Don Sweeney’s just getting started cutting down Bruins’ payroll with Taylor Hall/Nick Foligno deal - The Boston Globe
Salary cap worries could cost the current roster some combination of Matt Grzelcyk, Linus Ullmark, Jeremy Swayman, Tyler Bertuzzi or many others.
www.bostonglobe.com
NASHVILLE — Don Sweeney, a pretty good golfer when he takes the rare chance to escape the Bruins’ executive offices, staged his own version of Moving Day on Monday when he moved Taylor Hall’s $6 million cap hit on the Chicago Blackhawks.
Don’t expect the offloading to end there. There is more to come from the Bruins general manager, out of sheer financial necessity. Sweeney arrived in town ahead of Monday night’s NHL Awards ceremony and the draft that starts Wednesday in need of carving a minimum $10 million off his payroll in order to fit his 2023-’24 roster within the league’s $83.5 million salary cap max.
Next to move? The buzz, amid the hubbub of the awards ceremony, was that Matt Grzelcyk (cap hit $3.7 million) was being offered around the league — with perhaps Chicago the suitor.
Sweeney is scheduled to meet with the Boston media prior to 1 p.m. Tuesday, and perhaps will disclose some of his plans leading up to the start of the draft. Typically, he divulges little.
The math alone all but speaks for Sweeney. Even with the 31-year-old Hall’s hefty salary whisked off to the Windy City, the GM still needs to take a full-blown Awaken 180º approach to trimming off his payroll fat prior to the season’s October start.
Some quick math, per puckpedia.com: As of Monday night, Sweeney was $10.9 million under the cap, but factoring in only 14 roster players. One of those 14, by the way, included Mike Reilly (cap hit: $3 million), the blue liner kept in AHL Providence cold storage virtually all season to free up capital used to accommodate other varsity roster members. It is highly likely that Reilly will be bought out this week. If so, he would have to be paid only $2 million, and his new cap hit would reduce to $1 million for each of the next two seasons.
Factoring a complete varsity roster of 23, Sweeney must find a way to tie up nine or 10 more players with his $10.9 million, possibly $12.9 million, in spending money. Ideally, one of those players would be goalie Jeremy Swayman, a restricted free agent whose market value today is in the range of $3 million to $5 million per season, depending on term length.
The forces at play could force Sweeney ultimately to move Ullmark — likely for prospects only — and essentially hand Swayman the $5 million per season currently allotted to Ullmark. In that scenario, second-year pro Brandon Bussi would become the No. 1 candidate to be Swayman’s partner.
The speedy Hall, though a streak scorer, will be missed. His moving on also indicates that Sweeney would like to retain Tyler Bertuzzi, the cagier, slightly younger (28) left winger picked up from Detroit at the trade deadline.
Only one problem: money (surprise!)
Bertuzzi probably will draw offers upward of $7 million per season as an unrestricted free agent, which would represent all the money clawed back in the Hall deal, plus another $1 million. Cruel math. High stakes whack-a-mole.
Sweeney would need all of his $10.9 million just to secure Bertuzzi and Swayman, and that might not be enough.
Sweeney, if out of options, can top off the roster tank with a bunch of kids or older UFAs, all of whom would be around $1 million-a-year stocking stuffers. The math would work, but coach Jim Montgomery, fully prepared to work with a less talented lineup in 2023-24, would have half a lineup fit for a Stanley Cup run, half a lineup fit for a Calder Cup run.
So hold on, Bruins fans, the cutting is expected to continue, especially if Sweeney’s desire is to retain the likes of Bertuzzi and Hathaway. If so, he’ll have to consider culling out Jake DeBrusk ($4 million) and/or Charlie Coyle ($5.25 million) among the forwards. In back, if not Grzelcyk, then either Brandon Carlo ($4.1 million) and/or Derek Forbort ($3 million) might have to go.
