Bruins Approaching Plans for Seguin

The Boston Bruins, as most fans know by now, are pretty cramped when it comes to the salary cap. Currently, according to ESPN, Boston has just over $12,000 to spend under the $59.4 million NHL salary cap. Clearly, that is not enough to sign both Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin. However, I will shed some light on the way everything works for those who probably don't know (I didn't know myself until some research).

Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins are allowed to go over the salary cap today. They can do so all the way up until the beginning of the season, at which point there is a date that the NHL requires all teams to be salary cap competent. The Bruins can sign their 2 remaining priorities -- Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin -- over the summer. They will eventually have to face the problem, though. There are two ways to face the problem without making a trade first.

Option #1: 48-hour buy-out period. There will be another buy-out period before the season begins, and the Bruins are allowed to buy out contracts that they wish to erase from their cap hit (note that Tim Thomas's contract cannot be bought out due to the age 35+ NHL contract terms). That's one way the Bruins could handle it. Buy out contracts of players they can't afford to keep. If I had to guess what the combined value on the cap of Wheeler and Seguin will be for next season, I would put the number somwhere between $3 million and $3.5 million.

Option #2: That value I guessed just might be what enables the Bruins to start the season with this full roster. Due to Marco Sturm's long-term injury status, the Bruins receive an exception for his $3.5 million hit. In that regard, the Bruins have that money to spend now, because Sturm won't be ready by the season opener. However, he is expected to return in November. When he does, the cap hit comes back and this whole problem is faced again. At that point, buy-out is a much less likely option and trade negotiations may be the only outlet. You risk throwing the team into a state of disarray by trading a centerpiece mid season.

The situation is tricky. Tyler Seguin will likely bring in a base salary between $800k and $900k (Taylor Hall earned the max entry level deal, $900k. Seguin will probably seek something similar). According to most sources, the Bruins plan to work on a deal with Seguin after their discussions with Blake Wheeler and the arbitration committee this weekend. Signing both players seems to be their priority, but without further moves, they will be faced with the same problem upon Sturm's return in November. Chiarelli has a difficult decision on his hands. If they could sign Wheeler cheaper than his previous deal of $2.8 million -- which I believe he has earned much less than that -- then they could still be in decent shape and be able to avoid dealing away a key piece to the puzzle. Of course, if it weren't for Ryder's $4 million and Thomas's $5 million, we would be in much better shape. Can the Bruins buy out Ryder's deal? It's expensive, but I think they have to give serious consideration. It clears the cap space, and Ryder is a bust. There's no taking that back. Eat your mistake and move on. I don't know if there is a rule prohibiting it, but if I'm Peter Chiarelli, I give serious consideration to buying out Ryder in the 48-hour buy-out window.

The Bruins have good problems on their hands. No matter which direction they choose, they have a Stanley Cup contender in Boston. Management's job is to make sure that the direction leads us further than the past two roads have.