Bruins Letting Tomas Kaberle, Michael Ryder Test Free Agent Waters, Not Against Bringing Them Back If Price Is Right

With almost all of its Stanley Cup-winning roster returning, the Bruins don't expect to be big players in free agency this year.

But the Bruins do have a couple of important players set to hit the open market on Friday with defenseman Tomas Kaberle and forward Michael Ryder both due to become unrestricted free agents. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli would like to keep both in Boston, but also made it clear that it would have to be at the right price.

"I have a sense of what segment they're in in the market, but I'm not entirely certain enough to answer that question," Chiarelli said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday. "Those are two guys that gave us good service so for the right number I would like to have them back, but I don't know what that number is. I can't tell you what that number is."

Despite his underwhelming performance at times after arriving in Boston at the trade deadline, Kaberle will command the biggest price. He didn't have the impact on the Bruins' lackluster power play that the club hoped and made some costly defensive gaffes in the playoffs, but his play settled down as the postseason went on. Kaberle finished tied with Dennis Seidenberg for the team lead in points for defensemen in the playoffs with 11 and was a plus-8.

He played his best hockey as a Bruin when it mattered most, turning in a solid performance in the Cup Final against Vancouver. That, plus the dearth of defensemen available in free agency that possess his puck-moving ability, makes it no surprise that the bruins would be interested in retaining Kaberle's services. That's despite a report by TSN's Darren Dreger on Tuesday that the Bruins were shopping the rights to negotiate with Kaberle ahead of Friday's opening of the free agency period.

On Thursday, Chiarelli made it clear that while Kaberle was likely to explore his options on the open market, the Bruins would continue to discuss a new deal to keep the veteran defenseman in Boston.

"There's certainly no finality to our relationship," Chiarelli said. "What we've agreed to with Tomas and his agent was that he would look into the market and we'd continue to talk with him. So certainly there's no finality there. If it's not Tomas, we would look to some names out in the market and we'd also look to our younger guys too. But let me be perfectly clear, there's no end to the relationship because we haven't signed him or haven't signed him to this point."

The issue for Boston will be the cost of keeping Kaberle. He made $4.25 million a season on his last deal, and that cap hit is more likely to go up than down judging from the signings already made this offseason. Kaberle, 33, had 4-43-47 totals and was a plus-4. Joni Pitkanen, 27, re-signed with Carolina for three years and $13.5 million ($4.5 million cap hit) after a 5-30-35, minus-2 season, while Kevin Bieksa, 30, re-upped with Vancouver for five years and $23 million ($4.6 million cap hit) after 6-16-22 totals and a plus-32 last year. Christian Ehrhoff, 28, meanwhile, left Vancouver and signed a front-loaded 10-year, $40-million deal ($4 million cap hit) with Buffalo after the Sabres traded for his rights following a 14-36-50 season with the Canucks.

Eric Brewer, 32, landed a new four-year, $15.4 million deal ($3.85 million cap hit) with Tampa after a 9-7-16 season that featured no points on the power play. Andrei Markov also got a three-year, $17.25 million deal ($5.75 million cap hit) from Montreal. He's more skilled than any of the other defensemen re-signed ahead of Friday's free agency, but he's also been limited to just seven games last year and 45 the year before because of injuries.

Those signings not only set a high bar for cost of signing Kaberle, they also limit the available options on defense, which could further drive up his ticket price. The other available options for the Bruins include James Wisniewski, who had his rights traded from Montreal to Columbus, Ian White and Sami Salo.

The Bruins could save their money, go with a youngster like Steven Kampfer and explore the trade market during the season if he struggles in a full-time role.

Boston has taken a similar stand with Ryder, who made $4 million last season on the final year of a three-year deal signed back in 2008. He'll be allowed to test the market as well, but the Bruins haven't ruled out bringing him back if the price is right.

"There's no, again with Tomas Kaberle we're doing the same with Michael Ryder is that we certainly haven't parted ways," Chiarelli said. "I'm wary of the market, where it stands right now and I said, 'Look guys, go out there and see what's going on and let's continue to talk.' The risk that we run is that they will get a deal then they can't come back to us. And I understand that risk. So that's where those two guys stand."

Like with Kaberle, there aren't a lot of scoring options on the market to replace Ryder, who managed just 18 goals in each of the last two seasons but has elevated his game every year in the playoffs. He has 17-18-35 totals in 49 postseason games with the Bruins, including 8-9-17 totals in 25 games in this year's Cup run.

Tyler Seguin is expected to take on a bigger role in his second season and Jordan Caron could also make the jump to the big club in a full-time capacity if the Bruins don't re-sign Ryder or bring in another veteran scorer via free agency.