What Don Sweeney said about Bruins’ chances of re-signing Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov and other free agents
"None of those guys have been necessarily closed off."
The Bruins created $6 million in cap space on Monday by offloading Taylor Hall’s contract to the Blackhawks.
But even with Boston more than doubling its available cap space this offseason, Don Sweeney and the Bruins still have a tall task ahead of them when it comes to retaining any of their seven pending unrestricted free agents.
Speaking ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft down in Nashville, Sweeney acknowledged that Boston likely won’t have the fiscal flexibility in place to sign defenseman Dmitry Orlov to a new contract.
“We unlikely will be entertaining him back,” Sweeney said of Orlov, who is looking to secure what might be his last major contract, given his age (32 on July 23).
With just $10.9 million in available cap space as of Tuesday evening, Boston does not have the financial leeway to keep all three of their deadline pickups in Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Garnet Hathaway.
But even though Sweeney acknowledged that it’s “unlikely” Orlov dons a black-and-gold sweater in 2023 and beyond, he remained mum about the odds of Boston’s other pending free agents slipping through their grasp.
“None of those guys have been necessarily closed off. Obviously, we circled with most of them based on our decision yesterday,” Sweeney said of decisions with the team’s free agents. “But haven’t really concretely put anything together that that would indicate that I’m going to be able to [re-sign them], in particular on Orly. But you just never know what happens between now and then.”
Sweeney isn’t exactly the most forthright NHL executive when it comes to unveiling his offseason plans. But ideally, the cap space Boston cultivated on Monday could be utilized to keep a top-six winger like Bertuzzi in place.
Orlov’s pricy new deal was probably unfeasible and Hathaway’s spot on the checking line will likely be occupied by a younger, cheaper player within Boston’s prospect pipeline.
Given the price that Boston paid back in February for all three skaters (including their first-round picks in 2023 and 2024), keeping at least a top-six weapon like Bertuzzi should be near the top of Boston’s to-do list.
Even though Boston essentially relinquished an effective middle-six winger in Taylor Hall for little in return, it’s a trade that’s far more palatable if it anchors Bertuzzi to your forward corps for the foreseeable future.
But beyond Boston’s deadline haul, Sweeney still has to account for the looming questions down the middle with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — along with the expected pay raises for restricted free agents in Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic.
With the free-agent feeding frenzy set to commence at noon on Saturday, Sweeney has his work cut out for him when it comes to keeping players like Bertuzzi from heading to market.
“Again, we’re close. So you have to assume they may [test the market],” Sweeney said. “But if something else materializes, I’m going to move forward with the guys, obviously not Nick Foligno. But the rest of the guys, I would entertain if the situation is right for both parties.”
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