Boston Bruins: Charlie McAvoy’s deal will lead to some cap gymnastics

The Boston Bruins, in inking a new deal for Charlie McAvoy, have resolved any immediate salary cap dilemmas. Kind of.

By getting Charlie McAvoy renewed for under $5 million salary cap hit, the Boston Bruins have removed the immediate need to get rid of a player, even with Brandon Carlo still hanging around as a restricted free agent.

Assuming they don’t make any sort of trade between now and the eventual contract renewal of their final restricted free agent, the Boston Bruins can offer him around $3 million a campaign. This sort of deal works on many levels, though realistically will have to be a bridge deal as opposed to something long-term at that low of a price.

If they did go long-term, there’s a couple of waiver-exempt players such as Connor Clifton that could be sent to Providence to find the extra dollars.

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The gymnastics come in with the fact that heading into next summer, Jake Debrusk will be expecting a salary to match his second-line status, especially if he continues to produce at least 40 points a campaign, and especially if he can top his 27 goals from last campaign.

That sort of left winger comes with a certain salary expectation; upwards of $4 million a term if not more, given restricted free agents now seem to have much bigger contractual expectations.

Ignoring the need to renew Debrusk, there’s plenty of other guys that are going to cost if the Boston Bruins want to maintain the current core or something close. Charlie Coyle is probably the next big name forward and he too will likely seek a raise on his current $3.2 million deal, though if anyone were to take a hometown discount, it might well be him.

Perhaps most concerning is Torey Krug; he’s projecting to cost $7-8 million per season going forward; the Boston Bruins absolutely have to move out the John Moore deal if they’re ever going to manage a renewal. Thankfully, Kevan Miller will come off contract and should they wish to keep him around, I’m expecting a bottom end-of-the-market minimum value type deal.

Whilst, by no means is the Boston Bruins salary cap situation anywhere near as scary as the one that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in, what with their first and second-line center combining to cost more than our entire first line, we still have juggling to do.

The Boston Bruins have been wise over the years, managing to secure Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak all to deals below $7 million.

Yes, they’ve made missteps; namely the cost of David Backes at $6 million but not offering anything near the same realm of production as the aforementioned, but for the most part, it’s been smart cap management and players willing to sacrifice a little extra salary.

Don Sweeney, as Boston Bruins General Manager, will need to continue to work this sort of wizardry – he’s now proven he can do it, what with the Charlie McAvoy deal being less than $5 million a season, but he needs to continue it with Carlo and then maybe see if he can secure early deals with Debrusk and Coyle, at the very least.

Time to see just how flexible the salary cap can be; can the Boston Bruins bend it to suit their needs and keep the Stanley Cup window open a bit longer with this current core group?