Boston Bruins: Things To Look Forward To In 2016

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Retained Salary From The Milan Lucic Trade Coming Off The Books

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins were able to garner an incredible return for the expiring contract of Milan Lucic, but it didn’t come without a cost.

When the Boston Bruins traded Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings, they received Martin Jones, the 13th overall draft pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, as well as defenseman Colin Miller. To receive such high compensation for an expiring contract, the Bruins had to help Los Angeles as they attempted to stack their team for a push to the post-season in the 2015-16 season. The Bruins are currently paying $2,750,000 of Milan Lucic‘s $6,000,000 cap hit, which limited some of the transactions they had room to make for the rest of the offseason, as well as for the season itself.

Fortunately for the Boston Bruins, the salary cap that was retained as a part of the Milan Lucic deal will officially be off the books following the season, and it will be much needed as the Bruins will have a lot of players looking for new contracts.

Following the 2015-16 season, the following players will be without a contract, and while the Bruins will undoubtedly make transactions, and while they are unlikely to sign each of the players, the more cap space the team has, the better:

Loui Eriksson, Maxime Talbot, Brett Connolly, Seth Griffith, Tyler Randell, Landon Ferraro, Torey Krug, Joe Morrow, Kevan Miller, Zach Trotman, and Colin Miller.

Next: Torey Krug Reaches Impressive Milestone

With so many players looking for new contracts, and a much needed defensive upgrade needed in Boston, the cap space saved from the Milan Lucic trade coming off of the books will certainly help the team in the long-run.

Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports