Two Boston Bruins’ rising-star defenseman remain without a contract this offseason—Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy.
The Bruins have $7,294,167 in cap space to resign both players which is not enough considering McAcoy will be looking for a contract upwards to $8 million a year and Carlo around $4-6 million a year.
But before we break this down into how it is possible for the Bruins to make sure both defenseman are on the roster for opening night, here is a quick refresher on how their current contracts work.
Carlo is a restricted free agent which means that they are eligible to negotiate and sign with any other club. If a team wants to give Carlo a contract, it comes in the form of an Offer Sheet and has to possess the required compensatory draft picks.
McAvoy is considered a 10.2(c) player. A 10.2(c) player is a player who does not meet the requirements to become an unrestricted free agent or does not meet the Group 2 RFA requirements. Therefore, McAvoy is only allowed to negotiate and sign with the Bruins who hold his rights. He cannot negotiate with any other club, and if he is still unsigned by June 25 of next year, he becomes a UFA immediately.
So, what do the Bruins do to make enough room for both of these young defenseman?
Idealistically it would make sense for the Bruins to package one of these two players with either a prospect or more draft picks—David Backes or Kevan Miller.
If the Bruins can somehow manage to move Backes, it would free up another $6 million making the cap-hit roughly $13 million which would still not be enough but close. If the Bruins were to trade Miller, they would have to add more assets to the deal because moving Miller would only free up another $2.5 million.
It will be interesting to see how general manager Don Sweeney and his team attack this situation, but expect to see some movement within the next month.
