Boston Bruins: Time to sign Torey Krug and Reilly Smith.
May 3, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins celebrate a goal by right wing
Reilly Smith(18) (middle) during the third period against the Montreal Canadiens in game two of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The big news around Boston was Bruins forward David Krejci‘s six year extension. It guarantees that the Boston Bruins will have two of the top twenty (for Black and Gold fans, a solid argument can be made for the top ten…or five) centers in the National Hockey League on the team. The Bruins will have consistent leadership beyond Zdeno Chara‘s eventual retirement (Big Z is certainly a beast, but can we expect him to play NHL hockey at 43?). The Bruins top six will certainly be stable for the foreseeable future. It’s a total win-win for the Bruins and the Czech forward.
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Bruins general manager highlighted just how serious it was to make sure Krejci knew how much he meant to the Bruins organization, and he shared his thoughts with the fans on the Bruins web site. “It’s important – I just like them to have the comfort of knowing their deal. If you’re negotiating, and it’s progressing along, like last time [we extended] David, and if it crept into the season, he’d be okay. But, you know, he’s one of our assistants, he’s a terrific person. When you sign these guys to these large term deals, and obviously money deals, you want to make sure that their character in place. So with David, it is.”
There is absolutely no doubt that Krejci was the biggest name going into contract talks this year. A serious extension now would give the Bruins a clearer picture of just how tough the 2015-16 salary cap may be for Boston. That tight salary cap could affect the futures of two young Bruins before the start of the 2015-16 season.
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The Bruins have $3.2 million dollars left in cap space once they factor in Marc Savard‘s long term injured reserve status. Now the Bruins could (and will very likely) just sit them both down and give them both $1.5 million each this season (and promise them to shower them in cash starting next year (if they could afford to do that)) and be done with that. Peter Chiarelli mentioned on the Bruins blog back in July how much he thought of his rookie defenseman and the young forward who was considered by many as just a hanger-on in the Tyler Seguin / Loui Eriksson trade.
“They deserve raises at some point. But it’s tighter. I mean, in general, I think a lot of teams thought [the cap] would be a million bucks more, so it’s not that much different [than last season].” – Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli
A one year, $1.5 million dollar contract should satisfy both parties. Krug and Smith are certainly smart enough to know you can’t get blood from a stone. They also knew their situation was entirely of their own making. They are both entry level free agents, and their options are severely limited. Sure, they ‘could’ play in the KHL if they offered them contracts, but that league is infamous for chewing up and spitting out American players. They can sit tight for a year, and if they have similar seasons they know they will see a significantly bigger paycheck.
It certainly makes sense for the Bruins. The Bruins know they can’t just dangle any bonus-laden contracts in front of players this year or next year. The money just isn’t there. Had the salary cap been just a million dollars more, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Sadly, it turned out to be sixty nine million, and the Bruins shouldn’t attempt to drag two potential superstars over the coals to get them to lower their requests. It’s going to be handled just right, and Peter Chiarelli knows this all too well.
“You have to be proactive and you have to make the decisions,” said Chiarelli. “And sometimes they’re not always popular, but we feel that when we do, we’re making the right decisions.”
For the most part, Chiarelli has made mostly right ones. He’ll need to keep that streak going as Johnny Boychuk‘s contract is up at the end of this season(along with Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Carl Soderberg), and Milan Lucic‘s (along with Loui Eriksson, Chris Kelly, and Kevan Miller) the year after that.