As soon as the Bruins got contracts done with RFA defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, discussions quickly shifted as to whether or not they’d be able to keep pending UFA Torey Krug in the fold. Those talks have indeed started as Krug confirmed to reporters, including NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty, that he’s hopeful about getting a deal done at some point:
It’s exciting. Now that we’re in the regular season I don’t want to talk too much about it just out of respect for my teammates and the process. But it’s obviously exciting when you’re talking about where you could be for the future while taking care of the present obviously. That’s the most important thing. But it’s an exciting time and hopefully things work out.
Meanwhile, GM Don Sweeney declined to comment on any specifics of the negotiations.
The 28-year-old will carry a $5.25MM cap hit this season, one that is certainly a team-friendly deal given the offensive impact he provides after cracking the 50-point mark in each of the last three seasons while actually producing at a higher point-per-game rate in the postseason. He’s certainly going to be in line for a considerable raise as a result.
Boston currently has a little under $58MM in committed contracts for 2020-21 to a total of 13 players. The bridge deals that McAvoy and Carlo ultimately took keep their AAV low enough to keep Krug in the fold although the back-loaded nature of their deals means that their cap hit will be a fair bit higher next time around which is something that Sweeney will need to keep in mind. That said, there appears to be enough cap space for the Bruins to be able to afford to keep their top offensive threat on the back end in the fold for the foreseeable future.