At long last, the Boston Bruins have finished signing all their restricted free agents.
The Bruins on Tuesday morning announced they signed defenseman Brandon Carlo to a two-year deal worth $2.85 million annually. This comes two days after the Bruins and Charlie McAvoy agreed to a three-year bridge deal that carries a $4.89 AAV.
After spending time early in his career on the top pairing with Zdeno Chara, Carlo transitioned to a second-pairing role alongside Torey Krug. The two balance each other out well, as Carlo brings little offensively but has established himself as a decent stay-at-home defenseman. Couple that with Krug’s knack for creating scoring both for himself and teammates, and they became one of the more solid second pairings in the NHL last season.
According to CapFriendly, the Bruins had about $3.2 million in cap space after signing McAvoy. They were tight up against the cap all offseason, so general manager Don Sweeney’ gymnastics to get the RFA class (which also included Danton Heinen) signed without having to move out any major pieces is quite the accomplishment.
The 22-year-old slashed 2-8-10 in 72 regular season games in 2018-19.
