This offseason has been full of news and excitement for many teams in the NHL, however that does not stand true for one team, and that one team is the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins are in a very tough situation, standing above the cap limit by $809,143, and that’s including the cap relief of Marc Savard being placed on the long-term injured reserved list. The Bruins found themselves in this situation by signing Jarome Iginla to a bonus-heavy contract, which has harmed them immensely this offseason. To add to the list of issues the Bruins are facing, they still have yet to sign restricted free-agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith.
All accounts lead to the Bruins having to make a trade.
Who Should The Boston Bruins Trade?
The Bruins are good in every category, however they’ve been known for their defensive depth for many years now, thus making it more likely that they’ll trade a defenseman. Three of the Bruins defenseman will be unrestricted free-agents after next season, those being Johhny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid, and Matt Bartkowski, therefore you can expect one of them to be traded.
- Johhny Boychuk – $3,336,667 annual cap-hit
- Adam McQuaid – $1,566,667 annual cap-hit
- Matt Bartkowski – $1,250,000 annual cap-hit
Based on their cap hits, the Bruins would find themselves in better shape if they traded Boychuk. It would give them $2,527,525 in cap space, which would help with signing Krug and Smith. In addition to that, when Boychuk becomes a unrestricted free-agent after next season, he’ll be looking for a pay raise, and the Bruins cannot adhere to that request, especially considering Dougie Hamilton will be looking for a pay raise as a restricted free-agent that year as well.
Boychuk is a fan-favorite, however if the Bruins can’t give him the money he requests for the future, they might as well deal him to relieve some cap space.
Another trade scenario that would work for the Bruins is trading Bartkowski.
Bartkowski is a 26-year-old defenseman who is known for his puck-mobility. You don’t get puck-moving defenseman often, so because of that, as well as the fact that Bartkowski is fairly young, the Bruins could get a decent return for him. It wouldn’t relieve as much cap space, however the Bruins could also be looking at a package deal.
A trade scenario involving Adam McQuaid wouldn’t bring in a huge return. McQuaid has suffered many injuries which will be problematic in trading him. If a trade involving McQuaid does happen, it’ll be purely for cap space, and probably a draft pick in return.
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