The Bruins Big Picture Became Crystal Clear

It all began today when the Boston Bruins announced they had signed Trent Frederic to a two-year contract worth $4,600,000 and carries an AAV of $2,300,000. The deal pays Frederic a base salary of $2,050,000 and a signing bonus of $250,000 for 2023-2024 and a base salary of 2,300,000 for 2024-2025.

The deal came just prior to Frederic and the Bruins heading into an arbitration hearing where he was seeking $2,900,000 while the Bruins countered with $1,400,000. Frederic will become an unrestricted free agent when his deal expires.

The other shoe to drop came when the arbitrator’s decision was announced in the Jeremy Swayman contract dispute. Swayman had been seeking $4,800,000 while the Bruins countered with $2,000,000. The arbitrator leaned slightly towards Swayman in issuing a one-year deal worth $3,475,000.

Swayman will be a restricted free agent at the end of this deal and will once again have arbitration rights when it expires. It is expected the Bruins will try and lock Swayman up to a long-term deal before then as the cap is expected to have a major increase for the first time since the COVID-19 Pandemic.

So, where do the Bruins stand now?

Well, that can be rather confusing and it is very dependent on how the roster shapes out. We do know that the Bruins will be slightly over the cap with a 23-man roster. How much depends on who is on the roster.

However, getting under the cap is as easy as just sending a player to Providence and going with a 22-man roster (13 forwards, 8 defencemen and 2 goaltenders). That’s the answer for a short-term fix.

With everyone under contract, the Bruins have a clear picture of where they stand and can now look at working towards what President Cam Neely said, “We’re doing whatever we can to bolster that (center) position.”

Even though there are “rumors” linking the Bruins to players such as Elias Lindholm and J.T. Miller, the Bruins really could not accomplish much without a clear and decisive cap situation. That doesn’t mean that General Manager Don Sweeney hasn’t been exploring his options. But I think it was premature for anyone to suggest they were in deep conversations for any specific player.

Today, everything has changed.

There is still the matter of David Krejci, who has yet to file retirement papers with the NHL.

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