The saga is over; this off-season drama has found it’s end! Charlie McAvoy has signed a new deal to stay with the Boston Bruins for three more years; at it seems like a big win.
The new Charlie McAvoy contract was signed almost 24 hours ago. What does that mean for the Boston Bruins? Firstly, the saga, which wasn’t really much of a saga, is finally over. Secondly, both parties involved are leaving this situation as winners.
There is no other possible contract situation, which would benefit both sides at the same time as much as this Charlie McAvoy deal. As mentioned earlier in the comparison between McAvoy and Zach Werenski; whatever Werenski gets, McAvoy should get a little bit less. A few weeks later, Werenski signed for three years at $5 million per campaign.
And so, McAvoy signed for $4.9 million per season for three years. There is your comparable. There is a difference between signing McAvoy to a seven-year deal and the three-year one, but it would mess up the Boston Bruins salary cap situation quite a lot.
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For McAvoy, he might have got at least $7 million on a long-term deal. However, in 2022, when his newly signed deal expires, he will have a better chance to come and demand a much bigger AAV. Maybe just like Drew Doughty, as Don Sweeney joked, but who knows.
As for the Boston Bruins; their salary cap issues are present and with signing McAvoy to a long-term deal, which would also carry a raised AAV, it would practically have forced them to shed some other salary cap hit to re-sign another restricted free agent, Brandon Carlo. Clearly, for the Bruins, this deal is not long-term insurance.
However, in 2022, when McAvoy might demand a salary of, let’s guess, at least $8 million per season, there will be different circumstances. The salary cap will hopefully go up between now and then. David Backes and his painful contract will be gone for good.
By then, the Bruins will have handled any of the uncertainly around Torey Krug. The Bruins will be in a good place to re-sign McAvoy to an eight-year deal, maybe even in 2021, a year ahead of the free agency.
For McAvoy it’s not the best insurance he could have gotten, however, a three-year deal suits him nicely. McAvoy wants to improve and become the best defenseman, he wants to improve every day. The sky is the limit for him, as he said. So, that’s a confident approach ahead of the prove-yourself contract.
The Charlie McAvoy contract situation has provoked a bit of almost-rage among the Boston Bruins fan base this summer. Without Werenski falling as the first domino and without training camp already starting, McAvoy and the Boston Bruins just wouldn’t see the same urgency to sign a new deal. For them, the timing isn’t perfect but relatively close.
Paying $4.9 million per season for three years to the 21-year-old franchise defenseman with still having enough cap space to ink Carlo, that’s a massive win for the Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney.
Besides, McAvoy has got his payday and is due for an even bigger paycheck in three years. It’s a win-win situation, right?