to be cognizant of next year's cap situation as well. Saddling themselves with $4.5 million in bonus overages once again would certainly be less than ideal.