They don’t call it ‘free agency frenzy’ for nothing folks. The National Hockey League’s first day of free agency had people jumping teams, time zones, and countries. Several players joined the Boston Bruins, a few left the team, and in between all that there were a few signings that were going to happen.
With the Thomas Vanek signing by the #RedWings, NHL teams have now committed over half a billion dollars in salaries since Noon ET
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) July 1, 2016
A few members of the old family were on the move as well. Former Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic headed back to Peter Chiarelli. He signed a big deal to go to Edmonton. Loui Eriksson couldn’t come to terms with Boston and headed off to Vancouver. Lee Stempniak went to Carolina. Former B’s First round draft pick Joe Colborne went to the Avalanche, and Zach Trotman ended up going to the Kings.
A lot of people predicted that Bruins would be quiet in free agency. They were soundly disappointed. The Black and Gold came out swinging and filled a few holes in their roster today.
The Boston Bruins signed forward David Backes to a five-year, $30 million dollar deal. This gives the B’s a solid veteran that can play wing or center. The 32-year old Backes quickly sounded off about his new team.
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“We won’t take a backseat to anyone,” said Backes of his new team. “It’s Boston Bruins hockey. It’s a blue-collar, hard-nosed, don’t-take-crap-from-anybody type of team, and that’s the way that I feel I’ve built my game in 10 years in the league.
“It just seemed like an awesome fit hockey-wise and the more I learn about the New England area and what Boston has to offer for a city from a family-living standpoint, the family life seemed to be a match made in heaven as well.
“We’ll get to experience that in short order, and all in all it’s something that we just had to jump at. I’m glad to be a Bruin.”
The Bruins chose to bring back goaltender Anton Khudobin. The Bruins gave Khudobin a two-year deal that had many people wonder about how good the Bruins depth in goaltending really was. Khudobin’s signing allows the B’s to let Malcolm Subban progress at his own pace.
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The Bruins found a way to improve their forwards, and made themselves slightly stronger in net. The one thing they didn’t do was what they needed to do. Find the right top-four defenseman to come to Boston.
The Bruins did sign John-Michael Liles to a one-year, $2 million dollar deal. While this doesn’t make the Bruins blueline any worse, it doesn’t make it any better either. Still, it wasn’t a terrible first day of free agency for the Black and Gold.
Now, they’ve got to figure out who they can move and what they can get away with. Would the Bruins make a move that could see Jimmy Hayes go to Winnipeg in exchange for Dennis Wideman? Would the Bruins be daring enough to dangle David Krejci out their to other teams?
The Bruins don’t look like they’re done yet. They still have around nine million in cap space to play with. With that much cash still available, Jacob Trouba could still be a possibility. We’ll see what happens in the next few days.