Good News and Bad News from the NHL’s GM Meetings
Mar 17, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Loui Eriksson (21) celebrates his goal with center Carl Soderberg (34) and his teammates during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
With the GM meetings wrapping up in Boca Raton, the fans have gotten to see a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes in the National Hockey League. The league has discussed several topics that could have far-reaching implications in the future. The GMs discussed changes to overtime, a potential coaches’ challenge, and changes to the face-off. While the GMs went through these topics, a piece of information casually went under the radar that could have serious repercussions for all the teams in the future.
News out of GM meetings is NHL salary cap projects to $71- or $72-million. That's with the inflator from players.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 17, 2015
That’s right folks. This could spell serious trouble for teams like the Boston Bruins. The initial salary cap projection was for seventy-three million. Several general managers have been spending their cap ceiling like that was going to be the final figure. (Thankfully, Peter Chiarelli isn’t one of them.) With the continuing decline of the Canadian dollar, there are fears that the cap total may go down even more.
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How will the adjusted salary cap projection affect the Boston Bruins? It will hurt them. The Bruins have already committed sixty-two and a half million dollars ($62,475,000) to their roster for next season. That money has locked up eleven forwards, four defensemen, and one goaltender.
Now the Bruins will need to figure out what they’re going to do with their remaining eight to nine million dollars. That’s a tough salary cap hit for the Black and Gold to take. They have yet to lock up future Bruins leader Dougie Hamilton. The Bruins will likely keep with tradition and pass on Niklas Svedberg and search for a new number two to back up Tuukka Rask(at this point, they might be able to get Tim Thomas for a one-year, retire as a Bruin for a league minimum contract (but not very likely)).
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The Bruins will need at least two forwards, three defenseman, and a back-up goaltender. With their limited funds, they may have to decide to let several veterans go at the end of the year. The Bruins will likely give up players like Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille in order to bring up players like Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev. The Bruins will also have to decide whether or not to keep players like Carl Soderberg. The slumping Swede hasn’t scored in two months, and this could factor in to the Bruins keeping him or setting him adrift in free agency.
The Bruins can’t be held responsible for the declining Canadian dollar. They can be held accountable for signing too many long-term, no-trade contracts with players. Several of those players have underperformed this year, and now the Bruins will be paying for that lack of production. That pain won’t only affect the B’s in the post-season, but it will continue to haunt them into next season.