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Boston Bruins Avoid Arbitration With Pavel Zacha

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With Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci now officially signed, the Boston Bruins are almost complete for the 2022-23 season. Pavel Zacha sits as the team’s only unsigned restricted free agent, with an arbitration date set for Thursday. It appears as though they will not need that hearing after all, as the Bruins have signed Zacha to a one-year, $3.5MM contract.

Because he has already completed six seasons in the NHL, a one-year deal for Zacha would take him directly to unrestricted free agency next summer at the age of 26. The 2015 sixth-overall pick was acquired by the Bruins in a trade for Erik Haula this offseason, after he put up a career-high 36 points in 2021-22.

A $3.5MM cap hit is actually equal to the base salary for both Bergeron and Krejci combined, showing just how team-friendly those bonus-laden deals are, and how strong an arbitration case Zacha had after developing into a consistent two-way presence the last few years. While he never did become the top-six center that many believed he could be when drafted, his versatility, defensive acumen, and size make him a nice piece for the Bruins to move around this year.

While this deal does technically move the Bruins over the salary cap, for the time being, they have plenty of flexibility with several key players injured to start the year. That doesn’t necessarily rule out an offseason move to free up some additional space (the Bruins will receive a short buyout window now that Zacha’s arbitration case has been settled) but it isn’t required, as Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand could be moved to long-term injured reserve as they recover from summer surgery.

Marchand’s absence, in particular, could mean a nice opportunity for Zacha, depending on how things play out, as the team’s left wing depth is quite impressive when everyone is healthy. Whether he can reach new offensive heights remains to be seen, but the big forward will at least get the chance to prove he deserves a long-term UFA contract as the Bruins try to contend for the Stanley Cup for at least one more Bergeron-led season.

PuckPedia broke the contract details on Twitter.

Boston Bruins Re-Sign Patrice Bergeron

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The captain is back, as Patrice Bergeron has officially re-signed with the Boston Bruins. The legendary defensive forward will be back for his 19th season, agreeing to a one-year, $2.5MM contract. The deal also has an additional $2.5MM in potential performance bonuses.

Not only does this bring back one of the best players in Bruins history but Bergeron has done the team a huge favor by agreeing to such a reasonable contract. Because he is over the age of 35 and signing a one-year deal, he’s eligible for performance bonuses. If any part of that bonus money would put the team over the salary cap ceiling by the end of the year, they can be pushed to the 2023-24 books.

Given the fact that Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports is reporting that the entire $2.5MM bonus is for 10 games played, this is essentially a way for the Bruins to split Bergeron’s cap hit between two seasons. They can now operate as if he is only taking up $2.5MM, while then incurring up to a $2.5MM penalty next season – whether he plays or not.

Still, that is a ridiculously low number for a player of his ability. The 37-year-old had one of the best defensive seasons in history last year, and added 25 goals and 65 points in 73 games, winning his record fifth Selke Trophy in the process. Had he actually been on the open market, he likely could have secured multiple years and a much higher salary.

There was never any chance of him going somewhere else though, as Boston has been his home for two decades. The Bruins selected Bergeron 45th overall in 2003, and he has been a pillar of consistency in their lineup basically ever since.

One of the few players left in the league to have played before the 2004-05 lockout, Bergeron was a rookie in 2003-04 and scored 16 goals and 39 points as a teenager. After the NHL resumed in 2005, he was already an All-Star level talent, with 31 goals and 73 points in his sophomore year. After 1,216 regular season games with the team, he sits on 400 goals and 982 points, meaning he’ll have another milestone night at some point this year.

Whether the rest of the Bruins roster is good enough to contend for the Stanley Cup still remains to be seen but there is no arguing against the fact that Bergeron gets them closer. The veteran forward will be in the Hall of Fame one day, and the team is paying him as if he’s a depth option.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colorado Avalanche Sign Anton Blidh

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Per a team tweet Wednesday afternoon, the Colorado Avalanche have signed former Boston Bruins forward Anton Blidh to a one-year contract in free agency. Contract terms will be updated when they’re released.

Blidh joins the Avalanche after spending seven seasons playing in the Bruins organization, turning pro two years after he was drafted by the team in 2013. He finally became a full-time NHL player in 2021-22, and while he only played in 32 games for the Bruins, it was the first season in the organization that he never suited up in the AHL.

In 2021-22, Blidh set NHL career highs in goals (two), assists (seven), and points (nine) in those 32 games. He’d appeared in NHL games for the Bruins in six straight seasons, finishing with 12 points in 70 games.

Mostly a checking and energy forward, Blidh could look to replace the loss of Nicolas Aube-Kubel in the Avalanche lineup if he’s able to continue his regular NHL presence. If not, he’ll be a leader in the room for the Colorado Eagles.

Craig Smith Could Be A Cap Casualty For Bruins

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  • If the Bruins are forced to make a cap-shedding trade to accompany Pavel Zacha’s eventual deal plus the potential returns of UFAs Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe suggests that winger Craig Smith is the likely candidate to be moved. The 32-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $3.1MM cap hit.  He has been pretty consistent in recent years, notching at least 13 goals and 31 points in each of the last four seasons and is coming off a 36-point campaign.  Unlike some teams that are trying to shed negative-value contracts, Smith’s isn’t in that category but with so few squads looking to take on money, Boston would be hard-pressed to get a quality return for the veteran if they have to go that route.

Boston Bruins Sign Brett Harrison

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One of the better players in a thin Boston Bruins prospect pool, Brett Harrison, has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the team. Per the announcement, Harrison’s deal carries an annual cap hit of $859K.

Harrison, 19, was the 85th overall pick at the 2021 draft and the second selection made by Boston. He’s spent two seasons with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL, missing the entirety of 2020-21, save for ten games across two levels with Finnish club KooVee Tampere.

Harrison is a natural center who produced decently well in the OHL last season. In 71 combined regular-season and playoff contests, Harrison potted 31 goals and 68 points. Harrison plays a balanced offensive style and, if everything breaks right, could emerge as a capable middle-six center at the NHL level.

The defensive side of Harrison’s game needs work, especially if he intends on sticking at the center position as a professional. Despite being among their most talented forwards, Harrison featured only sporadically on the Generals’ penalty kill.

Harrison will in all likelihood head back to Oshawa for another season before continuing his development with the AHL Providence Bruins, his most likely first landing spot under this newly-signed contract.

Looking Back At The First Round Of The 2005 NHL Entry Draft

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On this date 17 years ago, the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. It was the league’s first major event since the lockout that cost them the entire 2004-05 season ended just over a week prior, and considering the draft’s top prize, there was added intrigue.

With the lack of regular-season standings to determine the draft order, the league implemented a snake draft system to make things more equitable for teams in later rounds that didn’t fare so well in the draft lottery. One team that did fare well that night, though, was the Pittsburgh Penguins, who cemented a 15-plus year run of success by drafting future captain Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick.

Five players selected that night went on to appear in at least 1,000 NHL games, including Crosby. One was 2022 Stanley Cup Champion Jack Johnson, taken third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. Johnson never played a single game for Carolina, though, as he was traded the following offseason to the Los Angeles Kings along with defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in exchange for defenseman Tim Gleason and center Eric Belanger.

Johnson wasn’t the only player from the first round to play meaningful games for the Kings, though. The team selected two-time Stanley Cup champion and future captain Anze Kopitar with the 11th overall selection. Another thousand-gamer was selected directly after him when the New York Rangers picked defenseman Marc Staal 12th overall, while Johnson’s teammate on the 2022 Avalanche, forward Andrew Cogliano, was selected 25th by the Edmonton Oilers.

One name from that night who could still join the 1,000-game club was St. Louis Blues selection and current Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie. Taken 24th overall, he only needs 100 more appearances to hit the mark.

Future Stanley Cup-winning skaters weren’t the only future legends drafted that night, though. Two of the greatest goalies in recent memory were drafted that night, with the Montreal Canadiens selecting Carey Price with the fifth overall pick and the Toronto Maple Leafs selecting Tuukka Rask with the 21st overall pick, of course prior to trading him to the Boston Bruins the following season.

Just three players selected that night, all taken within four picks of each other, would never make an NHL appearance. Slovak forward Marek Zagrapan, drafted 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, played just three years in the organization with two different AHL affiliates, scoring 20 goals there just once. At 35 years old, Zagrapan is still active, playing the 2022-23 season in the French Ligue Magnus.

Directly after him, the Washington Capitals took Canadian defenseman Sasha Pokulok with the 14th overall pick. The first overage player taken in the draft, he’s arguably the biggest bust of the night. He never spent a full season in the AHL, bouncing up and down between there and the ECHL for four seasons after turning pro in 2006. He failed to make a notable impact in Europe, too, only lasting one season in the DEL (2010-11) before floating around various lower-level leagues in Eastern Europe and Quebec.

Lastly, there’s Canadian winger Alex Bourret, taken by the Atlanta Thrashers at 16th overall. A short but strong power winger, Bourret had a very successful junior career in the QMJHL that just didn’t translate. His North American career fizzled out quickly after a strong start in the AHL, but after being traded twice (first to the Rangers, then to the Coyotes), he had just 14 points in 48 AHL games during his final season there in 2008-09.

Bruins And Pavel Zacha Making Progress On Contract Talks

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While Pavel Zacha filed for arbitration earlier this month, it appears that there’s a good chance that his case won’t come to a hearing.  The center’s agent – Darren Ferris of Quartexx – told Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald (Twitter link) that a new deal for his client “should be completed in short order”.

Boston acquired the 25-year-old from New Jersey just hours before free agency opened up earlier this month in exchange for Erik Haula.  Zacha hasn’t been able to live up to his draft billing as the sixth-overall selection in 2015 but he has shown improvement over the last couple of seasons and is coming off a year that saw him collect 15 goals and 21 assists in 70 games with New Jersey; his 36 points were a career-high.

That was good enough for Boston to acquire and qualify him at a $3MM cost although that number is likely going to go higher on his next contract.  Zacha is in his final season of RFA eligibility since he already has six seasons of service time under his belt so it stands to reason that the sides are working on a multi-year agreement at this point which would at least give them a bit of depth down the middle.

It would also give them the cost certainty needed to move forward with the rest of their offseason planning.  The Bruins have stated their interest in re-signing Patrice Bergeron if the soon-to-be 37-year-old is open to returning for a 19th NHL season.  They’ve also been in talks with David Krejci about bringing him back to North America.  But until Zacha’s deal gets done, GM Don Sweeney won’t know what exactly he has left in cap space.

Either way, it won’t be much.  CapFriendly currently projects Boston to have $4.758MM in cap room, the bulk of which will go to Zacha.  Not surprisingly, Sweeney acknowledged earlier this month that if Bergeron and Krejci return, it will need to be on a low-salary deal with performance bonuses.  They will likely need to clear out a contract as well, even with several veterans (Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grzelcyk) likely to start the year on LTIR.  Ferris also told Conroy that there’s “lots going on” so a Zacha contract may be the domino that gets things going on the rest of their offseason moves.

Bruins Re-Sign Jack Studnicka

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The Bruins didn’t reach an agreement with Jack Studnicka by the time that qualifying offers lapsed on Friday but they didn’t need much time after that to sign him as the team announced that they’ve signed the forward to a two-year contract.  The deal carries an AAV of $762.5K and is a two-way agreement for 2022-23 and a one-year pact for 2023-24.

The 23-year-old was a second-round pick of the Bruins back in 2017 (53rd overall) and has seen some NHL action in each of his first three professional campaigns.  Last season, Studnicka played in 15 games with Boston, picking up three assists while averaging 12:35 per game.  He was, however, more productive in the minors with AHL Providence, notching 10 goals and 25 assists in 41 contests, the best points-per-game rate of his three professional seasons.

Studnicka will have to pass through waivers next season to make it back to Providence and while he hasn’t had a lot of NHL success just yet with just a goal and six assists in 37 career contests, the fact he’s a young center with some experience would make him a candidate to be claimed off waivers if they tried to send him back down.  Instead, it seems likely that Studnicka will be able to collect his NHL salary for both years – $750K next season and $775K in 2023-24 – by hanging on to a spot at the back of Boston’s roster while hoping to land a full-time spot in their lineup.

John Matisz of The Score was the first to report the contract.

Boston Bruins Hire John Gruden

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The Boston Bruins have hired John Gruden (no, not Jon Gruden) as an assistant coach for the upcoming season, adding to Jim Montgomery’s staff. He spent the last four seasons with the New York Islanders but was fired along with Jim Hiller (who joined the Los Angeles Kings staff yesterday) in June, after the team moved Lane Lambert into the head coaching position.

Gruden, 52, should be a familiar name to Bruins fans, who may remember his short stint with the team during his playing days. Drafted 168th overall by Boston in 1990, he played parts of three seasons with the team and was a star for the Providence Bruins of the AHL for a short period. Overall, his playing days resulted in just 92 regular season NHL games.

His coaching career though has been much more successful. As head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, Gruden won the league championship and took the club to the Memorial Cup, before falling to Sam Steel and the Regina Pats in the semifinal. He parlayed that junior success into a role with Barry Trotz, where he was partly responsible for the huge defensive turnaround the Islanders experienced.

Now, as the Bruins move forward with a different staff, Gruden joins Joe Sacco and Chris Kelly as assistants under Montgomery.

Boston Bruins Sign Three Players

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The Boston Bruins have signed three players, starting with Jack Ahcan, whose one-year, two-way contract was reported over the weekend. He’ll be joined by Matt Filipe, who has agreed to a one-year two-way contract with an NHL salary of $787.5K, and Ryan Mast, who has inked his three-year entry-level deal that comes with a cap hit of $850K.

Filipe, 24, was a third-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2016 but never signed with the team, leading to an entry-level contract with his hometown Bruins after he finished his college career at Northeastern. This season, he scored seven goals and 17 points in 59 games for the Providence Bruins, not exactly the kind of numbers that inspire confidence in a future NHL career.

The 6’2″ forward did enough to earn a qualifying offer though, which is what he is signing today. The $787.5K may actually hurt his chances–if only slightly–of playing in the NHL next season, as he’ll take up more cap space than the average minor league call-up. Still, he’ll continue his development with Providence and improve on his numbers in year three of professional hockey.

Mast meanwhile was a sixth-round pick of the Bruins in 2021 and will be headed back to the OHL to continue his junior career with the Sarnia Sting. The 6’5″ defenseman has quite a few holes in his game but has shown enough–31 points in 59 games this season–that his size offers at least a bit of intrigue as a future professional.

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