The Bruins are very much all-in on the 2022-23 season in what could be one final kick at the can for players like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
Don Sweeney has committed massive resources to stack the deck as much as he can in the Black and Gold’s favor. That is going to complicate matters beyond this season, no doubt. The lack of high-end draft capital certainly will hinder the organization’s ability to restock its prospect pipeline. Cap space, at least next season, will be tough to come by.
However, the Thursday-morning slam dunk — the announcement of a massive eight-year, $90 million contract extension for David Pastrnak — should ease some concerns about the long-term health of the Bruins. In locking up Pastrnak through 2031, the Bruins have further solidified and cemented their “next” core.
“I’m very confident moving forward,” Pastrnak said at a press conference Thursday. “Charlie (McAvoy) is a good player and a great person, and we learn from (Bergeron and Krejci) every day. … We will make sure we are ready for it with Charlie, and the younger core because we had the help of guys who showed us the way.”
If Bergeron and Krejci walk away after this season, here are the Bruins players under contract for the next two seasons (through 2025) with Pastrnak in the fold:
Pastrnak ($11.25 million)
Brad Marchand ($6.125 million)
Charlie Coyle ($5.25 million)
Pavel Zacha ($4.75 million)
Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million)
Hampus Lindholm ($6.5 million)
Brandon Carlo ($4.1 million)
Linus Ullmark ($5 milion)
In Pastrnak, McAvoy and Ullmark alone, the Bruins have three players who all could win major awards either this season or in the very near future. Pastrnak should get Hart Trophy consideration as the MVP, as should Ullmark, probably, with the Bruins goalie already the runaway favorite to win the Vezina Trophy. There also are worse bets than expecting McAvoy to take home the Norris Trophy at some point in his career.
In addition to that group, the Bruins also have Ullmark’s understudy and BFF, Jeremy Swayman, set to become a restricted free agent following the season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him extended at some point.
The Bruins also will have performance bonuses to pay out for Bergeron and Krejci, necessary moves to make sure this year’s B’s team would be cap-compliant. That’s another $4.5 million they’ll have to worry about, per CapFriendly.com.
Those eight aforementioned players (nine if you count Swayman) obviously won’t be enough to skate an entire team. The Bruins will have to get creative, with CapFriendly projecting nearly $73 million already projected for roster and buried cap hits. The salary cap is expected to only go up by $1 million next season, so that doesn’t help, either. That part won’t be easy, and the roster definitely will look different.
That’s the price you pay for this incredible opportunity this season. But again, it’s a talented core that should be competitive. And here’s one other thing to consider: After next season, the salary cap is projected to jump all the way up to $87.5 million as escrow is paid out to the league.
Per CapFriendly, the cap will be all the way up to $92 million by 2025-26. At that point, the Bruins will have just over $41 million — less than half — committed to legitimate difference-makers like Pastrnak, Coyle, Zacha, McAvoy, Lindholm and Carlo.
Sweeney will have to get creative, no doubt. Winning the Cup this spring would go a long way in earning some goodwill on that front. But even if the Bruins fall short this year, they have built a foundation that should keep them competitive into the future.
