The Genius of the Savvy deal

The Bruins do it again. looking back a year ago at the contract situations of this team, it was hard to imagine them keeping any of their good star talent. however, somehow, they have kept the most important pieces in place. except for some overrated douchebag thats currently staying in toronto, the bruins have done a great job of keeping together the core that makes them a good team.

The Savvy deal is an awesome deal for both sides...

Why this deal works for Savvy...   The Bruins signed a 31 year old center to a 7 year extension. this deal will keep savvy in a spoked B until he is 40. That is probably the rest of his career. It is no lie that savard has developed into a premier player since being with the bruins. when he came here, there were a lot of doubts about his game, whether he could play both ends of the ice. etc. however, since his time in boston, he has developed into a great overall player. He has obviously found a home in boston, he seems to love it here, so it must be a great feeling for savvy that he will be a bruin for as long as he can play the game.

Why this deal works for the B's...   The bruins have just signed one of their top 3 best talents for a 4 million dollar a year cap hit. heres a list of players that will have a higher cap hit than savvy with nowhere near the talent...

Ron Hainsey, Nik Antropov, Tim Connoly, Daymond Langkow, Robyn Regehr, John-Michael Liles, Mike Ribeiro (I dont care what anyone says, he sucks), Tom Gilbert (same cap hit), Michael Handzus (same cap hit), Pierre Marc Bouchard (same cap hit), JP Dumont (same cap hit), Shane Doan, Ryan Malone, Andrej Meszaros (same cap hit)

All of these guys are hurting their teams caps more than savvy, and find me one you would have on your team over savvy. Thus, the cap strapped bruins still have some wiggle room to sign some of the upcoming free agents (about 13 million next year to sign Wheeler, Begin, Paille, Sabotka, Thornton, Morris, Ference, Boychuk, Stuart, Lefebvre, Lehtonnen).  This means Wheeler could get a deal at the right price, Paille probably wont demand a lot of money, so he could be back, Begin for the right price, probably Sabotka, probably Thornton. Morris and Stuart are probably gone. I hope Ference will be back, and who knows what they do with Lefebvre and Lehtonnen.

So Savvy is staying for as long as he can play hockey, and we have the wiggle room to sign back a few more key guys. Buy giving a guy a deal through 40 sounds like a bad idea, right??   Wrong. The last 2 years of Savvys contract are between 500k and 600k a year. Thus, if he hits 38 and his play experiences a big drop, he can be bought out fairly easily. Opens up a roster spot, and who knows what the financial landscape of the league will be by then.

Long story short, this is an incredible deal for both sides. Savvy gets the security that he has worked so hard for, and the Bruins get a guy that is one of their few best players for much cheaper than any of us expected.