The Maple Leafs were able to complete most of their off-season work in July, but a few of their Atlantic Division rivals still have plenty of work to do before the start of training camp next month.
Toronto’s last and most significant move was opting to sign defenseman Jake Gardiner to a five-year, $20.25 Million deal instead of a short-term bridge deal that most everyone(including Gardiner) was expecting.
Although it is arguable whether the 24-year-old Gardiner has done enough so far to earn a $4.05 Million per season salary, the five-year deal locks up the Minnesota native through two years of arbitration eligibility and one year of unrestricted free agency, something that Montreal wishes they would have done with P.K. Subban after the expiration of his entry-level deal two years ago.
Subban came off two seasons scoring more than 35 points and looked for a long-term deal from the Habs for around $5 Million per season, but Montreal GM Marc Bergevin was set on the more economical bridge deal.
After holding out the first four games of the lockout-shortened 2013 season, Bergevin “won… by getting the defenseman to sign a two-year, $5.75 Million deal. In those two years, Subban has won the Norris Trophy and led the Habs to the Eastern Conference Final, which is why the Toronto, ON native feels entitled to now be one of the highest-paid defensemen in the league. The situation reached a final resolution as the two sides agreed to a eight-year, $72 Million extension, which means that not signing the long-term deal cost the Canadiens $12 Million in valuable cap space over the next three seasons.
Detroit and Boston also have situations to resolve with restricted free agent defensemen. Red Wings defenseman Danny Dekeyser has yet to sign a new deal. GM Ken Holland may want to lock up the 24-year-old Michigan native to a long-term deal as the Leafs did with Gardiner, but he is also looking to add an experienced blueliner after striking out with free agents Dan Boyle and Matt Niskanen last month.
With only $5.2 Million in room under the cap, Holland might be able to one thing or the other, but not do both.
The Bruins are handcuffed by the nearly $5 Million in bonus overages from Jarome Ignila’s incentive-based deal and will have less than $4 Million in cap room after designating the quasi-retired Marc Savard’s salary under long-term injury exemption to sign RFA’s Torey Krug and Reilly Smith.
Krug scored 40 points in his rookie season for the Bruins and finished fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy, but has no negotiating leverage for a new deal according to CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty.
Krug and Smith were both looking for deals similar to that of Tampa Calder finalists Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson(3 years,$10 million) but with Boston’s cap situation, they will likely be forced to sign a one or two year deal. in the $1-2 million range, something that will be good for the Bruins in the present, but might cause headaches in the future.
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