The Boston Bruins are enjoying a quiet offseason, after claiming their third Eastern Conference championship banner in nine years. Thus far the only Bruins signings have been winger Brett Ritchie from Dallas, Danton Heinen, and Steven Kampfer. General manager Don Sweeney still has a lot of work to due this summer. The Bruins need to come to terms with Defenseman Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy, and Brandon Carlo. In this post, we will review three reasons why the Bruins have not improved from last season. Overpaying For Danton Heinen Mistake, number one was overpaying for Danton Heinen. Heinen, the third_ year wingers production dipped considerably in 2018. In 2011 Heinen’s 11 goals and 13 assists and a plus_ minus ratio of 11 one more than the previous season. In 2017 he netted 16 goals and 31 assists. This past summer the,organization awarded him a 2.8 million dollar salary which ends in 2023. Granted, Heinen is a gritty third_ line player, but not worth the figure he signed With only three years of service time, he adds a strong physical presence on the team’s third line. Only time will tell if he is worthy of the contract.
No Major Free Agent Signing’s The good news is the Bruins are well under the NHL cap space this summer. The bad news is they have to come to terms with Tory Krug, Charlie McAvoy,and Brandon Carlo. The team cannot sign all three Torey Krug had one his most productive seasons as a Bruin. Krug is a valuable member of the power play and sparkled in the playoffs. Krug has one more year left on a four_ year $21,000,000 deal. Expect Krug to average 9 or 10 million per year on the open market. Signing him will be a major hurdle losing him will be worse.
Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo are the nuts and bolts of the defensive corp. Mcavoy is at the end of his rookie contract. Carlo had his best season as a Bruin. When Zdeno Chara retires, Carlo will be the club’s number one or two defenseman.
Signing Brett Richie The only major splash this summer has been Brett Ritchie. The team lost free agent Marcus Johansen and center Noel Acciari. Ritchie has 33 goals and 21 assists n five_year’s as A Dallas Star. He is not the skill player that Johansen is, but fits the Bruins style of play. The Bruins have major decisions to make on McAvoy and Carlo. Krug could be the odd man out. Mc Avoy and Carlo are the future of the Bruins Compared to last season the team has not gotten any better and will struggle to reach the finals.