Hockey Trade Rumors

With Boston out of the playoffs, the question lingers. What happens next? With Krejci and Kessel RFA’s this offseason, the Bruins have some tough decisions to make. The B’s also have to re-sign Matt Hunwick, Byron Bitz and P.J. Axelsson. So, in light of this situation, I’ve done some thinking. Here’s my offseason plan.

Start negotiations with Krejci early. Get it done and out of the way. Here’s what I would offer David.

Offer:
4 yrs, $19M
Cap hit:
$4.75M
With this, the Bruins get Krejci cheap. Let him know of the situation. Let him know that if he is serious about returning to Boston next year, he’ll have to take a discount. Now, use the same approach with Kessel.

Offer:
4 yrs $19.5M
Cap hit:
$4.875M
Kessel may be one of the top, if not the top, offensive threats currently active in the NHL, but his defense is mediocre. He’s a one way player, and that’s why he isn’t making a ton of money. Jow with this, the Bruins have a total of $9.625M commited to Krejci and Kessel, which is pretty good considering they each had breakout seasons, Kessel as the Bruins top scorer and Krejci locking up with Ryder and Wheeler to create a major offensive threat line. So, now they move on to Bitz, who won’t make alot of money, considering he played very few games with the big club, but he’s proven himself to be worth keeping on the roster. So, here’s his contract.

Offer:
2 yrs, $3.5M
Cap hit:
$1.75M
Now the Bruins total salary for next year is $58.108M. They are over the limit, but I’m still not done. This is where they have to squeeze salaries in and this where they force guys to make tough decisions on whether to take a major discount to stay on their current team, or to walk and test the open market. Now, they have to go after Hunwick, who will make more than Bitz, but not much more.

Offer:
3 yrs, $7.17M
Cap hit:
$2.39M
Hunwick has to sign cheap if he wants to stay in the Hub. The Bruins now have a total of $60.498M in total salaries. I’m sad to say, though signing Axelsson back would be too much. As much as it pains me to say it, the have to let Axelsson walk. He’s just going to be too expensive. Now is where the real fun starts. Trades. We all love ’em, and sometimes we hate ’em. Regardless, they’re almost always necessaary. Here’s what happens next. Unload Sturm. Convince him to ive up his NTC. If he agrees, trade him for a prospect or the highest possible pick in the draft. After that, the Bruins salary is $56.998M. Agsin, they’re still over the cap limit, so that’s whem you make a tough decision. Do they trade Bergeron or do we try to keep him and squeeze under the cap, if at all possible.

Boston Bruins Receive:
ANA 3rdRound Pick in the 2009 entry draft/Ryan Dingle
Anaheim Ducks Receive:
Patrice Bergeron

The B’s can’t afford to bring in anyone else. They need the picks or keept the farm system going and get Dingle. That’s the plan. Let me know what you think.

P.S. i will be continuing the Cap Restrictions with the rest of the NHL if if you like. If so, then I need you guys to give me a team towork with and I’ll do my best to work out a plan for them.