The Boston Bruins are in desperate need of salary cap space as the NHL offseason officially gets underway with the conclusion of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final earlier this week.
The B's have just about $4.9 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, with more than 10 of their own players eligible for unrestricted or restricted free agency this summer. That list includes some pretty important players, too, most notably Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jeremy Swayman.
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One of the easiest ways for the Bruins to open cap room is by trading a player and taking less salary (or no salary) in return.
Another way to create cap space is buying out players. The league's first buyout period opened Friday.
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One buyout candidate on the Bruins roster is Mike Reilly.
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The veteran defenseman has one more season left on his three-year, $9 million contract. His deal includes a $3 million salary cap hit. Reilly is not a bad player, but given the Bruins' impressive blue line depth last season, especially on the left side, he spent most of the 2022-23 campaign buried in the AHL with the Providence Bruins.
The Bruins couldn't find a taker for Reilly on the trade market last season. Trades are typically easier in the summer than during the regular season, so maybe the Bruins could find a trade partner for Reilly in the coming weeks. Teams could do worse than Reilly on their third pairing. That said, his $4 million salary for the upcoming season could make it a little more difficult to move him.
If the Bruins are unable to work out a trade, then a buyout becomes the best option to jettison most of Reilly's cap hit.
Here's a salary breakdown of what a Reilly buyout would look like, per CapFriendly:
--A buyout saves the Bruins $2.66 million in cap space for 2023-24. The Bruins would have a cap hit of just $333,334 for Reilly on their books.
--The Bruins also would have a $1.33 million dead cap hit for 2024-25.
Dead cap space is typically an obstacle, especially in a league like the NHL that uses a hard cap. But the cap is expected to rise a good amount in the coming years, and the Bruins have a bunch of players coming off the books following the 2023-24 season. CapFriendly currently projects the Bruins will have about $29 million cap space in the summer of 2024, so that $1.33 million in dead cap money for Reilly shouldn't be a huge deal.
The ideal situation for the Bruins is obviously finding a trade for Reilly. It would prevent a dead cap charge. But if that kind of move isn't possible, then a buyout this offseason is a no-brainer. It's time for both sides to move on, and the Bruins are desperate for any kind of cap relief.
