After missing out on Ilya Kovalchuk, it sounds like the Bruins have turned their attention to an even bigger fish.
According to The Athletic's Arthur Staple, the Bruins are among the five teams that will get to sit down with prized free agent John Tavares later this week.
Tavares list just about finalized, it appears.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) June 25, 2018
Leafs, Sharks, Stars are in, as mentioned a couple days ago. Believe the Bruins are in as well.
Canadiens and Vegas not on the list as of now.#Isles will get in there too, of course.
In his next tweet, Staple goes on to report that Tampa Bay and/or Nashville could also get in on the fun and have a sit down with Tavares as well. Not often do players of Tavares caliber hit the free agency market, and good for the Bruins for getting involved.
Tavares is coming off of a 37-goal season, and has scored 30+ goals in three of the last four seasons.
With the salary cap for next season officially at $79.5 million, the Bruins have just under $12 million in cap space for the coming season. If the Bruins are to sign Tavares, they'll be forced to shed some cap space. Signing Tavares would ultimately end David Krejci's tenure in Boston as paying three centers over $23 million is simply unfeasible.
Krejci and his cap hit of $7.25 million, and David Backes' cap hit of $6 million make the most sense for the Bruins to move. Both have been linked to trade rumors of late.
Tavares is expected to get at least $10 million per season, and should get the max years allowed per the CBA. As his former team, the Islanders can offer a max of eight years, while any other club can go no higher than seven.
The 27-year old Tavares is not the Bruins biggest need, as a backup goalie, a top six right wing and a left shot defenseman tops the list. But when a player like Tavares is interested in potentially joining your team, you make him a priority.
Most feel that Tavares will ultimately end up back in New York and is just meeting with other teams to explore his options, similar to what Steven Stamkos did before signing an eight year, $68 million contract in 2016 just days before free agency began.
But regardless, seeing the Bruins in for Kovalchuk and now in on Tavares is a welcoming sign and a sign that Don Sweeney is doing his job as general manager.