Kent Hughes said his client, who was a restricted free agent, received a one-year, one-way deal worth $600,000. That’s actually a pay decrease for Caron, who made $640,000 last season.
Caron primarily served as the Bruins’ 13th forward last season, scoring one goal and adding two assists in 35 games. The 23-year-old also appeared in seven playoff games and scored a goal in the Bruins’ first-round series win over the Detroit Red Wings.
There’s still a chance the Bruins could move Caron before the season begins. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said as much earlier this summer, and Caron’s camp is ready for whatever happens.
“I think expectations are kind of open-ended on this situation,” Hughes told The Globe. “If there is a trade that presents itself, the Bruins will definitely have to consider it, and I am inclined to agree that it may be time for him to have a fresh start with an organization. Having said that, until the Bruins find the right fit, they still own his rights, and we needed to, within a certain timeline, conclude an agreement, which we did.”
Caron, the Bruins’ 2009 first-round draft pick, has struggled to find any sort of consistency over the last two seasons. He has just two goals in 52 games since the beginning of the 2013 season. That came after he posted 7-8-15 totals in 48 games in 2011-12.
“When you’ve had a player up and down within an organization for a period of time and as far as his role on the team, at least, there hasn’t been the progression over the last couple of years, at that point in time, we often see teams and players kind of going in a different direction,” Hughes said.
The Bruins still have entry-level free agents Torey Krug and Reilly Smith to sign.