Bruins Free Agency Rumors and News

TheRealness · Jun 27, 2016

That's shocking if there's any truth to it. I would have expected Detroit to be ahead of the Bruins. I suppose it can make some sense for Stamkos. The Bruins are ahead of Toronto in terms of talent, and also have solid talent in the pipeline. They also have Bergeron and Krejci, so they have veteran talent up front. I could also see Tampa offering him less, as their run to the ECF showed they could win without him.

I'm for it, even at $10m per. I still don't see it happening though. I would be shocked if he chose Boston.

TFP · Jun 27, 2016

If the Bruins can trade Krejci and bring in Stamkos, sign me up. It'll likely be about a $2m addition to the cap, and I think Stamkos is absolutely worth that over Krejci.

Big "if" statement there though.

cshea · Jun 27, 2016

Toews/Kane are at $10.5 million AAV, so I think Stamkos would come in around $10-$11 million AAV. The Bruins (surprisingly) have the 5th most cap space available. They have $21.6 million in space at the moment with Krug as the only real pricey RFA to sign. Cap space wouldn't be an issue in this hypothetical. Signing Stamkos would likely free them up to move Krejci.

I don't see it happening, but I guess when you look at the rumored top suitors, the Bruins don't look all that bad. Toronto and Buffalo are both basically the same team. Close to his home, rebuilding teams that may take 2-3 years to truly contend. Detroit seems to be in a similar situation as the B's. Shaky on the back end, some aging vets, and intriguing young kids. I don't think they are any more or less of a contender than the B's are. Ditto NYR, but NYR has the most cap problems of any of the team's.

I think he ultimately stays in Tampa, that seems like the best situation for him. Fun to think about Stamkos in Boston though.

The realistic Bruins targets are probably Okposo and Jason Demers.

PedroSpecialK · Jun 27, 2016

Yeah if he is open to anything at $11m or under, you have to pull the trigger. Guys like him just don't hit free agency.

The B's would likely have to retain some salary to move Krejci for value, and with his hip being an issue you'd likely have to kick that can down the road for at least a year. That would likely mean you'd have to go budget on the blue line again, then expose Rask in the expansion draft to get some breathing room.

Assuming $5m for Krug, a Seidenberg buyout, near-QO salaries for Ferraro/Connolly, and the following lineup, the Bruins would have $11.6m in cap room to sign Stamkos - albeit with a ghastly blue line that would require some trimming up front to help.

Vatrano - Stamkos - Pastrnak
Marchand - Bergeron - Heinen
Beleskey - Spooner - Hayes
Ferraro - Acciari - Connolly
(Krejci on IR)

Chara - C Miller
Krug - K Miller
Morrow - McQuaid

Rask
Subban

Murby · Jun 27, 2016

I doubt you can get someone to take Krejci with his hip issues. However, would it be sensible to sell high on Marchand to get D help and sign Stamkos to replace? Re-signing Marchand will cost $7m/per? and he's two years older than Stamkos. Marchand had a career year. I doubt he can repeat that.

Edit: Grammar.

DJnVa · Jun 27, 2016

RedOctober3829 said:
Would your hypothetical team be that much better than last year even with Stamkos? Same back end issues. That's why I can't see it happening.

If you are trading someone (Marchand or Krejci) the assumption is you would be bringing in help for the back end no?

The B’s Knees · Jun 27, 2016

While I think the odds of the B's landing Stamkos are very low, I don't think they'd have much problem unloading Krejci for fair market value.
Mike Babcock has asked his young centers like William Nylander to watch videos and model their play after him.

Toe Nash · Jun 27, 2016

Krejci is the worst remaining contract on the Bruins and clearing the space while he still has some value would be my priority even if you got very little back. If you can sign Stamkos, all the better.

Marchand's SH% wasn't out of line with his career -- he just had 70 more shots than he's ever had (with more ice time). They didn't even play him on the PP much until halfway through the year (he was 6th in PP TOI among forwards). I don't see a reason he can't repeat (or come close to repeating) 2015-16 for another 2 or 3 seasons.

burstnbloom · Jun 27, 2016

I'm all in on this if they can convince him. From a team building perspective, it would certainly take some maneuvering to have everything make sense but they could legitimately even go into next season with three highly paid centers and make it work. They probably need to move Krejci eventually to be able to spend the requisite amount on the back end, but the matchups they could create with either Stamkos or Krejci playing against another team's 3rd pair is very exciting.

I don't think there is any really credible chance that this happens though, unfortunately. I think they give money to Okposo and Demers like chsea.

TSC · Jun 27, 2016

Toe Nash said:
Krejci is the worst remaining contract on the Bruins and clearing the space while he still has some value would be my priority even if you got very little back. If you can sign Stamkos, all the better.

Marchand's SH% wasn't out of line with his career -- he just had 70 more shots than he's ever had (with more ice time). They didn't even play him on the PP much until halfway through the year (he was 6th in PP TOI among forwards). I don't see a reason he can't repeat (or come close to repeating) 2015-16 for another 2 or 3 seasons.

Um. What?

Seidenberg, Chara, Millar, and McQuaid would all like to avoid eye contact with you.

Toe Nash · Jun 27, 2016

TheShynessClinic said:
Um. What?

Seidenberg, Chara, Millar, and McQuaid would all like to avoid eye contact with you.

Reasonable minds may differ, but my thinking is none of those deals are that long. They're out of the Chara and Seidenberg deals in two more seasons, and as bad as the McQuaid / Miller deals are they're a pretty manageable cap hit.

People overvalue Krejci here. He's getting older and seems to get injured every year. He still has 5 years left on his deal. Right now it's palatable but there's a ton of risk that he falls off a cliff and those last two-three years are bad production for $7.25m. He's the 17th-highest paid forward in the league.

TSC · Jun 27, 2016

His contract is done at the end of his aged 34/35 season. That's not young - but for a player who relies on his intelligence and creativity - he's not someone you expect to age terribly.

He's only had one season where he missed significant time due to injury (2014-2015), and he averages over 64 points per 82 game season.

Also - the team has slumped terribly every time he's been out of the line-up, or slumped as well. The Bruins offense for the last 5 or 6 years completely revolves around him. When Krejci is going well - the Bruins follow.

Manageable cap hit or not, when Seidenberg or Millar are on the ice - the Bruins are actively a worse team. Calling Krejci's contract one of the worst on the Bruins is ridiculous. He's not even in the top 10 of problems on this team.

FL4WL3SS · Jun 27, 2016

I do agree that Krejci is probably overpaid right now and probably a bit overvalued, but he also does not get enough credit for his overall contribution to the team like Bergeron does. Krejci was second to Begeron for short-handed TOI.

He's the poor-man's Bergeron getting paid like a better Bergeron.

Just for some useful information:

Over the last 5 seasons, Krejci is 21st in points and 53rd in games played among all players (Bergeron 14th/13th)
Over the last 3 seasons, Krejci is 50th in points and 101st in games played among all players (Bergeron 14th/10th)

His trend is definitely in the wrong direction and I have come around to the idea that they should probably explore trading him sooner than later.

FL4WL3SS · Jun 27, 2016

Also, unless you want to torture yourself, don't look at the list of top point scorers over the last 3 years. It's full of former Bruins.

TFP · Jun 27, 2016

FL4WL3SS said:
I do agree that Krejci is probably overpaid right now and probably a bit overvalued, but he also does not get enough credit for his overall contribution to the team like Bergeron does. Krejci was second to Begeron for short-handed TOI.

He's the poor-man's Bergeron getting paid like a better Bergeron.

Just for some useful information:

Over the last 5 seasons, Krejci is 21st in points and 53rd in games played among all players (Bergeron 14th/13th)

Over the last 3 seasons, Krejci is 50th in points and 101st in games played among all players (Bergeron 14th/10th)

His trend is definitely in the wrong direction and I have come around to the idea that they should probably explore trading him sooner than later.

This just reminds me how much of a fucking steal Bergeron's contract is.

PedroSpecialK · Jun 27, 2016

No qualifying offer for Connolly or Ferraro

Figure they'll bring Connolly back below his QO (his minimum offer would have been $1,127,500) and hopefully Ferraro on a multi-year deal... that's my hope, at least. At $660,000 he'd have been a no-brainer for me.

veritas · Jun 27, 2016

Chara's cap hit is $6.9 this year, and $4 next year. I know he's declined a lot in the past few years but he's still a top pair defenseman (which really goes to show how great he was in his prime). He'd get more than that on the open market. So would Miller. The same could not be said for Krejci or Seidenberg, which is why I would call one of them the worst contract on the team. A 100% healthy Krejci would be a completely different story though

cshea · Jun 27, 2016

Current RW depth chart:

Pastrnak
Hayes
Griffith?
Ferlin?

PedroSpecialK · Jun 27, 2016

Senyshyn's gotta be on there at this point.

cshea · Jun 28, 2016

TheRealness · Jun 28, 2016

cshea said:
UGH!

His compete level is a 10. Let's give him 4 years and $10m. One million for each compete level. Also, I think he's dating Boomer Esiason's daughter, so they may have to offer him an ownership interest in the team.

TeddyBallgame'sDirtbagSon · Jun 28, 2016

Haggs n murph saying the Bs are offer sheeting Trouba at the 4 1st rounder level

TFP · Jun 28, 2016

Fuck, now there's no chance we get Trouba.

kenneycb · Jun 28, 2016

That would be at about $9.1 million, making Trouba the highest paid dman in the game, slightly above PK Subban. That is dumb.

Edit: Dumb on the reporter side. Use some common sense.

TFP · Jun 28, 2016

It's Haggs and Murph guys. Let's not kill Sweeney for their rumors.

Ed Hillel · Jun 28, 2016

kenneycb said:
That would be at about $9.1 million, making Trouba the highest paid dman in the game, slightly above PK Subban. That is dumb.

Edit: Dumb on the reporter side. Use some common sense.

Using common sense is dangerous, we're talking about Don Sweeney here.

j44thor · Jun 28, 2016

They are going to offer Trouba over 9.33M per year? That doesn't sound like a wise move at all.

cshea · Jun 28, 2016

Friggin Hags and Murph creating a shit storm. FWIW, the RFA compensation is determined by taking the total money divided by the term of the contract or 5, whichever is lower. So theoretically they could do something like 7/$49 million. Cap hit 7, RFA compensation above $9.1 or whatever that top level is. The stooges did their homework on that before floating this one.

They aren't giving up 4 picks.

TeddyBallgame'sDirtbagSon · Jun 28, 2016

If they offer a longer term than 5 years then the AAV can be lower than that. Still, the 4 firsts would be way too expensive.

Titoschew · Jun 28, 2016

The Four Peters said:
It's Haggs and Murph guys. Let's not kill Sweeney for their rumors.

Come on! Dirty Water Sports! Credibility!

cshea · Jun 28, 2016

TeddyBallgame'sDirtbagSon said:
If they offer a longer term than 5 years then the AAV can be lower than that. Still, the 4 firsts would be way too expensive.

Yeah and once you start lowering the AAV, it become easier for the Jets to match. The Jets sit back and happily let you negotiate the contract for them.

BigMike · Jun 28, 2016

j44thor said:
They are going to offer Trouba over 9.33M per year? That doesn't sound like a wise move at all.

Well to be fair a 7 year 7 million dollar contract would trigger the Max compensation level, as the NHL has decided that for offer sheets they will consider the AAV for any contract over 5 years to be the total cost divided by 5 years

Hopefully Sweeney is playing games with Winnipeg. And the threat of offersheet brings the sides together. 2 #1's, a prospect and one of the Bruins D men (Morrow, Chiller, etc)

TFP · Jun 28, 2016

Who would trade a top pairing RFA defenseman for less than the compensation amounts at the threat of an offer sheet?

Oh wait.

jk333 · Jun 29, 2016

They're reporting the Trouba rumor on 98.5 now, the next couple days will be interesting.

On one hand it emphasizes how bad the Hamilton trade was but that's done and if they're trying to build for now AND the future, this would provide a chance to compete in the next 2-4 years while Bergeron is still elite. Currently, they're wasting that window with such bad D. Even signing Stamkos wouldn't do as much as a Trouba or Jones would for them.

Plus, they'd be losing a ton of 1st round picks but have brought in 5 first round picks in the past two years. If you really want to talk yourself into it, they may be able to even get some of their BPAs in the second round, like Trent Frederic this year. How good is Trouba right now and does he have #1 upside? He seems to be more of their type of player than Hamilton.

Despite the above, you have to assume there's a better way to improve the D than using 4 first round picks to pay 7M a year for a player who still has to develop some.

BigMike · Jun 29, 2016

It is interesting that of the big 3 Lindholm, Jones, Trouba RFA's. They seem to be targeting Trouba, who in theory is the least developed, maybe least upside player from the bunch. I know there were rumors at one point that Trouba wanted out of Winnipeg, and that might be a factor.

lexrageorge · Jun 29, 2016

Trouba would be a pretty significant upgrade for them. He's only 21, and I don't agree that he's the one with the "least upside" either. Then again, I also don't believe the Bruins will give up 4 first round picks for him, but who really knows at this point.

cshea · Jun 29, 2016

I'd prefer Seth Jones if they do indeed go the offer sheet route. CBJ has said they'll match, but they have absolutely no cap space.

cshea · Jun 29, 2016

The buyout window closes tomorrow, so if the Bruins intend on buying anyone out (cough*Seidenberg*cough) they'd have to be on waivers at noon today.

TFP · Jun 29, 2016

I'm against buying out Seidenberg. It sounds attractive now, but carrying that cap hit for years just doesn't appeal to me. It makes way more sense to trade him and eat some salary if possible. DJ Bean had a good article against buying him out, let me see if I can find it.

Smiling Joe Hesketh · Jun 29, 2016

I thought that Seids has a NMC/NTC. Am I wrong again?

McDrew · Jun 29, 2016

He has a no trade. Does not have a no move.

Smiling Joe Hesketh · Jun 29, 2016

What is the functional difference between the two?

TFP · Jun 29, 2016

NMC means they can't be optioned to the AHL, can't be exposed in the expansion draft, etc. Not a huge difference, but it's there.

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