With the cap going down and free agency upcoming, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is facing some tough decisions. The Boston Bruins were the Eastern Conference champions this season and for them to get back there Chiarelli has to get creative.
Their upcoming unrestricted free agents are forwards Jaromir Jagr, Nathan Horton, and Jay Pandolfo. All three players will be moving on. Jagr was a rental and the Bruins informed him he will not be returning. Pandolfo is retiring and that leaves us with first line winger Nathan Horton.
Nathan Horton is a player who is going to have a big pay-day this off-season. The big right-winger is going to be sought after by a lot of teams. Horton is tough, skilled, and playoff experienced. He is a player who has times during the regular season where he can be one of the better players on the ice and dominate, but then there are stretches where you don’t notice him. He also has a concussion history, and you might see teams use that as a bargaining chip against him.
So here’s the question. Is Nathan Horton worth depth players like Kelly and Peverley. With the Bruins cap situation, assuming they sign goaltender Tuukka Rask to a Cam Ward like contract at 6.3 mil per year, the team would have to use their compliance buyouts on Kelly and Peverley who make a combined 6.2 mil each season. Those are crucial players but highly overpaid. Working out the cap the Bruins would have to make a choice just Horton or Kelly and Peverley.
The number one thing the Bruins need to do is re-sign Tuukka Rask. He proved this season and postseason he can be an elite goaltender in this league. Tuukka Rask should and deserves to be paid like a top 5 goaltender and I think Peter Chiarelli will get this done. From everything we know about Tuukka Rask, he loves Boston and he wants to remain a Bruin so with that being said the Bruins need to get this done and I believe they will.
The second thing the Bruins need to fix is the top right-winger situation. Assuming Horton doesn’t re-sign in Boston, they need to fill that void. They have one internal option and that is Tyler Seguin. He had a down year but with his talent he should be a top line player. If Boston doesn’t feel comfortable with that they can try for Vincent Lecavalier, Danny Briere, or another player who may be bought out. The money is going to have to work but the Bruins have shown interest in Lecavalier and I think he would be a great fit there.
The third hole the Bruins need to fill is a third line winger. Again the Bruins have options internally with Jordan Caron. The top line will be Lucic-Krejci-Horton or (free agent signing), and the second line should be Marchand- Bergeron- Seguin, this season the Bruins couldn’t seem to get any production from the third line. Peverley had a bad season, Kelly was hurt for a while, and whether it was Bourque, Pandolfo, or Jagr the Bruins couldn’t get any production from their third line. I would like to see the Bruins add a third line winger who is a solid defensive depth player who can be used in multiple situations. When free agency begins we should have a better idea of who this may be.
The fourth thing the Bruins should try to get done is a depth defenseman. The Bruins have confirmed that Andrew Ference won’t be returning. The Bruins have Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, Mcquaid, Hamilton, Krug, and Bartkowski all under contract and ready to play for next season. Chara is still a great defenseman but he is getting older and giving him some regular season rest can’t hurt. Hamilton, Krug, and Bartkowski are all promising young defenseman but the keyword is young. With young defenders you never know when they will be in slumps or anything like that. Adding a depth defenseman would be precautionary but every year a defencemen seems to go down so having depth can’t hurt.
This is just a quick look on what I think the Bruins need to accomplish but we will have a better idea when the free agency begins on Friday. For more opinions on Bruins off season moves and the NHL follow me @Brendan_McLean5
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