Conclusion
A contract will no doubt eventually get inked and fact is, it’s hard to predict just how much term or the dollar value of that deal – Brandon Carlo has just this summer been to the Stanley Cup Final with the Boston Bruins and has to believe they can do it again.
Perhaps telling when you look at comparable terms inked by restricted free agents is that seven year deals appear almost to be off the table. Everyone is signing shortened deals, some even just the single year, banking on both their own improvement and hoping, we presume, that the cap goes up further with the new Seattle team arriving soon.
Boston Bruins fans should have faith that management will get this done; they’re not about to let two incredibly talented young defensemen go unsigned, especially given team captain, Zdeno Chara, for so long the defensive face of the franchise is possibly on his last go around this year.
We’d like to think that Brandon Carlo commits to a seven-year deal at a very reasonable price but the more this summer wears on, the more you’re starting to expect bridge-type deals to be inked with these restricted free agents if for nothing but to break the deadlock.
Contract stand-offs like this are seemingly the new normal. It’s not just Brandon Carlo, nor his teammate McAvoy doing it; it’s the likes of Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk and countless others around the league not signing the first deal that comes across the table too.
Perhaps the Boston Bruins would’ve preferred it all go the route of Sebastian Aho, whose acceptance of an offer-sheet from the Montreal Canadiens meant that the Carolina Hurricanes got a deal done early and can see out the summer stress-free in that regard.
Whatever the case, Carlo needs to be back and hopefully these contracts are the ones his team are looking at; they, for the most part, should be reasonable on the team.