233 replies to this topic

[Toe Nash]

I know it's not the offseason yet, but thinking about next year always helps me get through a tough loss. And the Bruins' future is bright.

I invite PSK to post his salary numbers and correct any mistakes I've made, but this looks like our team right now:


Marchand – Bergeron – Seguin
Lucic – Krejci – Horton
Pouliot (RFA) – Peverley – Caron
XX – XX – Thornton

Chara – Boychuk
Seidenberg – Hamilton
Ference – McQuaid
Krug

Thomas
Rask (RFA)

These guys are UFA:
Rolston
Kelly
Campbell
Paille
Corvo
Zanon

Here's what I'd do:
- Strongly explore trading Thomas. Rask is clearly ready, Thomas is old, was good but inconsistent last year, and may have value to a loser of the Luongo sweepstakes.
-I'd like to keep Kelly, but I think he'll get too pricey a deal. I see no reason to break up the 4th line so I think Campbell and Paille will be back. Rolston helped, but he's gone, obviously.
-Not sure of the market for Pouliot, but at the right price I'd keep him around. Add a forward as depth for Horton, I suppose, though no one can really replace when he adds when healthy.
-Hamilton seems like a natural replacement for Corvo assuming he's "ready."

Beyond that I don't think you need to do much. If you can't deal Thomas, oh well, you have a great goaltending tandem again. You'll likely improve from Corvo to Hamilton and Seguin should get better. Beyond that you hope for health at the right time.

Edited by The Napkin, 26 April 2012 - 10:51 AM.
(changed Kampfer to Krug for ease of reference)

[FL4WL3SS]

Kampfer is no longer property of the Bruins - you're thinking of Krug.

Easy mistake to make since they're pretty much the same player.

[kenneycb]

I could honestly care less if Paille is back. He's a nice player and seems like a good guy but he is pretty much the definition of fungible. Even more so with a few of the guys that are in the pipeline.

[The Four Peters]

Wow, I had no idea Pouliot was an RFA, I figured he would be a UFA for sure. In that case, I think he definitely ends up coming back next year. I'd love to see Spooner and Knight make a push for the roster, although I'd be surprised if they actually ended up on the team out of camp.

[FL4WL3SS]

Also, I think it's important to put RFA in bold letters next to Rask - we all think Thomas is the one to go, but it really might be Rask.

I think they need to capitalize on one of those two assets this offseason. Ideally I'd like it to be Thomas, but if we go into next season with Thomas/Khudobin with an eye towards Khudobin getting the job in 2013, then I'd be ok with that as well (given Khudobin proves he can play next season).

[The Four Peters]

I would be stunned if Rask isn't re-signed. You're right that it's not a slam dunk, but I just don't see Chiarelli looking to move him at all, especially when he has the leverage to re-sign him at a team friendly price.

[FL4WL3SS]

I agree 100%, but Thomas is the one with the contract at this point, Rask is not. I wouldn't be surprised by either outcome is really what I'm getting at.

[jsinger121]

Thomas should be a lot easier to trade come July 1st when his NMC expires and his 1 year left on his contract. I think they look long and hard to move him. I think really the only way he would have been a lock to stay is if he led the Bruins to back to back cups but now that is out the window.

[Haunted]

Another thing to do is figure out the Horton situation. Will he be ready for the start (or any of) the season? If not that's a pretty big spot to fill.

[The Napkin]

I'd be shocked if Hamilton isn't on the team next year. I'm not sure it's even a discussion at this point.

I think Timmy is going to be moved for draft picks/youth. I also think it's probably a bad move for next year but a good move for years 2 out and that outweighs that bad for next year.

I think they try to bring back Pouliot and one of Kelly/Campbell. I think Knight/Spooner make a push for the last roster spot.

[bsj]

This team needs firepower on the power play. I love Thomas, but that $5 million can go a long way towards helping that situation.

[TheShynessClinic]

I'd love to see Kelly and Pouliot back.

Last play of the season aside, Balls had a tremendous playoffs and appears on the verge of breaking out.

Kelly is awesome. Responsible in all 3 zones, can put the puck in the net, excellent on the PK, if he's not looking to break the bank I think Chia needs to make him a priority.

I hate to say it, but I just don't see Chia trading Thomas. I don't think the return would be able to justify the PR hit he would take (let's be honest, to "normal" Bruins fan, Thomas is a favorite).

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

For little moves, I'd like to see...

• Trade offers considered for Thomas
• Rask extended
• Kelly resigned

The big piece I want? Zach Parise please. We've heard the link to the Bruins for years, and he's a great fit. He can score on the PP--and with Dougie up next year that's two big pieces towards the PP puzzle--and he can take the ice shorthanded.

Lucic - Krejci - Horton
Parise - Bergeron - Seguin
Marchand - Peverley - Caron
Campbell/Paille - Kelly - Thornton

Chara - Boychuck
Seidenberg - Hamilton
Ferrence - McQuaid

Rask - Khudobin

That is a stacked team,and one they can afford. They'll have 6 guys who have previously/have the potential to hit 30+ goals (Parise, Bergeron, Horton, Lucic, Seguin, Marchand), a deep bottom 6 rotation, and some real offensive potential on D with Dougie coming up (just read his thread and the corresponding links...holy shit he's been sick, huh?)

That's the team I want to see going into next year.

[Toe Nash]

Kampfer is no longer property of the Bruins - you're thinking of Krug.

Easy mistake to make since they're pretty much the same player.

Whoops, yeah, forgot about that.

I guess I could be convinced to trade Rask if Khudobin has a strong year, but I think going from Thomas / Rask to Khudobin / ??? in the span of two years would add a ton of uncertainty. It could work out, but the team basically hasn't had to worry about goaltending for years as we've always had a 1 and 1A and we don't know how lucky we've had it. I'd be much happier with Rask / Khudobin. And there's not a lot of holes elsewhere on the roster that you'd want to trade Rask to fill -- even if you just got a solid player and picks for Thomas it's probably a better move.

[cshea]

I'd love to bring Kelly back, but I think he's gone. The fact that he is unsigned today, after the B's produced an offer around the deadline, leads me to believe he's hitting the open market on 7/1. Given his playoff performance the past 2 years, and his career year offensively, there will be a team that will vastly overpay for him. Given some of the contracts handed out a year ago, it would not surprise me to see him get $3.5-$4 million on 7/1. That is too much for the B's.

[RedOctober3829]

According to HockeyBuzz.com, here are the salary figures for the players that are back next year and the years left on their deals. Restricted Free Agents are not included in these figures as we do not know their 2012-13 cap hit yet. I'm not positive if the cap hits for Hamilton, Knight, and Spooner are already counted against the cap.

Forwards
Patrice Bergeron: $5 million(2 years left. UFA in 2014)
Milan Lucic: $4.083 million(RFA in 2013)
Nathan Horton: $4 million (UFA in 2013)
David Krejci: $5.25 million(UFA in 2015)
Tyler Seguin: $3.55 million(RFA in 2013)
Brad Marchand: $2.5 million(RFA in 2013)
Jordan Caron: $1.1 million(RFA in 2013)
Shawn Thornton: $1.1 million(UFA in 2014)

Defense
Zdeno Chara: $6.919,667 million(UFA in 2018)
Dennis Seidenberg: $3.25 million(UFA in 2014)
Andrew Ference: $2.25 million(UFA in 2013)
Johnny Boychuck: $3,366,667 million(UFA in 2016)
Adam McQuaid: $1.566 million(UFA in 2016)

Goalies
Tim Thomas $5 million(UFA in 2013)

Buyout
Patrick Eaves: $258,333

Right now, the total salary cap figure is $44,708,333 with the salary cap threshold around $64 million.
RFA's
Rask
Pouliot

Potential Callups
Dougie Hamilton: $1.525 million
Jared Knight: $723,333
Ryan Spooner: $723,333
Anton Khoudobin: $875,000

http://www.hockeybuz...am.php?team=BOS

Edited by RedOctober3829, 26 April 2012 - 12:13 PM.

[BrazilianSoxFan]

No love for Mike Mottau? He seemed to play well this last two games and might be nice depth available on the cheap.

[FL4WL3SS]

Last play of the season aside, Balls had a tremendous playoffs and appears on the verge of breaking out.

Dudes been in the league pretty much full time for 4 years and I"m sure someone has said this about him for each of the last 4. It'll be amusing when someone else says this at the end of next season.

Nothing about his puck handling and awareness make me believe he's on the verge of breaking out. The guy flat out needs to learn how to use his speed and until he does that, he's not going to break out. He is what he is at this point, unfortunately.

[j44thor]

Right now, the total salary cap figure is $44,708,333 with the salary cap threshold of $49,194,667. That leaves the Bruins with a total of $4,486,334 to play with at this point.

http://www.hockeybuz...am.php?team=BOS

Salary cap this past season was 64.3M, no idea where you are coming up with 49M. Not sure if it will increase or decrease but using 64M is probably a safe #. Also you don't have Savard listed but he still counts towards the B's cap.

[teddykgb]

Are they really only going to have 5 million to play with? The Parise dream is vanishing just as it started to emerge.

edit: per the above post, back on!

Edited by teddykgb, 26 April 2012 - 12:09 PM.

[cshea]

Dudes been in the league pretty much full time for 4 years and I"m sure someone has said this about him for each of the last 4. It'll be amusing when someone else says this at the end of next season.

Nothing about his puck handling and awareness make me believe he's on the verge of breaking out. The guy flat out needs to learn how to use his speed and until he does that, he's not going to break out. He is what he is at this point, unfortunately.

I agree, but I think he's an easy guy to bring back. He's got size, speed and skill. He'll chip in 17-20 goals on the 3rd line and he's versatile enough that you can move him onto the PP or the top 6 if someone gets hurt.

He made $1.1 million last year, and nothing in his play warrants a huge raise. No harm is going year-to-year with him, if one of the kids beats him out in training camp, you can just cut him.

Edit: Also, capgeek.com is a much more detailed and reliable source for salary information than hockey buzz.

Edited by cshea, 26 April 2012 - 12:14 PM.

[RedOctober3829]

Salary cap this past season was 64.3M, no idea where you are coming up with 49M. Not sure if it will increase or decrease but using 64M is probably a safe #. Also you don't have Savard listed but he still counts towards the B's cap.

Yes, I was very skeptical of that figure that HockeyBuzz listed as the Salary Cap Payroll because for this year they had $64.6.

[j44thor]

Are they really only going to have 5 million to play with? The Parise dream is vanishing just as it started to emerge.

edit: per the above post, back on!

Capgeek has them at 59M for 18 players leaving 5.2M plus Savards 4M. Still they would need to move Thomas to have a shot at Parise.

http://capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=5

[Carmine Hose]

Wacky flawed mixup

Trade Krejci's 5.25 to LAK for Jonathan Bernier
Sign Parise at 7.25 AAV over 4-5 (Not really going to happen unless he feels DET is too old to turn it around)
Trade Thimas' 5.00 to FLA for RFA rights to Dmitry Kulikov, sign for 2.50 AAV
Kelly leaves when he gets more than 3.00 AAV (just under Peverley)
Re-sign Pouliot at 1.50 AAV
Re-sign Campbell at 1.25 AAV

Lucic - Parise - Horton
Marchand - Bergeron - Peverley
Caron - Seguin - Knight
Pouliot- Campbell - Thornton

Chara - Boychuck
Seidenberg - Kulikov
Ference - McQuaid

Rask - Bernier

[TheShynessClinic]

Dudes been in the league pretty much full time for 4 years and I"m sure someone has said this about him for each of the last 4. It'll be amusing when someone else says this at the end of next season.

Nothing about his puck handling and awareness make me believe he's on the verge of breaking out. The guy flat out needs to learn how to use his speed and until he does that, he's not going to break out. He is what he is at this point, unfortunately.

Um, this is really only his second full season in the NHL.

In 08-09 he played in 37 games.
In 09-10 he only played 53 games, for two teams.
In 10-11 he played in 79 games.
This year he played in 74.

[j44thor]

Knight and Spooner can both play in the AHL next season correct? Ideally they would be the first recalls in the event of injury if so. One weakness this team had during the reg season was zero warm bodies in AHL. If we can stash Knight/Spooner and Krug that would go a long way towards providing depth when the inevitable injury bug hits.

[FL4WL3SS]

Um, this is really only his second full season in the NHL.

In 08-09 he played in 37 games.
In 09-10 he only played 53 games, for two teams.
In 10-11 he played in 79 games.
This year he played in 74.

Wrong - he was givin a chance in 08-09 until he sucked and was sent down for the rest of the year, it counts. In 09-10 he played a ton of games, regardless if it was for 2 teams and even played in 18 playoff games for Montreal that season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't bring him back, I like the guy and his energy, but I don't see what about his play makes you think he's going to break out.

Edited by FL4WL3SS, 26 April 2012 - 12:20 PM.

[TheShynessClinic]

Wrong - he was givin a chance in 08-09 until he sucked and was sent down for the rest of the year, it counts. In 09-10 he played a ton of games, regardless if it was for 2 teams and even played in 18 playoff games for Montreal that season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't bring him back, I like the guy and his energy, but I don't see what about his play makes you think he's going to break out.

How does 37 games translate to "He's been in the league pretty much full time."

I never said he was good in those years, I'm just saying that 37 and 54 games does not constitute being in the league full time.

[PedroSpecialK]

It was all a dream, our 2nd round opponent is Semantics

[FL4WL3SS]

How does 37 games translate to "He's been in the league pretty much full time."

I never said he was good in those years, I'm just saying that 37 and 54 games does not constitute being in the league full time.

And I said 'pretty much' you're nitpicking here and distracting from my larger point. In 08-09 he was givin a full-time roster spot after having a few years where he had cups of coffee and he couldnt' perform, so they sent him down, so yes I consider that full-time. They gave him full-time minutes. Also 53 games is huge chunk of the season -- if you're dismissing him as a part-time player because of this number, then you're just trying to be difficult.

[smastroyin]

I think until the Thomas/Rask question is answered, it's hard to even figure anything else out.

I will be honest, even if they trade Thomas for picks (no cap hit) and manage to resign Rask for a marginal raise and have a ton of room under the cap, I'm not sure they go for Parise. If they could pull a one or two year rental thing with him then maybe, but all those contracts coming up in 2013 are scary in terms of locking up a high salary guy like Parise will be. I also think that if they were to sign Parise it would be the end of Kelly and we would likely see Seguin get his shot at C, at least to start the year. Maybe a speed line with Peverly, Seguin, and Balls.

[j44thor]

Parise would be one of the top 2 FW on the team if he were to sign so I have no problem giving him good $$. Horton and his 4M will be gone after this season freeing up some $$ for resigns and honestly I don't see Lucic getting a raise from his current 4M unless he has a big year this season.
Marchand will likely join the 4M club but still isn't going to break the bank. Even Seguin won't be getting much more than his current rookie max cap hit when you consider what Stamkos got on his 2nd contract. I don't think anyone would argue that Stamkos was on another level than Seguin at this point in his career.

Parise is just the type of player this team needs and as long as he isn't looking for a max type contract the B's should be in good position to bring him in. Especially considering they can backfill the roster with cheap alternatives next year if need be.

Just about the entire D is locked up for the next 2 seasons so they are in excellent shape there.

[Lose Remerswaal]

No love for Marty Turco?

[timlinin8th]

all those contracts coming up in 2013 are scary in terms of locking up a high salary guy like Parise will be. I also think that if they were to sign Parise it would be the end of Kelly and we would likely see Seguin get his shot at C, at least to start the year.

While I get your point, given the questionmarks to Horton, he's gone unless he really leaves zero doubt next season. And while I'm not onboard the Lucic hatewagon, if hes the barrier between getting a Parise caliber player, you let him go, especially if he's going to look for more money. 4 mil is probably what he's worth, if he's looking for more, sayonara. Especially with Spooner and Knight looking to break through to the big club eventually, going to need roster space...

Long story short, a lot of stuff coming soon, even with a lot of guys locked up...

[TheRealness]

Knight and Spooner can both play in the AHL next season correct? Ideally they would be the first recalls in the event of injury if so. One weakness this team had during the reg season was zero warm bodies in AHL. If we can stash Knight/Spooner and Krug that would go a long way towards providing depth when the inevitable injury bug hits.

Spooner, yes, but I think Knight has one more year before he is AHL eligible. Someone feel free to correct me though.

[Manzivino]

Spooner, yes, but I think Knight has one more year before he is AHL eligible. Someone feel free to correct me though.

They're both eligible next year, both will have played 4 years of junior.

[FelixMantilla]

Knight was born January 16, 1992. That makes his 20 and eligible for the AHL.

[cshea]

Well the media shit storm around Thomas has already begun. Apparently he used "they" in reference to his teamates during his post game interviews last night. He also may or may not have stepped on the B in the dressing room. And away we go. DJ Bean and Haggs are battling it out on twitter.

[TheRealness]

Knight was born January 16, 1992. That makes his 20 and eligible for the AHL.

They're both eligible next year, both will have played 4 years of junior.

Excellent.

[Greg29fan]

Keep in mind that a lot of team's offseason plans are going to be affected by the fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in September. I know from the Penguins standpoint, Crosby and Staal have contracts that expire after next season but they don't know what progress they will be able to make on signing them with the labor uncertainty.

[Haunted]

Well the media shit storm around Thomas has already begun. Apparently he used "they" in reference to his teamates during his post game interviews last night. He also may or may not have stepped on the B in the dressing room. And away we go. DJ Bean and Haggs are battling it out on twitter.

So this is when the "kick a guy on his way out" thing starts for Thimas?

[BigMike]

Knight and Spooner can both play in the AHL next season correct? Ideally they would be the first recalls in the event of injury if so. One weakness this team had during the reg season was zero warm bodies in AHL. If we can stash Knight/Spooner and Krug that would go a long way towards providing depth when the inevitable injury bug hits.

I want them both in Providence to start the year; although hopefully with a whole new coaching stafff that never even met the old guys.

I want depth, which means start the year with 12 NHL caliber forwards, (Caron being 1 I guess), Plus maybe a Sauve or next year's Pouliot to push for the 13th spot.

Then if you have guys like Spooner, Knight, maybe Sauve, Arniel, and a few others down there, you might have potential to bring up someone who can really contribute to the team in times of injuries, instead of just recalling trent Whitfield.

If you start with Spooner and Knight in the NHL, then suddenly the cupboard is going to be pretty bare at Providence, and worse, come trade deadline time when Management decides it can't win in the postseason with 2-3 rookies in the lineup, suddenly you are forced to make deals for next years Rollston surrending prospects.

[jsinger121]

I want them both in Providence to start the year; although hopefully with a whole new coaching stafff that never even met the old guys.

I want depth, which means start the year with 12 NHL caliber forwards, (Caron being 1 I guess), Plus maybe a Sauve or next year's Pouliot to push for the 13th spot.

Then if you have guys like Spooner, Knight, maybe Sauve, Arniel, and a few others down there, you might have potential to bring up someone who can really contribute to the team in times of injuries, instead of just recalling trent Whitfield.

If you start with Spooner and Knight in the NHL, then suddenly the cupboard is going to be pretty bare at Providence, and worse, come trade deadline time when Management decides it can't win in the postseason with 2-3 rookies in the lineup, suddenly you are forced to make deals for next years Rollston surrending prospects.

Though if one of Spooner or Knight shows they are ready for the primetime I want them in Boston and weeding in the wings in Providence.

[AMcGhie]

Could we conceivably trade Thomas for Parise's rights, with the condition that we only make the trade if Parise agrees to sign? Clears our cap room, gets us who we need, and NJ gets something back instead of just letting Parise walk

[BigMike]

Though if one of Spooner or Knight shows they are ready for the primetime I want them in Boston and weeding in the wings in Providence.

If we start camp with 12 proven NHL forwards, and Spooner/Knight come in and take the job away from one of them, then yeah they deserve o be on the team.

I just dont want a scenario where we go to camp with 9-10 NHL fowards and the hope that 3 of the 5-7 viable kids will just get the remaining spots

[BigMike]

- Strongly explore trading Thomas. Rask is clearly ready, Thomas is old, was good but inconsistent last year, and may have value to a loser of the Luongo sweepstakes.

I believe that in many place Thomas is more valuable than Luongo. Luongo's contract is just crippling. Basically another decade at over 5 million a year every year. A team would have to be nuts to touch that; although I certainly could see Toronto being that team. luongo has already seemed to drop to only pretty good status, and I suspect he'll be a bottom 3rd of the league goalie by season 4.

Thomas gives you a chance to go for the cup next year, and maybe 2-3 years after that if next year works out. Best of both worlds

No love for Mike Mottau? He seemed to play well this last two games and might be nice depth available on the cheap.

I think Mottau as the #7 defenseman is a fine idea. Pay him NHL minimum, and let him sit in the press box. Hamilton competes with the Providence gang (Krug, Miller, Cross, Wasofsky, etc) for a sport on the roster. Most likely Dougie wins that spot and plays 65-70 games in the NHL next year. If Krug is ready and Dougie is not, maybe Krug fills that role. But I don't want 2 kids playin gthe 6th and 7th role. I think having a kid sit in the pressbox for a game here and there is a learning experience. I think a kid sitting in the pressbox for weeks at a time never getting any game action is career detrimental. I think they hurt the development of Kampfer with the way he was used now I am fairly sure it didn't matter and he was never going to be much more than he is, but for a guy who is a real prospect I think using him that way is a huge mistake

[NHbeau]

So this is when the "kick a guy on his way out" thing starts for Thimas?

Next we will hear about painkillers and infidelity.

[Jed Zeppelin]

If we start camp with 12 proven NHL forwards, and Spooner/Knight come in and take the job away from one of them, then yeah they deserve o be on the team.

I just dont want a scenario where we go to camp with 9-10 NHL fowards and the hope that 3 of the 5-7 viable kids will just get the remaining spots

I'm pretty confident Chia won't reserve any spots for them.

I think Hamilton is roughly where Seguin was at after he was drafted: maybe not perfectly NHL-ready but simply too dominant to be left in the O for another year. Also, sheltering a D prospect in Boston should prove a lot easier than sheltering a top FW prospect was. Seguin was stuck on the bottom-6 and had below average offensive players with him all the time, but it was somewhat necessary for his development as a three zone player and hard worker. Hamilton could likewise see limited minutes for awhile, but there's a great chance those minutes come on the PP and with either Chara or Seidenberg as his partner.

[Manzivino]

Keep in mind that a lot of team's offseason plans are going to be affected by the fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in September. I know from the Penguins standpoint, Crosby and Staal have contracts that expire after next season but they don't know what progress they will be able to make on signing them with the labor uncertainty.

That's an excellent point, and why I really don't expect the Bruins to sign any big money free agents this offseason. Personally, I would make the following assumptions:

• No big name free agents
• Nathan Horton never plays another game as a top 6 wing -- I'm not predicting this will happen, but you can't count on him coming back at 100% so I would operate under that premise and if he recovers fully its a bonus.
• Seguin stays at wing unless he figures out how to win a faceoff over the summer

With that in mind, I would do the following:

• Expect the CBA negotiations to go quietly and smoothly with a happy resolution for everybody.
• 
• Let Kelly, Corvo, Rolston, Zanon, Paille walk. Kelly is the only one I'm hesitant to lose because he's so solid in all 3 zones and killing penalties, but he turns 33 next year and somebody's going to overpay him based on a 20-goal plateau that I don't think he'll ever reach again.
• Re-sign Campbell - perfect 4th line center for this team, should still come pretty cheap. (~1.5MM)
• Re-sign Pouliot - he's an RFA who had a solid but unspectacular season, should come cheap (~1.35 MM)
• Re-sign Tuukka and hand over the reins. Should be able to get him to sign a relatively team friendly deal given he's an RFA coming off an injury (~3MM).
• Plan on Hamilton as the 6th D. I expect him to struggle defensively adjusting to the NHL but his offensive gifts should translate more easily, he'll help the PP immensely, and sending him back to junior for another year would be a waste of his time.
• Pencil Caron into full time duty. He showed the last month of the season he can be a top 9 forward for this team, and he can replace Kelly on the PK. Caron and Balls bounce between the third and fourth lines.
• Open competition in training camp for the 13th forward spot among the rookies (Arniel, Sauve, Knight, Spooner, MacDermid, and hell, Cunningham, Camper, Randell, Florek, and whoever else shows up). A la Marchand and Caron, I like to break guys in on the 4th line so they get used to the speed of the NHL with very little expected of them. If they are exceptional you can always slide Caron down to the 4th line and Balls to the press box. Going this route let's you fill out the 13th forward slot for <$1MM
• Sign a Mottau or Mottau-adjacent veteran defenseman as the 7th D (~900k). I want Krug playing in the AHL everyday as the first injury call-up; combine him with Warsofsky, Bartkowski (if re-signed), Cohen, Cross, Chudinov (if he comes over), Kevan Miller, Trotman, Button the prospect pool in Providence should be able to pop out at least one other guy who can contribute in a pinch by midseason..
• Trade Thomas for a pick/prospect package - I love Thomas and would be happy to keep him for another year, but I'd hate to lose Rask because he doesn't want to be a backup any longer, or lose Khudobin (whose upside I love) and then have Thomas retire after 2013. Some GM thinking he's a goalie away from a run will look at Luongo's contract and say "Or Thomas at the same price but only a 1 year commitment". I don't think they can get a young top 6 wing for him given his age, so I would prefer picks/prospects and freeing up $5MM in cap space.
• Going by CapGeek these transactions have me with 2G, 7D, 12 F and ~$6.5MM in cap space remaining (including the savings from Savard on LTIR) if the cap stays where it was this year. Any increase in the cap at all and we're flush with cash, and if it stays the same or goes down in a contentious CBA negotiation we're still in great shape. And the roster it leaves me with is:

Lucic-Krejci-X
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Caron-Peverley-Horton
Rookie/Balls-Campbell-Thornton

Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-Hamilton
Ference-McQuaid
Mottau-ish

Rask
Khudobin

• So we solve for X by trading picks/prospects for a top 6 wing once there's some clarity on the CBA. I would prefer to spend just money on it, but you can't assume Parise would sign here and I don't really want any part of Semin . . . . and that's the market for true top-tier UFA wings this offseason. I would love to pry Bobby Ryan from Anaheim, but more likely it would be for someone like Florida Nathan Horton without the Wideman/Campbell extracurricular pieces. Anyone on the roster above would be untouchable other than Caron, but the entire prospect pool would be available depending on the player coming back. This would be mitigated some by the package received for Thomas; ideally I would make the Thomas trade a 3-way deal where we wind up with a top 6 wing but most likely they're separate transactions.

And that's my plan. Less ideally you could trade Rask if he won't re-sign or if there's no market for Thomas, but while you'd probably get a better return it's a gamble on Khudobin being good enough to start in 2013 that I'd rather not take unless I had to. Either way, I think they cash in a goalie this offseason and use the proceeds to upgrade the forward corps. Regardless, of which one it is, you end up with a good to great goaltending tandem; an upgraded group of defensemen just by virtue of losing Corvo; three legitimate scoring lines up front (if one of Caron/Pouliot takes a little leap forward and Horton does come back at 100%, then you have 9 guys that should score 20+); a hopefully improved PP with another scoring wing, Hamilton to beat an aggressive forecheck with his skating and Seguin strong enough to control things from the halfboard; and you still have at least 6 above average penalty killing forwards (Bergeron, Marchand, Peverly, Campbell, Krejci, Caron). Plus Providence will have a lot of prospects with legitimate NHL upside at both F and D so in the event of injury we can call up whoever is playing the best to fill in.Man, I've been depressed the last 18 hours but I feel much, much better now. When is training camp?

Edited by Manzivino, 26 April 2012 - 09:22 PM.

[soxfan121]

Salary cap this past season was 64.3M, no idea where you are coming up with 49M. Not sure if it will increase or decrease but using 64M is probably a safe #. Also you don't have Savard listed but he still counts towards the B's cap.

Can someone explain this in more detail? Do the B's need to move him to LITR every season until the contract expires? Does the actual cash payout limit their available $ to work with?