The Bruins by the numbers, cap numbers that is

OK, so I've been starting to get the questions for next season. The main one being, "How will the Bruins fill in their team and sign their free agents?"

So, here is a look at the Boston Bruins salary cap numbers for next season. Tuukka Rask is added to this list as Manny Fernandez said he is leaning toward retirement and there is a zero percent chance of the B's bringing him back.

Assuming Tuukka Rask will be on the 2009-10 roster, here is the current salary breakdown for 15 players under contract for next year, as well as Glen Murray's buyout number. The cap is expected to either stay at $56.7 million or dip in 2009-10.

This list was provided by Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe.

Forwards

Marc Savard, $5 million

Patrice Bergeron, $4.75 million

Michael Ryder, $4 million

Marco Sturm, $3.5 million

Chuck Kobasew, $2,333,333 million

Glen Murray, $1,383,333 million

Blake Wheeler, $875,000

Milan Lucic, $850,000

Shawn Thornton, $516,667

* Mark Recchi, P.J. Axelsson, and Stephane Yelle will be unrestricted free agents.

* David Krejci, Phil Kessel, and Byron Bitz will be restricted free agents.

Defensemen

Zdeno Chara, $7.5 million

Dennis Wideman, $3.875 million

Aaron Ward, $2.5 million

Andrew Ference, $1.4 million

Mark Stuart, $1.3 million

* Steve Montador and Shane Hnidy will be unrestricted free agents.

* Matt Hunwick will be a restricted free agent.

Goalies

Tim Thomas, $5 million

Tuukka Rask, $850,000

Current cap hit: $45,633,333.

So, if the cap stays the way is is the Bruins will have about $11 million of cap space to play with. However, the cap is likely to fall a few million dollars according to multiple reports. This will be nearly impossible to fill a full team under the current numbers if you are trying to sign both Phil Kessel and David Krejci.

Boston's GM, Peter Chiarelli told WEEI today that he will have to make a few adjustments to the team in order to re-sign Kessel and Krejci.

Look for the defensive unit to consist of Chara, Wideman, Ward, Stuart, Ference and Hunwick. Montador and Hnidy will not be re-signed if for nothing else, the cap will not allow it. Johnny Boychuk who has been a solid player for the baby B's this season will likely fill the role of a seventh defenseman for Boston, at relatively cheap dollars.

All of Boston restricted free agents, (Kessel, Krejci, Bitz) are priorities to get signed this off-season. The unrestricted free agents, (Axelsson, Yelle, Recchi) will almost surely have to wait until after the July 1 free agency period to see if Boston wants to retain their services. Boston likes all three of these players for depth, but look for Chiarelli to try to upgrade in the size department.

One wild card here is Byron Bitz who could very well take one of these three players spots. Chiarelli has said he loves size up front and Bitz has it.

Here are some possible lines for next season, granted no trades are made and Boston takes care of signing their big free agents.

Lucic - Savard - Kessel

Wheeler - Krejci - Ryder

Sturm - Bergeron - Kobasew

Bitz-(Yelle? Ax? Free Agent? Current P-Bruin?) - Thornton

The fourth line center position could likely go to a guy like Martin St. Pierre or Vladimir Sobotka. There are also longer shots like Zach Hamill and Jamie Arneil.

This could likely mean the end for the one year Bruins like Yelle and Recchi and also the end for the eleven year vet, Axelsson.

However, there is a long way to go obviously and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruins deal away one of their forwards to create space.

It will be an interesting off-season for the Bruins, so stay up to date with BruinSpace. We'll keep you posted on any trades, signings, and of course the NHL awards show and NHL draft.