Boston Bruins Re-Sign John-Michael Liles
Boston Bruins Re-Sign John-Michael Liles To One Year Deal
The Boston Bruins have re-signed John-Michael Liles to a one year contract worth $2 million. the 35-year-old defenseman was acquired by Boston at the 2016 Trade Deadline from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for prospect Anthony Camara, a 2016 third-round selection and a 2017 fifth-round selection.
In 17 games with the Bruins, Liles compiled six assists and was a calming presence in the Bruins top-4 to close out the year. In his previous 64 games with Carolina, Liles scored 6 goals and 15 points. Through the 17 games that Liles played in a Bruins uniform, he averaged 19:19 of ice time and was an immediate fit in the Bruins lineup as a result of his veteran experience, and natural puck-moving abilities.
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The Bruins recently bought out the contract of veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, and paying Liles less money for similar experience was a smart move on the part of Don Sweeney. The Bruins have also expressed an interest in going younger on the blue line and inserting more youth into the lineup each night.
While it’s important to use youth at every position when applicable, it’s also important to keep veterans around to help acclimate the young players into the NHL. Having a veteran teach you the ropes cannot be underappreciated, especially in today’s NHL where the expectation is higher than ever for players to immediately create impacts upon being drafted.
The John-Michael Liles signing is a low-risk, high-upside type deal that the Bruins love. With only one year committed to Liles — not including the two picks and prospect it took to get him in the first place — the Bruins have the opportunity to develop their own defensemen like Rob O’Gara, Brandon Carlo, Jakub Zboril, and Matt Grzelcyk without rushing them into the lineup.
Next: Bruins Sign David Backes
There isn’t any word yet on the contracts of fellow-defensemen Joseph Morrow or Colin Miller, but those should get done sooner than later. The Bruins have some high-upside young defensemen who could play this season, but that’s entirely dependent on head coach Claude Julien‘s willingness to let them play.