Boston Bruins Unlikely To Resign Carl Soderberg.
In a salary cap hockey world, sacrifices will have to be made. The Boston Bruins are no exception to that rule. The Bruins had to give up alternate captain, defenseman, and crowd favorite Andrew Ference to the free agency market at the end of the 2012-13 season. Now, it looks like the Boston Bruins will be making that tough call again.
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According to Sportsnet’s Eliotte Friedman, not only was Toronto’s Phil Kessel was being shopped around, there was talk that Bruins forward Carl Soderberg wouldn’t get picked up by the Black and Gold.
“Word out of the combine was Boston told Soderberg that it is very unlikely they will be able to sign him,” said Friedman. “They have to deal with Dougie Hamilton, they’ve got cap issues, so now teams will start to look at him as a possible free-agent solution.”
That’s it in a nutshell. The Boston Bruins have decided to double-down on Dougie. (Out of the two players, it is the clearly smarter choice.) Dougie Hamilton is looked at as a career player for Boston, and while as good as Soderberg was for the Bruins, he’s not a foundation-type player for a NHL team.
Carl Soderberg was an excellent player for the B’s last season. He was one of the few players that played in all eighty-two games last year. While a lot of people didn’t seem to like Soderberg, his numbers were adequate for the big club. Soderberg tallied forty-four points(thirteen goals) for the Black and Gold, tying him for third with Milan Lucic in overall points.
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Soderberg proved several things last year. One, that a player could quickly transition between European and North American ice. Second, he was able to find instant chemistry with fellow Swede Loui Eriksson and together with Chris Kelly made the best third line for the B’s since 2011. Finally, Soderberg was good enough at his job to get Claude Julien (a known protector of his veterans) to move Kelly to the wing so Soderberg could center that line.
Last season, Soderberg’s contract was worth just one million dollars. He’s certainly due for a raise, and there is no way the Bruins can support that kind of bump in salary without trying to move one of their long-term, no-trade players. As, the B’s are loathe to attempt something like that, they’ve got no choice but to let him enter free agency.