The Bruins Have Some Big Boy Moves They Should Swing This Offseason
The Boston Bruins are in a cap crunch right now and only have roughly 8 million dollars in cap space to re-sign their two big RFA’s Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. Those two combined should end up with more than 8 million unless one of them takes a bridge deal. So if that doesn’t happen who can the Bruins trade away to gain cap space?
David Backes sure commands alot of salary cap space with 6 million going his way. Backes would be the best and would offer the most relief but trading him means you have to staple some picks and prospects to get rid of him. Backes has been on an extreme downward trend over the past couple seasons and often found himself a healthy scratch during the playoffs. Backes only scored 20 points in his 70 games played last season and had a chance to contribute on every line. A report surfaced the other day that the Devils might be interested in Backes but in order to take him on they would need extra compensations. If the Bruins got rid of Backes they would have 14 million in space and be able to sign both RFA’s with some space left over.
Next, John Moore could be dealt. Moore signed last season as a free agent with the B’s and had an up and down season but was playing his strongest hockey during the Stanley Cup run and became a stable option on that third pairing. Moore’s contract is very reasonable with him making 2.75 million against the cap. Moore is certainly an asset that could be dealt, the term and money on his contract is fair and a team looking for a second pairing option would likely be interested. Teams such as the Flyers, Ducks and the Islanders could use him. The downside is Moore is coming off an injury to his sternum and could be out for the early part of the season. Moore would only give the Bruins 10.75 million in cap space but that would still help them.
Lastly, Kevan Miller is on the trade block. Miller has been a solid defenseman for the Bruins over the years but he is often injured and will miss time every season. He’s a shut down defenseman when healthy and plays well in his own zone. Miller is due 2.5 million for the upcoming season. Miller is also coming back from injury so his value isn’t high but the Bruins really just need cap space so all they need in return is a pick. Miller creates 10.5 million in cap space for the Bruins.
Another idea that’s been floated around by people who claim to know hockey would be to trade one of Bergeron, Krejci or Rask. These are all in their own way idiotic. Bergeron is one of the best centers in the game and is on a very friendly deal, he runs your top line all while shutting down the oppositions, you can’t ask for much more than that. Oh and he also has put up at least 50 points in each of the last six seasons. Krejci has been a great playmaker his entire career with the Bruins and is coming off his best season with 73 points. He had a revolving door of wingers on his line and he still put up a phenomenal season, shipping him off would be a mistake and would cripple your second line scoring. Lastly, clamoring to trade Rask is utter insanity. He’s one of the best goalies in the league and Bruins do not have someone who could step in and start. Halak had a good year but his history has shown that he can’t be a starter in the latter half of his career. These ideas are wild and Bruins fans should know better than to blow up your core for no reason, especially when you are still a Cup contender.
The Bruins will have to get crafty to make their cap space work and hopefully Sweeney is able to move out some salary or sign some friendly deals with his RFA’s. The summer is moving fast and the Bruins need to get moving on their contracts and sort everything out by the time we get to training camp.
-Tyler Smith (@TylerSmith4386)