Boston Bruins: Does Goodrow deal put Coleman out of reach?

The price tag for Boston Bruins free-agent target Blake Coleman already was set high after helping the Tampa Bay Lightning not just win one Stanley Cup, but two.

That price just went even higher.

Coleman’s fellow third-liner on the Lightning, impending UFA Barclay Goodrow, had his rights traded to the New York Rangers and the two sides are expected to finalize a six-year deal with a $3.6 million AAV, according to DailyFaceoff.com’s Frank Seravalli. That’s an expensive and lengthy contract for a bottom-six forward who has a career-high, single-season point total of 26 and has never hit double digits in goals.

At 28 years old, Goodrow will be 34 when the deal expires. It’s expected to be a front-heavy contract so that the Rangers could move on from the deal towards the end of it, but it still is a ton to pay for a player like Goodrow.

What does this mean for Blake Coleman and the contract he will demand?

Well, Coleman already was in for a much bigger payday than Goodrow. Or at least he should have been.

He had signed a three-year, $5.4 million extension in 2018-19 and immediately began to out-play that contract. Coleman enjoyed back-to-back seasons scoring at least 20 goals with the New Jersey Devils. He followed that up this season with 31 points in 55 games with the Lightning in a reduced, third-line center role, in addition to 11 points in the Lightning’s Stanley Cup-winning run this past postseason.

For a player like Coleman, with the two Stanley Cup wins included, an AAV of somewhere around $3.5-5 million would probably be fair on a three or four-year deal. He is only 29 years old and you can argue he was the best player on that Lightning third line (however Yanni Gourde would like a word).

But now? If Goodrow does sign for a 6x$3.6 million deal with the Rangers, that could change Coleman’s approach in free agency. He has much more offensive upside than Goodrow and is an excellent penalty killer. There’s no denying that the value of Coleman has changed at least a bit with the reported Goodrow deal.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The Goodrow contract is horrific. I’m not entirely sure of Rangers’ GM Chris Drury’s thinking and you can expect/hope Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney doesn’t have that same mindset when it comes to signing bottom-six forwards. It’s not a guarantee that Coleman will get that sort of length with an increased AAV from another team.

But despite Coleman fitting all the boxes that the Bruins needs out of a bottom-six forward – a proven scorer that isn’t afraid to play physical – and with other free agents to sign like Taylor Hall, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask, and likely a defenseman, Coleman may now be out of the Bruins’ price range.