Given the uncertainty about the remainder of the NHL regular season and the salary cap for next season, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney admitted there’s basically been a halt to negotiations with impending B's free agents, both restricted and unrestricted.
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The name atop that list, of course, is puck-moving defenseman Torey Krug as he heads toward a big payday regardless of where he ends up signing for next year and beyond. Krug, who turns 29 on Sunday, has averaged nine goals and 54 points over the previous three seasons and was on pace for 11 goals and 59 points when the season was paused.
Given those numbers, Krug will easily be able to command anywhere from $6 million to $8 million per season on a long-term contract on the UFA market, even if there is some kind of rollback on the salary cap for next season. Sweeney had previously been evasive this season when talking about negotiations with Krug, but made it clear the Bruins would prefer to retain their productive power-play quarterback if possible.
“I’ve been in touch with all the RFA and UFA’s agents and I think we’ve all agreed that in some of those cases it’s just better to wait,” said Sweeney, while everybody tries to get an accurate forecast on the salary cap moving forward. “I do hope that Torey hasn’t played his last game [for the Bruins] either this year or moving forward. He’s been a big part of any success that we’ve had as an organization. He’s a special player both on and off the ice.
“He means a lot in the locker room. Everybody could acknowledge his attributes on the ice and how they translate to our success as a team. In a cap world, we have to try and fit everything together. We’ve had very good discussions with Torey’s group, but we just haven’t found a landing spot and that’s understandable. Given the situation with where the cap is going to be and with his value both to us and also to his own situation, every negotiation has its own timeline. We’re hopeful that we’ll find a resolution. At this point, we haven’t been able to do so, but it’s been very amicable and we’ve made our feelings perfectly clear. We respect and acknowledge what Torey has done and what he’s capable of doing for us as a member of the Boston Bruins. We hope that continues.”
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It’s nice to hear the Bruins effusively praise a player who's been their best offensive defenseman for the past five seasons, and it would be a tall task for players such as Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy to step in and replace Krug’s production were he to sign elsewhere.
Still, with so much unknown about the cap and Krug’s contract options if he pushes to unrestricted free agency, nobody really knows what’s going to happen definitively at this point.
Not even Krug or Sweeney, who both genuinely sound as if they’re hopeful a deal can be worked out to keep Krug in Boston.