What's next for Bruins after Taylor Hall trade
BOSTON -- Big moves were necessary for Don Sweeney this offseason, and big moves are still necessary for Don Sweeney this offseason. But the first domino fell on Monday afternoon, when Sweeney -- in the most simplistic summary -- dumped Taylor Hall's salary to clear up $6 million of room.
The details of the deal showed a bit more, with the rights to pending UFA Nick Foligno also going to Chicago, and the rights to a pair of RFA defensemen will be heading to Boston. But the reasoning for the deal was quite simple: The Bruins needed cap space, and Hall provided a clear path to get it.
However, the cap space that opened up is likely to evaporate quickly, if the Bruins re-sign Tyler Bertuzzi. Sweeney sent away a first-round pick (and a fourth-round pick) in order to acquire Bertuzzi at the trade deadline in March, so the Bruins have reason to want to turn that acquisition into a long-term union. Bertuzzi also fit in well during his time in Boston, playing up and down the forward lines and leading the team in postseason goals while tying for the team lead in postseason points.
Nailing down an exact number on Bertuzzi's next deal is challenging, but it figures to carry a cap hit of more than $5 million, thus consuming most of the cap space that was freed up with Monday's trade of Hall.
If the Bruins are prioritizing Bertuzzi over Hall, then it's a fine decision for the roster. But the overall picture of that roster remains murky.
Assuming Bertuzzi signs with Boston, the forward lines will look like this, based on players currently under contract:
Brad Marchand-Pavel Zacha-David Pastrnak
Tyler Bertuzzi*-Charlie Coyle-Jake DeBrusk
Unknown-Unkown-Unknown
A.J. Greer-Unknown-Unknown*Not currently signed
With roughly $6 million in cap space to work with, it'll still be exceptionally difficult for Sweeney to put a championship-caliber group of forwards on the ice. Some lower-cost forwards -- like homegrown RFA Trent Frederic -- can help fill out the bottom two lines, but it will still be a significant challenge for the Bruins to try to maintain the level of play they carried last season.
Really, it'll leave Sweeney with two courses of action. One, he'll have to trade away at least one but likely two defensemen. Second ... he'll have to seriously consider trading away Linus Ullmark.
The latter scenario has already been accepted as a possibility by Ullmark, who recognized how well Jeremy Swayman played last season. An RFA, Swayman is due for a raise but made just $925,000 last season and will still come cheaper than Ullmark. That being said, the Bruins got Vezina-level play from Ullmark for just a $5 million cap hit, which is a tremendous asset for a team to have. Under normal circumstances, no GM would want to disrupt that successful tandem. But Sweeney's cap crisis could force Boston to ship away Ullmark to clear even more cap space. (Ullmark has a 16-team no-trade list.)
As for the blue line, everyone not named McAvoy or Lindholm has to be considered a possibility. Brandon Carlo's $4.1 million cap hit would help, but teams may be hesitant to take that on. After that, Matt Grzelcyk's $3.7 million cap hit as well as the $3 million cap hits for Mike Reilly and Derek Forbort could help open up some cash to be spent on forwards, while the Bruins could look to some younger players to help fill out the D corps.
The Bruins can't afford to get rid of all of those defensemen, obviously. But jettisoning one or two should provide the flexibility needed for Sweeney to build a complete forward group. We also know, based on Patrice Bergeron's and David Krejci's contracts last year, that Sweeney is willing to push off some money to the following year in the form of incentive bonuses. That's not something that every player would agree to, but it remains a tool in Sweeney's back pocket should the team need it.
Taken in that context, Monday's trade of Hall was a big move, but it wasn't the big move. This figures to be as busy a week as Sweeney has ever had in his eight years on the job.
