According to CapGeek The Bruins are in a world of hurt with the Cap. The Bruins are in a predicament mainly because they are stuck with roughly 4 Million dollars worth of Marc Savard still on their Cap. Now in the season that actually isn’t an issue because he can go on LTIR and presto chango there’s all that money back. However, as I understand it (Hat-Tip to Alan Hull of Copper N’ Blue) the Bruins must be beneath Cap on opening day and only then can they get that relief. NHL teams can also go over 10% of the Cap in summer too but there are some pretty specific rules in place that govern the summer months too.
So with that being said the Bruins really are in a bit of a pickle as they have to re-sign Krug, Bartkowski, Reilly Smith, (and potentially Jarome Iginla) all while apparently only having 3.77M to do it. Now that’s only if they want those guys signed before the season starts. That number jumps to about 7M once Savard’s Cap relief comes but, again, that’s only once the season begins. The Bruins are in a lot of trouble right now and that’s where things get interesting for the Oilers.
The Oilers have Space in abundance. Compare Boston’s 3.77M in Cap Space to Edmonton’s almost 21.5M. One of the things MacT said in the past few days during his media circuit of Edmonton was that the Oilers are a team willing to take on Salary in deals. He was very explicit in this saying that the asset going back the other way would primarily be Cap Space. MacT’s own language then would suggest that this proposal from Jim Matheson would be entirely too much.
If you were cap-strapped Bruins would you be interested in way cheaper ($870,000) Slovak D-man Marincin from Oil for, say, Boychuk?#Oilers
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) June 24, 2014Would the Bruins do that deal? I bet they would. Should the Oilers make that deal? No. NO. NOOOOOOOO.
Martin Marincin was one of Edmonton’s best defenders and is still on his ELC. His own GM once said he’s seen bigger arms on a pair of glasses but he can handle NHL forwards just fine and the Oilers are going to give him up for 1 year of Boychuk? If the Oilers want him they just have to wait 1 year when he becomes a UFA. But more than that, if the Bruins want to sign their RFAs plus extras, they aren’t getting much else back from the Oil except late picks or questionable prospects (looking at you Khaira). They want Cap Space. The Oilers have it. There’s a deal to be done and I highly doubt MacT is giving up one of his best young defenders to do it.
Boychuk seems like a good fit. He’s a 20+ minute a night guy who was slightly better than average possession-wise with the Bruins and by all accounts a quality player. His Cap Hit is not quite 3.4M which is no issue for the Oilers but could be extremely useful for the Bruins. That’s not even accounting for the fact that he’s an Edmonton product and probably wouldn’t cry too much if he were traded here. It all seems to work out well assuming the Bruins want to keep their RFAs more than they want to keep 1 year of Boychuk.
The Bruins, I’m sure, also wouldn’t mind clearing themselves of Chris Kelly and his 3M dollar Cap Hit. That’s a lot of money to be paid to a 33 year old after he cashed in on a career high Sh% in 2011-2012. He had never really been that close to 20 goals before that season and is a bad bet to ever get back there again, but the Bruins need relief and the Oilers can afford it. Perhaps the Bruins are more open to losing Boychuk for nothing if it also includes getting rid of Kelly.
The Bruins have much more interesting players but they’re still trying to win a Cup while their window appears to be open so something tells me Bergeron, Lucic, and the rest of the high-priced talent remains off-limits. But a guy can still dream, cant he?
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