Apr 3, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (47) and forward Patrice Bergeron (37) and Reilly Smith (18) and defenseman Kevan Miller (86) celebrate a goal by Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand (63) during the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Well Bruins fans, the wait is over. Earlier this morning Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced that the organization has signed defenseman Torey Krug and forward Reilly Smith. They both agreed to one-year contracts. Those contracts will have a cap hit of just $1.4 million each. So, the Bruins sat them down and told them to sit tight, take the money, and the Bruins would find a way to shower them with cash next year.
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In a few strokes of a pen, the Bruins solved all their short term problems. Their contracts will put them under the cap (once they factor in Marc Savard’s LTIR). The Bruins are now $418,000 (US) under the salary cap. The B’s won’t have to make any radical moves with their roster. That means Johnny Boychuk won’t be traded (or Adam McQuaid and Matt Bartkowski) just to create cap space. The Bruins lock up two players that exceeded expectations (and in Krug’s case phenomenally surpassed them). The Bruins will have two reliable scorers, and one dependable defenseman back on the roster.
Smith and Krug’s return will certainly make waves in training camp. Simon Gange and Ville Leino are gone now. They only chance they had to make the team was to have enough openings for one or both of them to get in. Smith’s return closes that window, and there are just too many talented AHL players that have performed better. David Warsofsky made a hard push to become one of the Bruins starting d-men. With Torey Krug’s return, it’s likely he’ll be reassigned to Providence in the next wave of cuts.
Puck Prose
While the Black and Gold have fixed their immediate concerns, it does set up some interesting problems down the road for the organization. Johnny Boychuk, Matt Bartkowski, Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille, Carl Soderberg, Adam McQuaid, and Dougie Hamilton were all going to be free agents next season (although Hamilton is still a restricted free agent). Adding Torey Krug and Reilly Smith to the free agent frenzy means the Bruins will have to be ready for some serious wheeling and dealing to keep the players they like. It’s just the start of the Bruins problems. If the organization factors in the AHL Bruins, the B’s will have over two dozen players who will be free agents after this season.
The Bruins have their roster locked up, and at least that crisis is over. Now the B’s can focus on the season and prepare to take the Stanley Cup back to Boston.