Boston Bruins 2026 OFFSEASON Roster and Salary Cap IV

[SPLBRUIN]

Hmmmmm.. maybe Sweeney should hold off on any moves incase 97 shakes loose.

It is almost certain that McDavid and Draisatal would have signed off on Babcock before the Oilers put pen to paper.

 

[Horton Hears A Woo]

Minnesota has a millionaire tax but they made Larkins list.

It’s just that one playoff series win in 5 years doesn’t exactly scream “cup contender” to players around the league chasing a cup.

A lot of that has to deal with his home

 

[SPLBRUIN]

My prediction is McDavid will go to Toronto and play with Matthews who will resign

McDavid from all accounts is driven to win a cup, no chance that happens with the Leafs, especially if Mathews is still with them, he knows that.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Nobody gives a shit about a Matt Poitras or Fabian Lysell trade request. He's talking about players people would care about, like Brady Tkachuk or Adam Fox.

Connor Hellebuyck is one that wouldn't surprise me. Maybe Filip Forsberg with Nashville?

 

[bme44]

Maybe too simplistic in the thinking, and maybe too difficult to put into effect, but….just spitballing here…

What if they found a way to pro-rate the cap, based on the state/province income tax rates?

Maybe the ceiling is for the high tax states and provinces, but the low/no tax ones get to spend 8/10% less than the ceiling.

I like your thinking .

 

[PlayMakers]

Maybe too simplistic in the thinking, and maybe too difficult to put into effect, but….just spitballing here…

What if they found a way to pro-rate the cap, based on the state/province income tax rates?

Maybe the ceiling is for the high tax states and provinces, but the low/no tax ones get to spend 8/10% less than the ceiling.

What about cities that can offer major endorsement deals, like New York and Toronto? What cap adjustment should they get? According to Forbes Auston Matthews makes the most money of any NHL player when you factor in endorsements ($21.7m)

What about cities that, even if they gave tax credits, would have a hard time attracting players, like Winnipeg? What cap adjustment should they get?

Seems to me, most cities have things that make them attractive for one reason or another, and that will appeal to certain players and their families. Figure out what that is, and when you've built a team that's worth playing for, market it.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

I don’t want macTavish when I think Minten is better and Hagens will be a star. Minten is a pro at 21. MacTavish got fat and lazy.

As for Vegas they have Jack Eichel & Tomas Hertl for minimum next 4 years at C

Every C in the league can want to play for Vegas and they can’t - there is no room positionally or cap wise

Thus isn’t the LA Dodgers

I like Minten too, but he's a 2C not a 1C. I'd like to think Hagens can become a 1C, but right now I'd say he's 3-4 years away from that if he ever gets there. You need someone to fill that void so Lindholm can be 3C where he belongs despite his contract.

As for Vegas, they'll find a way. By hook or crook you just wait and see but it's a rigged game.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

Correlation doesn't equal causation. If Carolina wins then what happens to your 'all Cup winners are tax states' argument?

Those teams (FLA, VGK DAL) became good before they were big UFA destinations. Nobody wanted to play in Florida when they sucked. It's always been sunny, and it's always been tax free. So what changed? Nashville and Seattle are in no-tax states and they are not destinations star players flock to.

And again, this conversation (about how all the no-tax states have an unfair advantage) started because Larkin put two of them on his list. But his list also included Minnesota which is a high-tax state, so clearly his list wasn't about money, it's about winning and good situations.

Taxes matter, but this fatalistic attitude that they're all that matters is false. Larkin just proved it.

Well you change the argument by making the statement "all that matters" which I never said. What I'm saying is it's not a level playing field despite the cap existing.
Sure, it's possible another team can win but you can't ignore that no tax state teams are power houses and always in the final mix. Most of the winners have in fact been from no tax states and the Canadian teams are totally at a disadvantage. Now maybe a young team like Buffalo filled with ELCs on future big payday stars can also make their way through and win it but a team like the Bruins paying more for free agents than these no tax teams have to pay but spending on older guys anyway has next to no chance to get to the top. Sorry to say.

 

[BiteThisBurrows]

I mean, they don't magically have cap space becuase taxes are low there, though.

They have like 4.5 mil in cap space, with 9 forwards and 5 defense signed, as I see it. Even assuming they let Andersson walk and Dorofeyev were to take some crazy low money bridge contract, it is pretty literally impossible for them to field a team without moving cap as is. And now their going to add an $8 mil player. How? Larkin isn't going to tear up his contract and play for the minimum just because taxes are low there.

Likewise, they still have to give up enough to make Detroit trade him there. As DKH said above, Hertl ain't going there (I'm not sure how much of an asset he is anyway, given age, contract and production) and they have no farm system. They have no first or second rounder the next two drafts, either their first or second in 28 goes to Calgary and they have no second even out in 2029. Their even down a fourth this year and a third in 28. Larkin can want to go there all he wants, but even if they could make the cap work, if you're Yzerman, are you trading a guy like that for a 1st four drafts from now and a mediocre propsect?

I know Vegas has pulled off some voodoo before, but the idea of them pulling off this one strains credibility.

Sure they have more cap space. If you are a player and two teams want you you can still make more money to take home in a no tax state even taking less money on your contract and thus the team has more cap room. Players signing for less than market value has already happened for those teams many times.

 

[AKrug47]

Nobody gives a shit about a Matt Poitras or Fabian Lysell trade request. He's talking about players people would care about, like Brady Tkachuk or Adam Fox.

I'd trade essentially anything to get Brady T in the black and gold

 

[AKrug47]

I know goalies have virtually no value these days (or so I'm told on here), but it's kind of painful to watch Bussi potentially be the guy for Carolina. Not sure what Sweens coulda done differently asset management wise, but I fear he's going to let DiPietro walk for nothing and be a stud on the Panthers. All this to say I echo some of the comments in here that the FO should sack up and make some tough decisions this summer. Identify who your group is and move on from dead weight. I'm looking at you law firm of Lindholm & Lindholm!

 

[JoeIsAStud]

I know goalies have virtually no value these days (or so I'm told on here), but it's kind of painful to watch Bussi potentially be the guy for Carolina. Not sure what Sweens coulda done differently asset management wise, but I fear he's going to let DiPietro walk for nothing and be a stud on the Panthers. All this to say I echo some of the comments in here that the FO should sack up and make some tough decisions this summer. Identify who your group is and move on from dead weight. I'm looking at you law firm of Lindholm & Lindholm!

I guess Florida should have never waived Bussi then.

But yes, hard decisions will be made over the next 3-4 weeks

 

[marianne99]

I'd trade essentially anything to get Brady T in the black and gold

You saw him finally make the playoffs this yr, do a realistic ghost impression, and arrived at that conclusion? Wouldn't be me.

 

[finaliz3d]

You saw him finally make the playoffs this yr, do a realistic ghost impression, and arrived at that conclusion? Wouldn't be me.

Yeah... if I have to trade for a first line winger this offseason, which I'm not even particularly high on doing, it wouldn't be Tkachuk.

 

[DKH]

I know goalies have virtually no value these days (or so I'm told on here), but it's kind of painful to watch Bussi potentially be the guy for Carolina. Not sure what Sweens coulda done differently asset management wise, but I fear he's going to let DiPietro walk for nothing and be a stud on the Panthers. All this to say I echo some of the comments in here that the FO should sack up and make some tough decisions this summer. Identify who your group is and move on from dead weight. I'm looking at you law firm of Lindholm & Lindholm!

Bussi was not good and Florida signed him and lost him

The FO should sack up lol

Dude they traded half their team were picked to come in last and ended up 8 OA

You fear DePietro is going to end up on the Panthers like Bussi

 

[DKH]

You saw him finally make the playoffs this yr, do a realistic ghost impression, and arrived at that conclusion? Wouldn't be me.

Who else besides Larkin ?

 

[Tbaybruin]

Brad signed an 8/49 M deal in 2017 summer

He was really not the great Brad Marchand ~ only 2 years before he had 42 points in 77 games

He outperformed the contract and the Bruins bet on him but at the time it definitely wasn’t charity- he was making more then Bergeron and many of my buddies said Marchand and Krejci making more than Bergeron was ridiculous

Just timinghe

Ya he broke out the year after but was so under paid. The Pasta, Bergy, Marchand line was unreal and was such a massive value cap wise for the Bruins.

 

[Carl Hungus]

Who else besides Larkin ?

Tkachuk rumors

Weird to pin it on team USA though

 

[bbfan419]

I hate the heat and humidity.

There are other reasons too, but it matters not as I will never live in the South.

Same here, hot humid days are the worst.

 

[bbfan419]

I'd trade essentially anything to get Brady T in the black and gold

No thanks, don;t want either Tkachuk with the Bruins.

 

[DKH]

Tkachuk rumors

Weird to pin it on team USA though

Brady probably going to end up in Florida although his grand parents season tickets are about 4 or 5 sections to my left - I see them in between in the lobby when I go down that side. They root for their family but they were born and raised Bruins fans

Brady to Bruins rumors going to happen unless he signs an extension next July 1

Today I would put it at
Florida 80%
Bruins 20%

 

[KnightofBoston]

I never said it wasn't. In fact right in my post you quoted I said:

"the tax thing is a factor for some players when making a decision between teams"

With that said, if taxes were the biggest factor, then why wouldn't NSH & SEA being major destinations? There hasn't been a drastic change in each states taxes, so why were teams like FLA & TBL terrible for years if they had better tax rates?

The reality is that for majority of guy, winning a cup is still a much larger factor in their decision.

This debate at the end of the day, if you don’t take the stance you just took, is highly politically motivated. When you headline your post with “Massachusetts millionaires tax” it becomes politically charged. When you try to claim taxes have zero impact on player decisions, it’s politically charged.

Just posters insistent on their own view

You summed up the reality nicely. There are things more important, but if all things are equal, a few more million over the course of a career is definitely a factor



Billionaires are the real problem anyways *runs away for cover from wally*

 

[ON3M4N]

I know goalies have virtually no value these days (or so I'm told on here), but it's kind of painful to watch Bussi potentially be the guy for Carolina. Not sure what Sweens coulda done differently asset management wise, but I fear he's going to let DiPietro walk for nothing and be a stud on the Panthers. All this to say I echo some of the comments in here that the FO should sack up and make some tough decisions this summer. Identify who your group is and move on from dead weight. I'm looking at you law firm of Lindholm & Lindholm!

I'd put more of his performance on Carolina's team defense. Over the last 3 seasons Carolina ranks

SA - 1st
xGA - 1st
SCA - 1st
PK% - 1st

They're just a stingy defensive team that doesn't give you much. If they had legit #1 goalie they'd be an absolute wagon.

 

[Dizzay]

If Helly asks to get out of Winnipeg, I wonder if Scheifele would want out as well? I know Winnipeg doesn't have the luxury of sucking because of their market, but I'm sure Scheifele doesn't want to go through a re-build at this point in his career. He is the perfect 1C to play with Pasta, same age...........likely a pipe dream though.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

Who else besides Larkin ?

Quinn Hughes