Boston Bruins Buy-Out Dennis Seidenberg Ahead of Free Agent Frenzy on July 1
The Boston Bruins are clearing some cap-space prior to free agency opening on July 1. Bob McKenzie announced on Thursday that the Bruins would be placing Dennis Seidenberg on waivers for purpose of a buy-out. The German defender was originally set to cost the Bruins $4 million this season and next, but the cost will be drastically reduced and spread out across four years now.
This season, the Bruins will be saving $2.83 million against the salary cap, $1.83 next season as net gains due to Seidenberg’s $4 million cap hit. The Bruins will have to pay $1.16 against the salary cap next season and the following year, but the total gain of the buy-out is worth it in itself. Seidenberg was originally guaranteed $4 million in each of the next two seasons, but the Bruins will now be paying out a total of $5.66 million total over the next four seasons.
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Buy-outs are typically last-resort options as teams would rather trade out unnecessary pieces rather than pay them less, but for a longer term. In the case of Dennis Seidenberg, however, the move was needed and will ultimately help the Bruins as they try to become a more competitive team in the long-term. The buy-out is essentially the equivalent of a bad contract worth $1.16 million which can be excused for two seasons when considering the gain that the Bruins are getting in the first two.
The Bruins now have $24.48 million in cap space available to them at the start of free agency with Loui Eriksson, Torey Krug, Lee Stempniak, John-Michael Liles, Joe Morrow, and Colin Miller all still in negotiations with the team.
What the Bruins will be losing in this deal however, is the experience and leadership of Seidenberg. Despite never fully recovering injuries and becoming a far-less significant piece on the Bruins blue line, he had significant value in what he brought to the locker room. Unfortunately for Seidenberg and the Bruins, a $4 million cap hit for the next two seasons was simply too much to justify for veteran experience, and the team had to ultimately cut ties.
While Seidenberg will be remembered most recently for his declining play, he deserves to be remembered for his play prior to his knee injuries. A true warrior on the ice and a legitimate top pairing defenseman during the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup run, Seidenberg will go down as one of the better defensemen in recent Bruins history. Everybody gets old, and everybody will see their skills decline at one point or another — with the exception of Jaromir Jagr, who will play forever. To hold Seidenberg’s age and injury history against him would be wrong, as the Bruins bad cap and asset management were not his fault.
Next: Bruins Buyout Window Implications
Most sixth round draft picks fail to make an impact in the NHL, but Seidenberg is definitely the exception to the rule. He also happens to be only the second player in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup as a German-born player, with Uwe Krupp being the first. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a team sign Seidenberg to a cheap contract with little term to help bolster their veteran experience.