The Boston Bruins made a few moves before NHL free agency opens Friday, re-signing defenseman Torey Krug to a four-year contract and buying out defenseman Dennis Seidenberg.
That leaves left wing Loui Eriksson as the team’s most pressing free agent, but there seems to be a growing unlikelihood that the 30-year-old will return to Boston next season.
“No updates (on Eriksson),” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said during a conference call Thursday, per Matt Kalman. “(We’ll) continue to have talks and sort of figure out where things may go. I’ve had talks with a number of players to see what they would like to be the opportunity here or if we see as a fit. I haven’t ruled absolutely any of that out. Just haven’t found common ground. Obviously it gets harder and harder as we go further along in the process.”
Reports have Eriksson asking for a six-year contract, while the Bruins seemingly won’t budge from four years.
Let’s look at other Bruins notes trickling through the news cycle.
— Krug, who underwent shoulder surgery in April with a six-month recovery timeline, believes it’s possible he could return by opening night.
Boston opens the regular season Oct. 13 in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Its home opener is one week later against the New Jersey Devils.
— Another familiar face might return on the blue line.
Liles was acquired at the trade deadline last season from the Carolina Hurricanes.
— Buying out Seidenberg wasn’t an easy thing to do.
Sweeney added the Bruins never approached Seidenberg about waiving his no-trade clause, which was in effect until December.
“I would have considered all options from that standpoint,” Sweeney said, per WEEI.com’s DJ Bean. “I mean, they’re all at our disposal. If it had come to any of those situations, we probably would have been able to approach Dennis with his contract situation and no-trade and explored those things. This was the opportunity. We pushed it right down to the last minute, and this was the decision we made, albeit a very difficult one.”
The deadline to buy out contracts was 5 p.m. Wednesday.
— The news regarding Liles came as a bit of a surprise, considering what Sweeney said about integrating younger players into the lineup.
The Bruins already have Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller and Torey Krug locked up on the blue line. They freed up a spot by waiving Seidenberg, but adding Liles means there’s only one available spot out of a young defensive group that consists of, at least, Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, Rob O’Gara and Brandon Carlo.
Of course, Sweeney didn’t specifically say anything about the defense. Malcolm Subban (or another prospect) likely will take over the backup goalie job instead of the team signing a veteran backup. And Boston could stress that youth more on the offensive end — especially if Eriksson walks — and promote younger players such as Frank Vatrano, Seth Griffith, Austin Czarnik and Noel Acciari, to name a few, to full-time roles with the NHL club.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
