The Boston Bruins are an incredibly deep team. With an internal cap system that sees most of their players make under $7 million per season, the organization seems to have a smart structure in place to continue building a strong foundation of talent to compete for the Stanley Cup every year.
One might think this system make players more likely to sign team-friendly deals. With about $18 million in funds to re-sign free agents Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, Anders Bjork, Torey Krug, and Zdeno Chara, the Bruins are hoping that’s true. They might have gotten some bad news on that front recently.
Finding room for both Krug and DeBrusk could be difficult, considering the rumors of what each is asking. Krug will be worth quite a bit on the open market, despite a flat salary cap, but for Jake DeBrusk, he’s a bit of an unknown. The problem is, word is he’s not keen on taking a discount to stick around.
Reports are that DeBrusk sees himself as a $6 million forward. His agent, Rick Valette, was on Bob Stauffer’s Oilers Now radio show out of Edmonton, and noted that despite a flat cap, he’s not letting it dictate their negotiations with the team. “I don’t really consider that at this point. Will it play into it? Maybe,” said Valette.
The suggestion was that just because Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand all make under $7 million per season, doesn’t mean DeBrusk will lower his ask to fit into something that makes Boston’s life a little easier. Valette said, “Boston certainly has some internal things that they like to look at, but I’m going to try to not look at that. I guess that’s the way I would say it to you.”
Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston also joined Stauffer and said he imagines the choice will come down to the Bruins either keeping Krug or DeBrusk, but not both. Suggesting DeBrusk is a $5 million player, if he plays well in the postseason, that number might rise.
There are certainly comparables to justify DeBrusk’s ask. That said, none of those comparables came in a time when the salary cap wasn’t going up over the next couple of seasons.
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