Taking a deep dive on the Bruins’ cap situation and the implications for your cap league.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the Chicago Blackhawks and their pending cap situation for next year. Another team who is facing a similar issue is the Boston Bruins. They have some key players coming due for new contracts and they have to figure out where the money is going to come from to get these guys signed. They also are still in the thick of the playoff hunt and for a team who has struggled this year, a trade or two could really make a difference to the Bruins.  The issue of course, is their limited cap space so that really makes bringing in a big name player to offer them some help is going to be hard to do, without sending cap back out. As I write this, the Bruins have about $1.989M left in available cap space (from nhlnumbers.com). Let's take a look at the players currently on the Bruins roster and see what the situation is.

The Untouchables

Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Dougie Hamilton, David Krejci, Reilly Smith and David Pastrnak

There is not a lot of untouchables on their roster. With Krejci recently re-signing for six more years, the Bruins have locked up their depth down the middle with their top two centers in Bergeron and Krejci. GM Peter Chiarelli likes to make sure his key guys don't hit the open market so he will lock them up before that happens. Dougie Hamilton is one of the key pieces that will be looking for a new contract at the end of this season as his ELC expires. Rask hasn't had a Rask-type of season so far, but he's signed until 2019 so he isn't going anywhere.  Pastrnak is exactly one of the things this roster needs, scoring from the wing. The Bruins have been trying to replace Jarome Iginla's goals on the wing since he bolted at the end of last year for free agency. Pastrnak will provide that for years.