Boston Bruins: How Can The Bruins Keep Dougie Hamilton?
For the last few years the Boston Bruins have tried very hard to recapture the spirit of their 2011 Stanley Cup win. To do so, the B’s signed several players to long-term contracts with no-trade clauses. Then the Bruins really wanted the Cup in 2014. They wanted it bad enough that they went all in on Jarome Iginla and put themselves in serious cap trouble. The B’s paid for it this year, and there will still be ripples from their choices going into next season.
The Bruins signed Reilly Smith and Torey Krug to contracts a little while back. Both players received three million dollar plus contracts. Smith got a two-year deal, and Krug got it for a single year. (Personally, I think those contract lengths should have been switched around, but that’s another story.) That extra six million dollar burden puts the Bruins at over sixty-three million dollars for the whole team.
The Bruins should have signed Torey Krug. He’s been reliable, he’s been steady, and he’s done a good job for Boston. Reilly Smith got his new contract and proceeded to tank for the Black and Gold. (He finally snapped his goal slump in the win over the Rangers.) Should Krug have gotten three plus? I think the Bruins slightly overpaid him, but he was due for sucking it up and taking the cap-friendly contract this year.
The Bruins gave Smith one of those contracts that made many Bruins fans shake their heads in confusion. Smith was worth two, two and change (even factoring in him taking the same contract that Krug did.) The only plus to it was that B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli was astute enough not to toss in a no-trade clause.
The salary cap is (hopefully) going to land somewhere in the seventy-one million dollar range. If the Canadian dollar keeps slipping, the NHL may have to adjust that projection down further. If the dollar continues to stay sluggish, the final numbers could be as low as sixty-nine million. At seventy-one million the Bruins have problems, if it’s sixty-nine million…it’s a full-fledged nightmare for the Bruins front office.
The Bruins have yet to sign Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton will be a restricted free-agent next season, coming off his entry-level contract. He has been the most reliable defenseman for the Bruins this year. While he’s not in-line to receive the monster payoff given to former Bruins blueliner Johnny Boychuk, a high three to middle four million dollar contract is where he’ll likely end up when (and I hate to say it, but if) the Bruins sign him.
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The Bruins need Hamilton. Especially since they got rid of Boychuk. The Bruins only have five defensemen signed for next year, including Zach Trotman. Adam McQuaid and Matt Bartkowski are also without contracts. The Bruins have painted themselves into an ugly corner, and the only way out is for them to get very lucky or buck up and break up the family.
The Bruins have eight million left to sign whomever they can for next season. The Bruins will likely give up half of that ceiling to secure the services of Hamilton. That percentage could increase sharply if another team throws out a big enough offer sheet (and it’s likely they will, Hamilton still has a few years before he hits his maximum potential).
The Bruins should have signed Hamilton before the signed Krug, and they should have definitely signed him before they signed Smith. This is just another in a series of choices that should make the Jacobs family take a long, serious look at Peter Chiarelli during the off-season. Heaven forbid the Bruins lose Dougie to another team. If that happened, that would be the straw that broke the Bruins back.