- The Bruins are making statements and reshaping their team with a series of bold moves prior to opening night of the NHL Draft.
New general manager Don Sweeney started by dealing Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for the 15th, 45th and 52nd overall picks in the 2015 draft, and then added to the big makeover by dealing Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings for young goaltender Martin Jones, 22-year-old defense prospect Colin Miller and the 13th pick in the 2015 draft.
That means the Bruins have the 13th, 14th and 15th picks in the first round, and they?ve also cleared between $7-8 million in salary cap space.
With that cap space, the Bruins signed looming free agent Adam McQuaid to a four year, $11 million contract to ensure that the rugged, hardnosed defensive player stays in Black and Gold for his prime years.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, clearly the Bruins are making a statement to the rest of their players -- and the league, for that matter -- that they?re not an ATM machine for player contracts, and they?re not going to be bullied in contract negotiations. Hamilton and his camp wanted a long-term deal comparable to Drew Doughty ($7 million per season) and Alex Pietrangelo ($6.5 million per season), and the Bruins weren't going to budge off their bridge-deal offers. It also appears they were pretty certain that Hamilton would be getting an offer sheet, and moved to get a better package than the compensation picks they would have received had it gone that route.
Lucic gets to move to the West Coast, where his size and strength will be served well on a physical, blue-collar team like the Kings, and he?ll be closer to his family in Vancouver. The deal for Lucic is a pretty good one for the Bruins; Jones and Miller are legitimate young talents that the Bruins can develop in Boston.
But the actual package of assets for Hamilton seems like less than they could have received from other teams. A source told CSNNE.com that Peter Chiarelli and the Edmonton Oilers offered the 16th pick, the 33rd pick and the 57th pick in this year?s draft for Hamilton, but the Bruins refused to make a deal unless promising young defenseman Darnell Nurse was included in the package.
We can?t assume that Sweeney is done wheeling and dealing with those three firs- round picks, so stay tuned to see if he uses those assets to go out and get another top four defenseman who can step in and help out the Black and Gold right away, given the loss of Hamilton.
But say this for Sweeney: No matter what else happens: he?s made a big statement in his first weeks on the job. Time will tell whether those big, splashy moves were good ones or bad ones.
New general manager Don Sweeney started by dealing Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for the 15th, 45th and 52nd overall picks in the 2015 draft, and then added to the big makeover by dealing Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings for young goaltender Martin Jones, 22-year-old defense prospect Colin Miller and the 13th pick in the 2015 draft.
That means the Bruins have the 13th, 14th and 15th picks in the first round, and they?ve also cleared between $7-8 million in salary cap space.
With that cap space, the Bruins signed looming free agent Adam McQuaid to a four year, $11 million contract to ensure that the rugged, hardnosed defensive player stays in Black and Gold for his prime years.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, clearly the Bruins are making a statement to the rest of their players -- and the league, for that matter -- that they?re not an ATM machine for player contracts, and they?re not going to be bullied in contract negotiations. Hamilton and his camp wanted a long-term deal comparable to Drew Doughty ($7 million per season) and Alex Pietrangelo ($6.5 million per season), and the Bruins weren't going to budge off their bridge-deal offers. It also appears they were pretty certain that Hamilton would be getting an offer sheet, and moved to get a better package than the compensation picks they would have received had it gone that route.
Lucic gets to move to the West Coast, where his size and strength will be served well on a physical, blue-collar team like the Kings, and he?ll be closer to his family in Vancouver. The deal for Lucic is a pretty good one for the Bruins; Jones and Miller are legitimate young talents that the Bruins can develop in Boston.
But the actual package of assets for Hamilton seems like less than they could have received from other teams. A source told CSNNE.com that Peter Chiarelli and the Edmonton Oilers offered the 16th pick, the 33rd pick and the 57th pick in this year?s draft for Hamilton, but the Bruins refused to make a deal unless promising young defenseman Darnell Nurse was included in the package.
We can?t assume that Sweeney is done wheeling and dealing with those three firs- round picks, so stay tuned to see if he uses those assets to go out and get another top four defenseman who can step in and help out the Black and Gold right away, given the loss of Hamilton.
But say this for Sweeney: No matter what else happens: he?s made a big statement in his first weeks on the job. Time will tell whether those big, splashy moves were good ones or bad ones.
