BRIGHTON -- Nearly every Bruins follower assumed this summer that the B’s would need to make cap-clearing moves in order to make room for their roster for the upcoming hockey season. It was expected that the Bruins didn’t have enough space to sign both RFA defenseman Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, and that perhaps a valuable piece might need to be jettisoned for salary cap-related purposes.
Well, maybe not so much.
Don Sweeney confirmed during Sunday’s press conference with Charlie McAvoy that the Bruins have enough salary cap space to sign Carlo as well after inking McAvoy for three years at $4.9 million per season. That means the sky-is-falling crowd that assumed Torey Krug or David Krejci would need to be moved by the Bruins in order to clear cap space was more than a little over-the-top.
According to capfriendly.com, the Bruins have $3.2 million in cap space and that’s roughly what the Bruins would be paying the 22-year-old Carlo in a three-year deal similar to the term used to sign McAvoy.
“It depends on the term of the next deal,” said Sweeney, when asked if the Bruins will use LTIR space to make room for the Carlo contract while confirming the Bruins have enough cap space to sign the other RFA defenseman. “We have obviously the opportunity to do that if we need to, because [John Moore] is not going to start the season. Kevan [Miller] won’t start the season either [for LTIR purposes].
“We have a lot of communication and we’re trying to continue to do the same thing with Brandon [as we did with McAvoy]. Every deal takes its time, and that’s my intention is to go back and work and get Brandon back in the fold as well.”
Sweeney did allow that the Bruins might not have enough cap space free if they sign Carlo to a longer-term deal that could include locking him up for free agent years as well But whatever the case, the Bruins also have cap hits for Kevan Miller ($2.5 million) and John Moore ($2.75 million) that will start the season on long term injured reserve due to injuries. So the Bruins have roughly $5 million in LTIR cushion at the start of the season and probably wouldn’t need to find the cap space in the cushions for at least a month while both veteran D-men heal from injuries suffered last spring.
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