Well, it has happened. Your Boston Bruins are Stanley Cup Champions and are the toast of the town. With the Bruins running the table and bringing Lord Stanley back to the hub time is of the essence. July 1 is this Friday and the free agent frenzy will officially be under way.
The Bruins have two key contributors up for unrestricted free agency in Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder. Both are guys who are on the fence in terms of returning to Boston. Reading into Peter Chiarelli's comments about the duo makes it seem as though both men would be back at the right price.
The more attractive name of the two on the open market will likely be Kaberle. There are some Western Conference teams that could use a puck moving defenseman. Nashville, Los Angeles and Detroit are teams that come to mind.
Michael Ryder is a third line forward and the going rate for a third line forward is somewhere in the range of $2 million. Now if there is a team out there that wants to throw $3 million Ryder's way he should be gone faster than a thief in the night.
Ryder has averaged 42 points a season since joining the Bruins in 2008. While Ryder's shot is one of the best in the league his inconsistency often has fans calling for his head.
Kaberle is 33 and Ryder 31 so both will be looking for one last big pay day as both are entering the back nine of their careers.
If the Bruins do not resign Kaberle the other attractive name on the free agent list is Kevin Bieksa who of course faced the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Bieksa is three years younger than Kaberle and is a better all around player than Kaberle. However, he will be tough to rip away from the Canucks who badly want to retain him and have almost $19 million of cap space to play with.
The Bruins have roughly $12 million in cap space, but owe a raise to Brad Marchand so they are looking at around $10 million in available space.
General Manager Peter Chiarelli has said he will not be looking to make a big splash in free agency and with a deep farm system that is a good bet. Guys like Steven Kampfer, Jordan Caron and Zach Hamill are all NHL ready in this mans opinion so the Bruins do not need to over pay for either Ryder or Kaberle.
The Bruins are the kings of the town right now, (Just as Tyler Seguin and Marchand) and even though major changes will not occur it is key for the Bruins to be wise come July 1 so they can make another run at Lord Stanley.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
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