With all of this free time thanks to the Bruins wanting to end this season from hell early, I put together some tools to help chronicle the salary cap and the cap mismanagement that the Bruins have moving forward. So without further ado, here they are!
- A Money spent chart, including what percentage of the money is spent on each position
- A depth chart of sorts, including some of the more notable Providence Bruins players
- Some future contract comparables, with Ryan Spooner and Brett Connolly on one, and Dougie Hamilton on the other
Lets start by looking at what each of the bigger name players will be looking for in free agency. Brett Connolly, Ryan Spooner, and Dougie Hamilton are all restricted free agents, and should all be on the Bruins next year, in somewhat large roles. What is reasonable to expect for their contracts?
Brett Connolly and Ryan Spooner
Both 22 years old, and having a combined total of 63 points over less than 200 games, theres a lot we still don't know about them. Short term, short money contracts would be the safest bet, and they have the added benefit of keeping them restricted free agents at the end of the contracts. Looking at players in similar situations, contracts around 1.5-2.5 per year over two or three years is entirely reasonable.
Dougie Hamilton
Has Dougie Hamilton been perfect defensively? Nope. But as a 21 year old who has played 178 games in the NHL already, including 72 this year in a top pairing role, with 19 games going solo while Zdeno Chara was out with a knee injury. Hamilton drives the play from the defensive zone to the offensive zone, and along with Krug been a quarterback on the Bruins powerplay. The Bruins also run the risk of having Hamilton being offer sheeted, with him being unsigned and the Bruins close to the cap another team could screw the Bruins over and force them to match - or at least think long and hard about it. Im not going to think of that scenario yet though, theres too many possibilities.