There is a lot of news around the NHL in anticipation of today’s start of free agency at 12 p.m. EST.
This is a quick recap of what signings are in place (Mike Reilly), rumors linked to the Boston Bruins (Blake Coleman, Ryan Getzlaf, Derek Forbort) and a look around the league at some players with area ties. We also update the David Krejci situation.
We will be back later today with analysis on any B’s signings and news related to the region.
Mike Reilly back in the fold for 3 years
First up, the confirmed news that the B’s and defenseman Mike Reilly agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension worth $9 million per season with an AAV of $3M.
The left-shooting defender acquired at the trade deadline could have been a rental, and the Bruins might have even let him hit the market after his defensive warts got exposed in the playoffs against Washington and the New York Islanders. Here’s the reality, however — with Jeremy Lauzon off to Seattle, that left Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass.), John Moore and Jakub Zboril as the only left side ‘D’ on the roster with any real NHL experience. Urho Vaakanainen and Nick Wolff provide AHL depth and a “break glass in case of fire” option if the team runs into injury problems.
That’s nowhere near good enough for a team that is trying to stay competitive for a championship with a dwindling window on key core players.
After the B’s went out on Ryan Suter, who will sign a reported four-year deal with the Dallas Stars today, they had to reassess their situation.
What Reilly gives them is a capable, support-role puck-mover who can play on the second unit PP. He’s no threat to the memory of Rod Langway or Larry Robinson, but he’s young enough at 28 and just posted his best offensive numbers in his career with 27 assists in 55 games split between Ottawa and Boston. He’s a distributor, not a trigger man, but he’ll be 31 at the end of his contract and given where the B’s are, it’s a smart signing and a good way to get business started.
David Krejci staying put
New England Hockey Journal reported yesterday on Twitter that the Bruins and their second-line pivot are on the verge of an extension, and that holds true as of this writing.
He is not signed, but the decision to stay in the NHL for at least one more year has been made, according to a source close to the situation. Now, what remains to be done is the parameters of the contract, believed to be a one-year extension for something around $5 million. This is key because it gives the Bruins back a fan favorite and an important piece of their top-six forward picture, but with just one year, it means he comes off the books in time to re-sign Charlie McAvoy and Patrice Bergeron before next July 1.
This also gives Don Sweeney and Co. a full season to figure out what they are going to do at the center position after 2022. Assuming Krejci will at that time opt to return home to the Czech Republic to finish out his pro career, the 35-year-old is an important bridge piece in the present. However, this is why rumors have linked Sweeney in discussions with teams like Arizona to inquire about Christian Dvorak.
Signing impending UFA Taylor Hall was an integral step in helping Krejci's decision to stay in Boston. Now the Bruins have to close the deal and come to terms on something both team and player are comfortable with. However, with the parameters in place, it’s not an immediate piece of business to finalize. We're confident something gets done here.
Coleman to B’s … smoke and fire?
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has linked the Bruins to gritty two-way forward Blake Coleman, who joined the Tampa Bay Lightning late last summer for their 2020 playoff run and helped the Bolts win two consecutive Stanley Cups in less than a calendar year.
Unfortunately for Tampa, the price of being a champion is that other teams are willing to overpay for the services of role players on a top roster, and that’s what Coleman is, with Friedman believing the Bruins are willing to offer the hard-nosed winger and two-time 20-goal scorer with the New Jersey Devils a six-year, $30 million contract.
On the surface, that deal is rich and risky. You can understand why observers and fans would criticize it. However, when you consider that the team shaved off the $4.6M it would have needed to allocate via qualifying offers to Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie, Coleman’s numbers make more sense. At least, in the present. At 29 (turning 30 in November) Coleman is young enough to take this kind of risk on, but does he have enough tread on the tires left for a good ROI for the Bruins at age 34?
We’ll save the deeper analysis for if/when the Bruins make it happen, but there’s a lot more to it than the cap dollars, and we’ll say this — he fits the archetype for what the organization values in its forwards.
Also rumored option to the Bruins at forward from multiple sources online is Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, but at 36, he'd have to shift to wing and is not the player he once was. It would all come down to term/AAV.
Forbort brings better practical value than on paper
Another player the well-sourced Friedman has linked to Boston is Winnipeg Jets left defenseman Derek Forbort. The former 15th overall selection in the 2010 NHL draft by Los Angeles never hit the lofty projections for what he could be as a big, rangy but raw player out of Duluth, Minn., and the U.S. national team.
With his mobility and stick, he has become a quality defense-first player who is relied on to make a lot of defensive-zone starts and is a good shot-blocker. New England Hockey Journal talked to a couple of Forbort’s teammates in college (North Dakota) and pro hockey, and they all gave him a high character reference — a solid citizen who is a good teammate and willing to do anything for the team.
Again, if Forbort ends up in Boston, we’ll break him down in more detail, but he looks like a potential value signing coming off of a 1-year $1M contract with Winnipeg where he didn’t put up big points but is more than the sum of his parts.
Around the NHL … Eichel trade building momentum?
With the way things have transpired in Buffalo between the team and franchise cornerstone Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.), it’s obvious he has played his last game for the moribund Sabres.
NHL insiders have heated up in recent days with trade speculation linking him to teams like Vegas and Minnesota (who, might be backing out of talks based on a breaking Twitter report from Wild beat reporter Michael Russo). Those teams are among the very few who can meet the kind of exorbitant ask that Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams will try to extract. Now, just because he asks for a top roster, multiple higher-end prospects and some picks as well doesn’t mean he’ll get all of that, but with a big $10M cap hit through 2026 to absorb on top of it, there aren’t many teams who can sit at the table and deal themselves in.
Eichel is a superstar, that much is certain. Whatever the cost, he will make the team he goes to better the day he sets foot on the ice. However, when it all happens and what the final destination and assets required to pull it off will continue to be grist for the rumor mill.
Milton native Yandle to Flyers
News broke yesterday that Keith Yandle (Milton, Mass.) will sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers for $900k. Yandle, a left-shooting defenseman who just completed the fifth of a seven-year, $6.35M AAV contract with the Florida Panthers before being bought out, was linked to the hometown Bruins as an option. However, as more of an offensive/PP specialist at this stage of his career and 34, going to the Flyers is a better fit for him. The Bruins have a younger, similar style player to Yandle in Reilly now in the fold, which would have made Yandle redundant.
He does, however, come in at a nice price for Philly, who acquired some big names in defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan Ellis, plus forward Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) via recent trades. The Flyers are looking to get back into the playoffs.
